I use a PH3593A oil filter on my 04 STI. Its not the recommended filter but i think it is recommended for the older EJ25's. I've used it over and over again since its 1st oil change. It has 15K miles of complete rape on it. I do an oil change ever 3000 or 3 months with royal purple. I haven't noticed any problems with it. The car is not stock so the oil and filter are being put to the test. I think i am going to have an oil analysis done with my next oil change next weekend.

Please share your opinions and your luck (or lack thereof) if you are running a similar scenario.

You used a Honda filter! Yes it does fit.

That filter is rec'd for non-turbo Subies. Still, I don't use Fram anything on my car, and most people don't. It crosses to a Purolator 14459, which is not for our cars btw, the 14460 is. At least use a Purolator.

...the stock subaru filter has a higher than usual check valve pressure----18psi, IIRC....most are(well) under 10

thanx for the feedback. please continue

show me a couple studies that show that Fram's suck, seriously I'm not being sarcastic.

bobistheoilguy.com

thanx for the feedback. please continue

show me a couple studies that show that Fram's suck, seriously I'm not being sarcastic.

http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilters.html
http://www.bescaredracing.com/sti/oil/filters/ (Goto the .xls excel file)
And there are others.

There are better choices within the Fram price range. I'd rather buy Purolator Premium Plus for $3 after coupon, $1-$2 after rebate.

For the sake of arguement, can you find us studies that show that Frams are a good filter?

Edit: I am NOT saying Frams suck. I am saying that based on the studies I've read, there are better filters based on filtration, quality, and price.

For the sake of arguement, can you find us studies that show that Frams are a good filter?


I'm not sayin that dont suck. I'm just looking for evidence either way.

Fram Extra Guard
Years ago Fram was a quality filter manufacturer. Now their standard filter (the radioactive-orange cans) is one of the worst out there. It features cardboard end caps for the filter element that are glued in place. The rubber anti-drainback valve seals against the cardboard and frequently leaks, causing dirty oil to drain back into the pan. The bypass valves are plastic and are sometimes not molded correctly, which allows them to leak all the time. The stamped-metal threaded end is weakly constructed and it has smaller and fewer oil inlet holes, which may restrict flow. I had one of these filters fail in my previous car. The filter element collapsed and bits of filter and glue were circulating through my system. The oil passage to the head became blocked and the head got so hot from oil starvation that it actually melted the vacuum lines connected to it as well as the wires near it.



oh god, that's all i needed to hear

I'm not sayin that dont suck. I'm just looking for evidence either way.
oh god, that's all i needed to hear
:lol: No worries, hope the links helped.

Please post your UOA. Are you using 5/10W30? The past few UOA's on RP 30 weights (posted a few months ago) showed the oil shearing to a 20 weight rather quickly.

-Dennis

there have been some studies that show fram is a average or below average quality construction.. but, if you're changing at 3K i probably wouldn't worry about it though. you can buy a 15$ oil filter but if you're changing your oil at 3K i bet you won't notice a differnce in filtration. if you choose to run your filter on extended oil changes that's a different story.

as dennis said, i would look into having a UOA done. having the proper viscosity is important on hot running FI cars like ours. and chances are if you run the right viscosity you can run that oil much longer than 3K. I run 10-40 RP to 8K with a filter change at 4K.

I'm running 5W30, I have a couple cars I can have UOA done on. both are using royal purple 5W30

Oh, I see your STi is not stock. Change your oil now! Or just keep in it if you like a very thin oil for more hp. :)

If you have more RP 5W30 ready to put in, I would buy some 10W40 and use at least two quarts of that. A UOA will also show if you oil filter is filtering properly. Although the OEM Toyo Roki works well for me at 7 - 7,500 intervals.

-Dennis

i change it at 3K or 3 months. its about due.

Here are a couple of other RP UOA's.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1146096&referrerid=767

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1117767&referrerid=767

thanx