STP, S-16 Ecore cut open

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river_rat

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This was run with nothing but 20W-50 conventional oil for about 1500 miles. I wanted to go more, but the canister was bulging from the cold starts and runs in the mornings, and I decided it was time for my "winter weight" 10-40 before I blew the filter gasket or something.

The oil pressure down stream from the filter (where the pressure regulator is on this engine) never got above 80 PSI, so I guess that's when the regulator was fully open, dumping excess oil back to the sump.

I don't know what the PSI difference across the media was--whatever it takes to bulge the can, minus that 80 PSI I suppose.


I have to say, the media on this Ecore® design held up well for what I think must have been a very high oil pressure across it.
But, on this particular filter, all the pleats are pretty straight and not laying flat on the center cage. It makes me think that the ones we've seen with holes cut in the media from the cage were probably due to the pleats laying flat against it where they would not be stiff enough. I hope this was a (fixed) QC issue only, and not a fundamental design flaw. I wish I could tell for sure if the pleats are straight and radiating properly away from the center cage for strength by looking into the center hole. If so, I would probably buy these regularly.

I'm still not "sold" on this design, but am posting this just for the sake of discussion.

STPS161.jpg


STPS162.jpg


STPS16inside.jpg
 
I haven't gone back and researched all of the e-core failure pics because the only place I know I could get them easily is the dealer and they're a bit pricey.

Could the holes have had to do with the number of pleats? Were they re-brands like ST or something and maybe have less pleats giving more room for then to lay against the cage?

I have to say with some of the recent posts I wouldn't have any worries about using an e-core for a normal OCI. Looks good, thanx.
 
Originally Posted By: cp3
Could the holes have had to do with the number of pleats? Were they re-brands like ST or something and maybe have less pleats giving more room for then to lay against the cage?

That's an excellent question. I don't know of there is a difference in pleat density in the different brands, or if it was just uneven spacing that allowed the paper to lay down sideways and get cut.
Originally Posted By: Cristobal
Was this in recent months? It is not winter yet. Or was lit last winter?

This "winter"...I just took the filter off 2 days ago. It had been subject to a number of starts in the upper 30s - lower 40s in the mornings the last few weeks.
Time for 10W-40.

Jet_Stream_One.jpg
 
All of the shorter PF46-xref e-core's I cut open looked pretty good. But once I started opening the longer FL400S xrefs I started seeing problems.

Could it be that the longer elements are more prone to the 'fold-over' effect?
As another side note, all the FL400s-type filters I cut were Super Tech's, and the PF46-type's were AC/Delco and STP's.


Don't see as many cut up e-core's lately. Wish they kept coming.
 
Originally Posted By: river_rat
That's an excellent question. I don't know of there is a difference in pleat density in the different brands, or if it was just uneven spacing that allowed the paper to lay down sideways and get cut.


Well, we've seen where some of the cheaper filters from the same manufacturers have less pleats and look less uniform after use. Maybe the same thing with the e-cores and this results in the failure. The low end Hastings and Wix that have been posted come to mind.
 
That could be the longer ones are more likely to fold and cut, I guess. I think theyy do a good job in the one's I've seen of putting in plenty of media, if they make sure the spacing is correct so they can't fold flat, we may see an end to the cutting complaints.

I don't usually use these Ecores myself, thos was an experimental thing on my old van. I am pleased it held up well to my apparently over-pressure abuse. I want to like thes as they are inexpensive, and I like the thread-end bypass. I just want to be super sure thay won't fold over and cut before I would ever really switch to Ecores, when I can get so many good filters for not much (if any) more $$$.
 
I have ran about 5 or 6 Ac Delco PF1218 ecores I bought at Wally World on clearance for $1.50 each. I cut them all open after use, they all looked great. I still have 1 or 2 left in my stash.
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Looks good, I like the Ecore design



I like the filter element and cage design, but I hate the combo ADBV/bypass valve. It didn't work on my Crown Vic.
 
When my daughter first bought her '06 mazda3, it came with an STP filter from the used car dealership. I changed the oil once while keeping this filter in place. Total miles using this STP filter:~8K miles. This STP filter X-ref's to the FRAM 3614/Puro10241.

After using the STP filter for 8K miles, I cut it open and the STP looked similar to the one that the OP posted(E-core). The STP held up well. The endcaps were not made of cardboard and looked like some kind of nylon/felt fabric(very strong).

I had done a writeup on this filter w/o pics.
 
I have a few of these STP ecores and still don't trust the design yet. Maybe I'm just stubborn. I might try them on my daily driver next year.
 
Today out of curiosity, I hooked up a new S16 to a spare oil filter remote mount assembly, and pressurized it to 135 PSI (according to my compressor gauge) and still didn't get the canister to bulge like this used one (above) was. And I will correct the oil pressure guage reading, was not 80 PSI, but never got above about a 60 PSI reading.
If these two pressure guages are right, it is possible that this filter media had something like at least 75 PSI across it. Wow, if so.

Maybe it is really pretty strong if the media pleats are spaced and angled correctly?

Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
I have a few of these STP ecores and still don't trust the design yet. Maybe I'm just stubborn. I might try them on my daily driver next year.

Me too, this was an experiment, I don't usually use these after seeing pictures of a failure or two.
 
Originally Posted By: river_rat
Today out of curiosity, I hooked up a new S16 to a spare oil filter remote mount assembly, and pressurized it to 135 PSI (according to my compressor gauge) and still didn't get the canister to bulge like this used one (above) was. And I will correct the oil pressure guage reading, was not 80 PSI, but never got above about a 60 PSI reading.
If these two pressure guages are right, it is possible that this filter media had something like at least 75 PSI across it. Wow, if so.

Maybe it is really pretty strong if the media pleats are spaced and angled correctly?

Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
I have a few of these STP ecores and still don't trust the design yet. Maybe I'm just stubborn. I might try them on my daily driver next year.

Me too, this was an experiment, I don't usually use these after seeing pictures of a failure or two.


I have 4 S8A's that I'd ordered before I knew about the design change. I needed them for my 64 Chrysler as they were shorter than the other locally available filters. FL1A and others would've hit the radiator.
 
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Originally Posted By: river_rat
How short does it have to be?


It had to be more than 1" shorter than FL1A or PH8A to clear radiator as the filter is a horizontal mount and have enough room to fit the strap wrench on it. Fl1a fit, but very hard to remove since wrench wouldn't fit.
frown.gif
 
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The Fram PH16, Wix 51085, Napa silver 21085 or Mopar MO-090. Would be short enough to fit there and other then the size everything else is the same (just shorter).

:p nvm, i leaped before i looked, i guess you already knew that. The napa/wix and bosch/purolator equivalents tend to be the longer ones. Filter pliers might be a good investment too.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
Originally Posted By: river_rat
How short does it have to be?


It had to be more than 1" shorter than FL1A or PH8A to clear radiator as the filter is a horizontal mount and have enough room to fit the strap wrench on it. Fl1a fit, but very hard to remove since wrench wouldn't fit.
frown.gif


Shoot that's pretty short. But like Knox, said, there are other options besides STP. The S16 fits a lot of Chrysler engines and it is a short and wide filter. Have you tried looking at the specifications for a Wix 51085 (I believe is the number)?
 
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