The "Honda" oil filter is built by different manufacturers depending on who is offering the best price at contract time. At one point, Nippon was making a great filter in the A01. Then, Filtech took over the A01 and they were just as good. When Honeywell/Fram got the contract they named it the A02 and it clearly was not as good as the other two.
Last week I was in a Honda dealership and about 10 filters were lined up on the work order counter for oil changes; they were all back to the Nippon A01. You can tell easily if you have the Nippon A01 because there are seven numbers equally spaced around the filter. The instructions say that once the seal makes contact with the oil pan, turn until five numbers have gone around and you will achieve the proper torque (the A01 filter made by Filtech contains no such numbers around it). If you can get a Nippon A01 they will be as good a filter as you can get for your application.
Last week I was in a Honda dealership and about 10 filters were lined up on the work order counter for oil changes; they were all back to the Nippon A01. You can tell easily if you have the Nippon A01 because there are seven numbers equally spaced around the filter. The instructions say that once the seal makes contact with the oil pan, turn until five numbers have gone around and you will achieve the proper torque (the A01 filter made by Filtech contains no such numbers around it). If you can get a Nippon A01 they will be as good a filter as you can get for your application.
