What fuel filters are good?

[00 scrub]

I'm going to be replacing the fuel filter on a 96 Acura Integra LS (non-vtec) and was wondering if I should stick strictly with OEM fuel filters, or shoudl I go with an afermarket (Purolator, Fram, Wix etc?).

 

[JohnBrowning]

Puralator's have worked well for me on Toyotas for years! The filter has to meet OEM minium speck.'s or the company would be opening them selfs up for a law suit! Because the filters on most Toyota's are real pain to change I normly neglect them far longer then I should! I have often let the often left the aftermarket one on for 50,000 to 80,000 miles. I can honestly say that 80,000 is way too long. I could barley plow through the used one when I took it off! Normaly if you change them within the recomended change time frame you can easily plow through them.

Most fuel pump failures ( personel observation) are from pumping against the insane resistance of a pluged up filter. You will often see a GM owner change their fuel filter due to stravation issues and shortly their after the fuel pump module fails. GM does not consider filter replacement a maintence item. So most people never change them until their car wont run right. I can not prove this mind you itis simply observation. Car would come in with pluged up filter youchange it and less then 10,000 miles latter the pump was failing.

In my opion replaceing them every 24,000-50,000 miles is just good policy. Letting them go any longer then that is really abusive! We have all done it at least once though!

 

[seotaji]

i've noticed that the purolator fuel filters at advance are poor quality, either missing endcaps, copper washers, or lopsided.

i, like a dummy, purchased a spare one without looking in the box and ended up with a lopsided one. i've had it for longer than 30 days, so i dunno if i can get a replacement (i'll probably call purolator).

when i asked a friend to check the rest of them, he let me know that they were all like that.

horrible.

the filter for my van was great quality though.

wierd.

 

[SteveD2]

I'm pretty happy with my FRAM filter...(gasp)

 

[Eddie]

I use Purolator fuel filters and have found them to be very good quality.

 

[tmorris1]

I just replaced my F-150 filter with a Napa Gold (Wix) filter and it seems pretty well built.

 

[n8wvi]

quote:

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Originally posted by Eddie:
I use Purolator fuel filters and have found them to be very good quality.

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Ditto. They're all I've used since I can remember. I typically run 'em out to 60K miles (Subaru recommended interval) and have had no issues. Purolator is the OEM for Subaru anyway.

Dave

 

[00 scrub]

hmm ok, I think I'll be safe and go with OEM. I geuss no one has done a fuel filter study like the oil filter studies we have here huh?

 

[ZR2RANDO]

One thing to keep in mind about fuel filters. On a new vehicle, the first fuel filter may take 60k miles before it has caught enough debris to start causing some backpressure to the pump. But after the vehicle gets a few more years older, and after a couple of tanks of gas with crud in it (I got a particularly bad fillup once at a Shell station..had lots of red fine powder in it..I saw it in the fill neck after pumping..I think it was powdered clay from a pump filter..) the fuel filter may clog quicker, in fewer miles than when the vehicle was new. If a filter clogs quickly at some point in the vehicles life (or if the fuel pump ever dies because of its screen clogging) the only correct fix is to remove the tank and clean it out...and start over again.

I usually use Napa fuel filters ...