In the pits at Laguna Seca this weekend I noted that many classic Ferraris had Fram oil filters fitted. I spoke with the mechanic at Graber Sportgarage re the Frams fitted to their GTO and other 250-engined cars and told him that we in the US consider those filters to be of very poor quality. He said he agrees but they use them because they are original. He said they rebuild the engines once a year anyway so "the filters are of secondary importance." Somehow I think if I had a GTO on the track I'd want a Baldwin (or other respected brand)on it and change to Fram for the concourse.
Perhaps they receive a bulk discount? With Fram, you might as well just recirculate the oil with an empty cap... http://y2u.be/kX0xrqvlsNI
make up a Fram cover or covering to put over the Baldwin. To use those on cars like that (any car really) is just idiotic.
It's just unbelievable to me that someone would use an inferior filter for the sake of "originality" on what is, after all, an interchangeable component. I don't get it now, and never will.
I find that explanation -- for originality -- to be lame. I suspect that they get sponsorship money from Fram to use their filters, under the theory that people will see them on a GTO or other high-end collectible like that and say "Wow, if they use Fram is must be GREAT! I'm going to put one on my car!" That explanation makes sense to me. Originality is BS.
p.s. I also suspect that what's in that Fram filter they are using is NOT a stock, off the shelf, Fram oil filter. They are just not going to tell you that. I don't care if they change the oil after every event and rebuild the motor every year. They are not going to let a prize like that run effectively filterless.
I have had nothing but problems with Fram filters. I once cut one open to find that the interior 'pip' had collapsed. Baldwin makes high quality filters for Ferraris.
I went to a Ferrari Club tech session at Patrick Ottis Company in Berkeley a while back. He is a premier authority on vintage Ferraris and was asked why he installs Fram oil filters on newly rebuilt $25,000+ engines. His answer was that Fram was was Enzo specified and he uses Ferrari-specified parts. I suppose that if Ferrari issues a service bulletin recommending another brand of oil filter, he will change his mind.
A picture (or in this case: a video) is worth a thousand words. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzWen3Q5ksc[/ame]
I have used a zillion fram filters in the past no problems. You have to use the right one. 2804-1 if i remember correctly. The 2804-1 is thicker and can take the pressure and is built differently than the one pictured that looks like a ph8A. The 8a fits but is not the 04-1. I have rebuilt 308 motors for more power that used these filter exclusively and they were fine at teardown. Today there are better filters but back then the 2804-1 was just fine and I would have no problems using one today.
There are a few documented failures both on the ferrarilist.com email list and on the early version of ferrarichat.com (with pictures). There were two common failure points; one was the anti-drain back valve would not seal, in fact it almost never works as engine and oil heat causes the valve (which is nothing more than a rubber flap in a Fram) to warp and no long hold a seal. This causes the oil pressure light to stay on much longer at start up, since the filter will no longer hold any oil as intended. The more problematic failure is the filter itself collapsing against the internal standpipe, causing total loss of oil pressure. I believe it was on the ferrarilist.com where an owner lost a 328 engine due to this. He posted up the photos to a website for a while, but later took them down, this was probably 9 or 10 years ago. Steve Magnuson (I believe) has reposted examples of the Fram failures both on the old and current Ferrarichat site archives. The pictures show the cardboard end caps on the filter itself, where UFI and Baldwin use metal. Also the plastic standpipe, where again, UFI and Baldwin (I believe) use metal. The anti-drain back valve never working on the Fram is probably not a huge deal (even though it appears common to the poor design), but the filter element failure certainly can be a huge problem, though is probably more rare.
I am certain I have seen a service bulletin, the current recommendation is the UFI. But like people that go hunting for Agip semi-synthetic oil used 35 years ago, some will continue to use the Fram filter....
I flattened the internals on a Fram just like in the previous post where the user took the filter apart. It was a Fram 2801-1 filter. However, it was my fault because I went to high revs before the engine oil temperature came up fully. The oil I was using was 20W-50. I suspect the bypass valve did not open as it should. Trying to force a high volume of thick oil through the filter causes a huge pressure drop across the filter with the resulting force flattening the filter. Pressure flattens but pressure is caused by a high flow rate through a restriction. I notified Fram about it. They sent me 6 replacement filters which I used and never had that happen again. I cut each one open to check it when it came time for an oil change. The reason why I noticed the flattened oil filter was because after the high rpms on a not fully warmed up lubricant, the oil pressure was too low. Due to the crushing of the filter internally, some of the paper element was torn so the majority of the oil was bypassing the filtering medium. Insufficient pressure drop manifested itself as a lower than normal pressure reading on the oil pressure gauge. This all happened quite a number of years ago. Since then I have switched to Baldwin and Wix filters. The PH8A filter was recommended for my 289 CID 1967 Ford. It is of a lighter construction and is not suitable for Ferraris even though it fits.
I opened up a Baldwin a while ago, and they use a plastic standpipe. Still a fairly stout piece though (wall thickness I believe around 1/16").
"I suspect the bypass valve did not open as it should" There is no bypass valve in this system, nor is there one in the 2804-1. Surprisingly to me, there is not one in the UFI either: http://youtu.be/SfVG9poULRw So these filters either are tough enough to withstand the flow, or they collapse. There is one in the Baldwin, a good way to go if the others are collapsing due to one's driving style and oil viscosity. Or so it seems to me, I could be wrong. GF
I believe these were wealthy individuals who flew their cars and mechanics over from Switzerland for the races. I can't imagine a few dollars or free filters would entice them to use Fram filters. I think they really are doing it for originality sake. One apparently knowledgable person I spoke with described the 2804-1 as being a full-flow filter-- so no bypass valve. Seems to me that is a bad idea-- dirty oil is better than not enough.
The FRAM PH2804-1 has a (cheap) one-time bypass valve feature -- see post #16 in this thread for photos: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=195878
Thanks for the input. I too used to believe that spring leaf was intended to react to a pressure drop across the filter, but no longer believe so. Remember the flow is from the outside to the inside, the clean oil comes out through the threaded port ... as much as I wanted to believe that spring is a pressure relief, I don't see how any balance of forces present would do anything but jam that spring tighter against the element. But I'm agnostic on the subject still & open to a different perspective ... maybe a contact within the filter industry can help, but I don't have one. Thanks, GF
I agree with you that simple bending of that metal element would work in the wrong direction to act as a bypass valve, but I believe they score a ring, not completely thru thickness, or greatly reduce the thickness locally, so that the material is meant to tear (in that central domed area) if the pressure difference inlet-to-outlet exceeds a certain nominal value. If you look at 1:57 in the video that you posted, you'll see that same part has the center area blown out and would directly allow oil to go from the inlet to the outlet without passing thru the filter media -- which is maybe why the filter media was so clean .
I want to believe there's a bypass, but looking at minute 2:20 and forward, note the fingernail scratching on a solid metal cap on the end of the UFI, where the spring with a hole in it bears against ... on the Fram the spring would "plug into" the cardboard end. Here's the link again: http://youtu.be/SfVG9poULRw GF
