Fordman: You think what John Force uses means anything? John Force also uses Castrol. The disclaimer at the bottom of the TV ads says he doesn't use the usual stuff you and I buy. He uses special racing products.

If John Force uses Castrol, I rest my case.

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Black 2000 SC XLT short-box. 4.2 V-6, 5-speed, 3.55 Limited Slip. Side steps, CD, remote entry, FORD box liner. Add-ons: Older Windstar driver's side wiper blade (with the air scoop, because I don't slow down when it rains), back-up beeper, "f150online.com" sticker and snazzy Tweetie Bird floor mats.

My third F-series: '73 F-100, '98 F-150 and '00 F-150. Great trucks!

 

Castrol's good stuff, so what? I use Castrol, but not because of John Force, though.

 

I think I'm going to just leave that one alone...

Let's just say that I have personal experience now with filters from Motorcraft and Fram on the same vehicle. The drain-out overnight and subsequent clanking and clacking noise next morning worries me with the Fram, now that I've heard how quiet the the same motor is with Motorcraft.

I've give up on Fram now after more than 15 years of using nothing but. I was committed. I didn't do this lightly.

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Black 2000 SC XLT short-box. 4.2 V-6, 5-speed, 3.55 Limited Slip. Side steps, CD, remote entry, FORD box liner. Add-ons: Older Windstar driver's side wiper blade (with the air scoop, because I don't slow down when it rains), back-up beeper, "f150online.com" sticker and snazzy Tweetie Bird floor mats.

My third F-series: '73 F-100, '98 F-150 and '00 F-150. Great trucks!

 

As I said earlier, I use Wix filters, but not from something I read, and I doubt I'll ever go back to Fram for those same reasons. I'm just playing devil's advocate (or maybe everyone just thinks I'm the devil) trying to point out that Fram filters are probably adequate for your engine and maybe they're getting knocked for the wrong reasons. Every filter mentioned in this thread is outstanding, but why should we base our decision entirely on what some guy with a lot of time on his hands says? What's wrong with Castrol, Shifter? Come on, I can hack it. They've been around a long time, I've used it for a lot of miles in my engines, and I would hazard a guess, they're probably the most widely used conventional motor oil on this board (I don't want anyone hacking away at me if you use Mobil 1, I said conventional). What's wrong with them??

 

A couple of years ago I was able to take a tour through a large automotive filter plant located in salt lake city. What I saw really surprised me. All of the filters came out of the same press. They moved down a line and headed about 8 or 10 different directions to be painted. Inside, all of these filters were the same, but took on a lot of different names painted on the outside. I saw pennzoil, purolator, checker, wix, and many others. It seems to me that sometimes we pay more for a product just to cover that companies advertising.

The floor manager at this company did say that a lot of the filters they make go to quick oil change shops like Q lube, and jiffy lube. Bottom line is, they were all the same inside.

 

Fordman, not all filters are installed vertically, but that's not the issue in regards to engine noise at startup. What's happening is the top quality filters have a superior anti-drainback valve when compared to Fram. The Fram filter allows the oil in the upper part of the engine to drain back down into the pan, thru the poorly designed Fram anti-drainback valve. The Motorcraft and other quality filters with properly designed drainback valves don't allow the oil to drain back down from the top of the engine.

When the anti-drainback valve doesn't prevent the oil from draining back down into the pan, the engine clatters. This cannot be good for the engine.

You don't need to be an engineer or a filter expert or a mechanic to hear the clattering at startup. It's the same way with your lights. You don't need to be an electrician to know when the lights don't come on when you flip the switch. You don't need to be an engineer to know something went wrong when a bridge collapses, you can see the rubble where the bridge was. You don't need to be an astronomer to see the sun come up in the morning. Shall I go on???

The point is, when people switch back to Motorcraft filters after using Fram, they don't have the engines clattering at startup. You'd have to be seriously stupid to not know that there's a difference. For all I know, it's the orange paint that causes the clatter. Irregardless of this, the fact is, Fram filters can't keep the oil from draining back into the oil pan like other filters can.

 

I don't know, I always call an electrician when my lights go out (the guys in the white suits won't let me near the switches).

 

Seriously, Ford used to say it was normal to get some valve clatter on start up ('68 F Series shop manual, '92 owner's manual, and '96 owner's manual). My '93 Mazda B2200 owner's manual says the same (I mention it because it's an OHC design). I wasn't aware the 8 cylinder Fords had their oil filters horizontal, the 4.2L is vertical. If your filter is vertical, though, how in the hell can it drain back to your crankcase? IT CAN'T!

 

Fordman, you keep missing the point. You don't need to be an electrician to know when the light doesn't come on when you flip the switch.


LOL... The oil drains back because of GRAVITY. The only thing that prevents it from draining back is the valve in the filter. Many late model F-series trucks have the filters mounted horizontally under the driver's side fender. Others have it mounted near vertical under the engine while others have it mounted horizontally under the engine too. They're in all different positions. The orientation of the filter makes NO DIFFERENCE!


[This message has been edited by Dennis (edited 02-06-2000).]

 

Yes, but if the filter is vertical (threads up) how does the oil go UPHILL and back into the crankcase?

 

Maybe it's that darn electrician everyone is talking about....



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2000 F-150 XLT, 4x2, 5.4L Supercab, Styleside, Black with silver two-tone, 3.55, class III towing package with heavy duty cooling package, 4 wheel disk ABS, overhead console, sliding rear window, keyless entry, dark graphite interior, in dash CD, Pendaliner bedliner, K&N air filter, rubberized undercoating, cabin filtration system, Bugflector II, 5W-30 Mobil 1, engine build 10/4/99

 

HUH! I figured I'd cut my own filter apart...but when my wife found me splitting that USED filter open on the kitchen table, she almost cut mee in half!

my anti drainback valve will NEVER be the same!

Seriously, there's some good stuff to think about here. It's why I love this board so much.

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'97 S/C XLS black/silver 157" WB, 4.6/auto, 3:08, home made custom tube grille, terminator muffler, phantom sweep wiper switch(factory installed), a few billet aluminum goodies (the list grows), airbox mods, TPS tuned
email: bazils@hotmail.com

 

Fordman,, you're correct. The 4.2 is mounted almost upright which does not allow for drainback with or without the silicon valve. Hou bout them 4.2's,, huh??.

Also, at our friendly neighborhood NAPA they have a nice display of "cut in half" filters. It prooves that what we are reading is true about the Fram. I havnt used one since. You can pay me now or you can pay me later. Yeah right..........

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"99" F-150 4x2,ext, med red / silver, 4.2L, auto, 3.55's, 265x16's premium snd w/cd, 4 wheel antilocks, leer "too heavy" matching cap, Mobil 1.

 

x

 

Fordman -- Fluids are self-leveling given an "uninterrupted" path to flow. Ask any carpenter or mason about water levels. Ask any plumber how a P-trap works. How does a siphon work? GRAVITY.

How does the oil flow up thru the filter and into the oilpan? Easy!!! It's pushed uphill by the oil that's draining down into the filter from W-A-Y up in the top of the engine.

If what you say is true in your truck, then something really strange is going on with your town! It's time to call Mulder and Scully!

[This message has been edited by Dennis (edited 02-08-2000).]