Filter

I have a Fram filter on my 120 mercruiser motor. Can you use a car filter on these motors and will they have an affect on oil pressers?

Re: Filter

Can you use a car filter on these motors and will they have an affect on oil pressers?

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Yes, you can.

Re: Filter

All the manufacturers do is have auto filters painted their color and their logo placed on the side. They're not in the filter making business. It goes the same way on motor oil.

You can go on Fram.com and put the original OEM parts number into their cross reference chart. You'll find 2 dozen brands' parts numbers that'll work on your boat.

Re: Filter

Recently went thru the process of investigating oil filters. Yes car filters are interchangable but I also found out that Frams are now made in China and are poorly made. Seems like the Purolator Pure 1 , Bosch and K&N are the top dogs. I just bought the K&N's (not cheap). Also for you guys that run older motors with flat tappet cams you need to have zinc additives. You can buy ZDDP additive or buy special oil with zinc in it. I bought the Valvoline ZR1 racing oil 20w50 "not street legal" on Amazon for 1986 Crusader 454's.

Re: Filter

Fram has been garbage for many years. The ring that holds the pressure back is made of cardboard and not metal. Plenty of motors have lost oil pressure when the ring lets go.
K&N and Mobil 1 are made by Champion labs and use their old design with metal endcaps. No need to go to the K&N expense as the Mobil filter is the same filter of a different color.

In my opinion, the superior everyday filter is a Wix premium filter which is sold by many brands. Napa gold is Wix premium and Carquest is also. They are only a few dollars more than the bottom dollar Fram, but they have a cloth element and metal endcaps. Every engine with a filter that I own gets a Napa gold

Re: Filter

The fiLter that is oN my motor is a Fram PH 30. What is the cross refferance # for this filter?

Re: Filter

This works for all common filters..http://www.aloha34.com/information/oilfiltertable.pdf

Cross for PH-30 is 1046 in a Napa filter or 51046 if your looking at Wix self branded filters or a PER 12 if you want a purolator

Re: Filter

Thanks to everybody help on this subject.

Re: Filter

matt167 said:

The ring that holds the pressure back is made of cardboard and not metal. Plenty of motors have lost oil pressure when the ring lets go.

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The clearance between the bearings and moving parts in the engine is what makes oil pressure, not the oil filter. You can in theory take the entire cartridge out of any filter - won't have an effect on oil pressure.
Your oil pressure sender is downstream from the filter. way downstream...

Re: Filter

Howard Sterndrive said:

The clearance between the bearings and moving parts in the engine is what makes oil pressure, not the oil filter. You can in theory take the entire cartridge out of any filter - won't have an effect on oil pressure.
Your oil pressure sender is downstream from the filter. way downstream...

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Yes, bearing clearences make the oil pressure, but if the pressure ring fails, it creates an internal leak which does drop oil pressure as the filter media also keeps pressure up. There have been engines reported where they are run without pressure/ low pressure, and the end cap inside is visibly blown, and a new filter fixes the pressure problem. Many engine builders will not warranty engines that have been run with Fram's... They also have a problem with the bypass valves.

some have great luck with Fram, but I spend $3 more on cheap insurance

Re: Filter

matt167 said:

but if the pressure ring fails, it creates an internal leak which does drop oil pressure as the filter media also keeps pressure up.

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no, sorry. that is just incorrect. The media does create pressure between the pump and filter, but that is of no concern for the engine, and it is not where pressure is measured.

maybe parts of the cardboard came out and caused engine damage, but your explanation is not valid. There's no "pressure ring" either, but Frams do have low quality cardboard endcaps on either end of the pleats. I have cut at least 100 Fram filters open. The only one I have ever seen where the end caps were breached was on a student's YJ Jeep that had gone about 30,000 miles without an oil change. It was gross, the filter media and the caps were like mush, but the engine never lost any oil pressure. If you have a look at some lube diagrams of engines, you'll see why. Automotive and i/o engines do not use relief type systems. The filter is part of a full flow circuit.

I have also seen bad cases of pleat bunching where only about 4 pleats around the whole filter are doing anything. They`re crappy filters, but I use them. The filter is largely cosmetic?marketing anyways. The first generation V8 Chevrolet small block had no filter.

Re: Filter

yes, the cardboard endcaps were what I was speaking of. I'v always considered them the pressure rings. I just know I was turned off of them a long time ago after an engine builder showed me 1 that was pretty messed up and then told me that's why he did not warranty an engine ran with 1. I also pulled a Penzoil ( Honeywell, makers of Fram ) filter off of a Ford 460 that I pulled from the JY. Filter was a mess and the caps were ruptured. The whole thing did start to wad up, and because the Ford uses an in filter bypass, the oil never bypassed. I pulled the pan and Found wiped bearings, but I don't think it was run very long like that..

Chevy V8 and some other engines use external bypass valves in case the filter blows internally or blocks up, others need a filter with the bypass inside the filter ( ex. Ford ).. I know the '55 265 didn't come with an oil filter, tho a cartridge style partial flow/ bypass filter was available. Only manual I have handy with an oil diagram is for a '65 Rambler, but I see what you're saying. I'v never experienced the faliure, but I put my $6 in a filter with metal endcaps and a cloth pleat element