Always thought cheap oil filters were fine until I cut one open yesterday

I was changing oil on a 2015 Civic and decided to split open a Fram I'd just pulled off to see what it looked like inside. The cardboard end caps and tiny amount of filter media honestly shocked me compared to the Wix I put back on. Has anyone else actually cut open filters and found something that made you switch brands?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_zara24d ago

Those cardboard end caps blew my mind when I first saw them. I cut open a Fram and found the glue holding the end caps was already peeling off. The media pleats barely went halfway down the can too. I switched to a Purolator after that and never looked back.

riley_west24d ago

Oh man, Fram is basically the worst. Cardboard end caps are a deal breaker for me.

grantadams22d agoMost Upvoted

@riley_west The cardboard end caps are bad enough, but @the_zara mentioning the glue peeling off is what really got me. Makes you wonder what else is slapped together in there, right? Did you find the media itself was thin and flimsy looking when you cut one open? I feel like that’s the real test, just seeing how much junk that filter can actually catch before it gets plugged up. The whole thing seems designed to pass a test, not to actually protect your engine for a full oil change interval.