Fram Ultra 3980 cut open 13k+ miles, w/filter mag

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Fram Ultra XG3980 cut open used on my 2002 Buick Century. 13,236 miles used, in service from 2-22-14 to 6-20-15 a total of 16 months. Extreme short trips, lots of idling all year. I changed my oil every 3-5k, this was left on for 3 OCI. I did not disturb the filter in between oil changes, just drain the pan and leave it on until now.

Single filter mag used. Lots of oil inside the can even after holding upside down to drain. ADBV very soft and pliable.

If you look close you can see the metal grit that was held inside the can with the fitler mag. Unfortunately i was unable to rotate the filter off the engine without taking the filter mag off, so some of the metal i believe came loose and fell into the can when i dumped it out.

I used 18 gauge steel tin snips to cut around the base plate, these cans are not too hard to cut, but getting the initial cut through the seam is.

I installed a Fram Tough Guard 3387A and Defy 5w30.

Right click on image and click "VIEW IMAGE" for full size rez. Pics taken with my Note 4.

I am sure i am forgetting something, just ask anything you want to know!

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Held up very well, happy to see this, I have roughly 8k on mine and as its the first oil filter I put on this car I'm hesitate keep it on. Kinda wanna take it off and cut it open just to see what I'm dealing with on this care.


Looks very nice!
 
Originally Posted By: 3800Series
Held up very well, happy to see this, I have roughly 8k on mine and as its the first oil filter I put on this car I'm hesitate keep it on. Kinda wanna take it off and cut it open just to see what I'm dealing with on this care.


Looks very nice!


Resist the urge, they are fully capable of 15k!

I was going to run it one more OCI, but was worried if i ran another 5k i would be over 18k FCI and just wanted to change it while i was there.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Originally Posted By: 3800Series
Held up very well, happy to see this, I have roughly 8k on mine and as its the first oil filter I put on this car I'm hesitate keep it on. Kinda wanna take it off and cut it open just to see what I'm dealing with on this care.


Looks very nice!


Resist the urge, they are fully capable of 15k!


I was going to run it one more OCI, but was worried if i ran another 5k i would be over 18k FCI and just wanted to change it while i was there.


I hear you, I just have this thought in the back of my mind that it might be full of sludge. I plan to leave it on for at least 2k more miles if not the full 15k

Just don't know how this motor looks on the inside yet.

Only glimpes iv gotten on the inside of the car was when I dropped the transmission pan and it looks brand new inside. However it's the only time iv ever done that so that could be perfectly normal.

I have faith in theses filters tho so I wanna give it a good run before I do anything.
 
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Looks great Captain !!
My Ultra has 11,000 plus on it so far.. Going the distance
smile.gif

You get some of the credit for this because awhile back you were like... "Go for it."
Your does look fantastic. How you like the Defy??
 
Originally Posted By: bbhero
Looks great Captain !!
My Ultra has 11,000 plus on it so far.. Going the distance
smile.gif

You get some of the credit for this because awhile back you were like... "Go for it."
Your does look fantastic. How you like the Defy??


Hard to tell anything yet, it made some of the typical 3.1 noise after the dry start on the new filter. I didn't pre fill this filter, maybe i should have.
 
Ahh gotcha.. I like the Rotella T5 so far.. Just a smidge lower gas mileage but not enough to really be worried about. Less than a half mile per gallon. No biggie at all.
 
As expected; ADBV nice and soft, pleats perfectly straight, and not a single tear in sight. Thanks for the cut and post.
 
That 3980 looks huge - oversize for the 3387? Looks bigger than the PF 52 is for the PF47.Nice pictures.
 
Held up well. Now I think I see what the long neck or collar on the ADBV is for. The endplate just has a hole and is flat, so the neck goes in the hole and centers the ADBV. The base is deeply convex on the inside so the ADBV still can open nicely while all is held together. Different than most filters but looks to me like a well thought design all around. I can't see anything to complain about with that filter. So now you will see how tough the tough guard really is I suppose.
 
Hate to say it, but there seems to be a LOT of metallic grit in both the filter and the drain pan....that does not bold well for the engine!

However, I had far more junk come out a few OCI's ago on my Tribute, and it still purrs along just fine...

BTW, filter looks great. Definitely a top-notch filter.
 
Looks like Fram Ultra can do 20-25k miles in a good clean engine. It has no problem servicing Honda engines for 2-3 OCI's of 8-10k miles.
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
Hate to say it, but there seems to be a LOT of metallic grit in both the filter and the drain pan....that does not bold well for the engine!

However, I had far more junk come out a few OCI's ago on my Tribute, and it still purrs along just fine...

BTW, filter looks great. Definitely a top-notch filter.


Yes there is a lot of metal coming from the engine, that's why I'm running a filter mag, high efficiency filters and changing the old every 3-5k. My last couple of uoas may be pointing to an intake leak causing the wear.

That's another reason why I didn't run the filter further, since I'm putting out higher levels of contamination.

When I run 6k intervals you really see the copper in the drain pan built up, when I run 3k it's just a little bit of sparkles.

If it needs a rebuild in the future I'll have to do that, but for now I'll run it til it dies.

Here's my uoa thread

2002 Buick Century used oil analysis thread


http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3530699/02_Buick_Century,__Pennzoil_Ul
 
Originally Posted By: PhillyJoe
That 3980 looks huge - oversize for the 3387? Looks bigger than the PF 52 is for the PF47.Nice pictures.


Yep it's the oversized version of the 3387A. It's about the same length as a PF52 which is the delco cross.
 
Looks great. I started using them after the Tearolater débâcle started and haven’t looked back, the Fram UG is really a good solid piece.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Looks like Fram Ultra can do 20-25k miles in a good clean engine. It has no problem servicing Honda engines for 2-3 OCI's of 8-10k miles.


I was wondering about that, if the mfr is willing to state 15k then maybe in the real world with a good engine could it go longer. I do 10k OCI's in my daughter's Soul and would love to 2 OCI's on a filter. I get 10k out of a standard filter no problem,
 
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