Soparis oil filter

[Stu_Rock]

For my new beater Peugeot, I bought on eBay a pack of 4 of the correct filters. They are Soparis CV521; made in France. Has anyone heard of this brand? Mahle's website says they bought out the company in 1986, but I don't think these filters are that old.

Since they are made of unobtanium, I'm not going to cut open an unused one. On the weekend, I will post a picture of one.

It's difficult to find a filter in the US for this particular application. Wix and Fram both have listings in their catalogs that are only approximate fits for gasket dimensions and bypass pressure. However, I think I may be able to find something from Wix or Purolator that has the correct specs for those parameters at the cost of having a smaller filter.

 

[pbm]

Is your Peugeot a diesel or gas?
I liked that car and almost talked my parents into buying a brand new one in 1977 or 1978.
My brothers 1980 LeCar (which he bought new) soured me on French cars..

 

[Stu_Rock]

It's a 2.3 L turbodiesel. I still have a couple days of work to do on it before it's roadworthy.

 

[Johnny]

Stu, be sure and post up some pics of that little beauty.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: pbm
Is your Peugeot a diesel or gas?
I liked that car and almost talked my parents into buying a brand new one in 1977 or 1978.
My brothers 1980 LeCar (which he bought new) soured me on French cars..


Don't judge French cars by a 1980 LeCar. Some of the best cars I've owned were either Renault, Peugeot, or Citroen.

 

[Stu_Rock]

Just a note that I found some cross-references for this filter.

Mann W840
Purolator L34480 (Mann with a Purolator sticker)
Baldwin B7042
Wix 51324 (4.5 inches long instead of 5.5)

 

[river_rat]

LeCar was disposable. Not in the same class as Peugeot 504/505.
Used to be able to get low mile LeCars for a couple hundred bucks becuas the seller didn't want to pull the engine to replace the starter.

 

[Stu_Rock]

 

[river_rat]

That's a pretty sturdy looking filter there.

 

[Stu_Rock]

Indeed. The can metal is very thick.

 

[river_rat]

Is that for the Peugeot? The one that's hard to find new filters for? Any luck getting a good cross reference yet?

 

[Stu_Rock]

Yup. I did find some cross-references--look 6 posts up.

These filters are now called Mahle OC2. However, Mahle does not sell that part in North America.

Probably the easiest one to find will be Baldwin B7042, which can be obtained from Grainger.

There's a good chance it won't ever matter to me. At the rate I drive, I'm set on oil filters for 4.5 years.

 

[river_rat]

Well that Soparis looks like the good old STP filters Champion Labs used to make that were built kind of like the Mobil 1 EP/K&N style are now. Heavy duty.

 

[Stu_Rock]

Funny that you mention Champion. Clearly Champ relabeled and sold the Soparis/Mahle filter above. I checked the PH2852 part number and it shows up as unavailable at the only local Champ retailer (AutoZone).

Interestingly, though, if you look up that part number at www.champlabs.com, it says the part exists. It shows the picture below, which looks like regular US-made Champ filters. The gasket really looks wrong, though.

 

[river_rat]

^^^ Yeah, that's the old heavy duty Champ style I was talking about. Not the Ecore, of course.

But looking at the Soparis, I can see German Mann style all over the baseplate.

 

[Stu_Rock]

I'm resurrecting this thread to show pictures of one of these filters cut open.

The only alarming thing is that the filter medium is not closed by a seam or a crimp. It was just overlapped by a few pleats.

The bypass valve has a fancy coil spring, but the valve seat is made of hard plastic. Rubber parts appear to be nitrile; they are still supple after 15-20 years on a shelf and 14 months in service.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: river_rat
LeCar was disposable. Not in the same class as Peugeot 504/505.
Used to be able to get low mile LeCars for a couple hundred bucks becuas the seller didn't want to pull the engine to replace the starter.

+1
I met a woman who used to have a 1980s diesel Peugeot for 20 years. She loved it, but after 15 years, keeping it alive became very costly, and mechanics were hard to find.

I also had a mechanic friend who was originally from Egypt. He asked "Where are all the Peugeot cars in America?" my answer was that there were good cars from other places that American drivers preferred.