I'm a bit curious about this: "THERE GOES THE OIL LIGHT NND BOOM THERE GOES THE ENGINE".
Just how far did this guy drive AFTER the oil light came on and BEFORE the engine went "... BOOM..."?
If a filter has a catastrophic rupture, then it's REALLY obvious. I've had it happen to me 2x on the same vehicle many years ago. Turned out to be a stuck oil pressure relief on the oil pump. At first we thought it was the filter canister's fault (Purolator, as I recall). But when we installed a new one just moments later, and it blew, we knew that something else was afoot.
If the oil light came on, it was presumably due to low oil pressure, which by association was presumably due to the split Wix filter. I seriously doubt the engine went "BOOM" that quickly. I understand that zero oil pressue is undesirable, but there is no way I believe that the engine just siezed immediately upon the loss of oil pressure. Something else is likely missing from this story. Perhaps there was a bit of media embelishment about the "BOOM"ing engine?
If the engine went "BOOM", I'll interpret that to mean that it somehow came to an abrupt stop, due to a seizure?. So it would need to be reman'd or replaced, right? That's a hefty price to pay. I would think that Wix would have investigated this deeply. I have every confidence in Wix and I believe they will stand behind their products. What I don't understand is just how much time elapsed between "red light" and "boom"? I would think that at some point, the onus would lie in operator responsibility as well.
It's my suspicision that the actual corrective action was probably a simple clean up, O/FCI, and such? I doubt the engine was seriously hurt, IF the driver shut it down immediately. Therefore, Wix has only to pay for another filter, another oil change, and some good will investiture. If the engine had to be replaced, I'd be asking questions of the driver as to how long he drove with the little red light on.
A similar thing happend to my aunt a few years ago. Wonderful woman; not mechanically inclined, nor is my uncle. She ran the engine to a dead stop in a Chevy Lumina. Root cause? No oil pressure. Apparently, they NEVER had the oil changed or topped off; he thought she took care of it, and she though he was taking care of it. She admitted later that she saw a "little red light" shortly before it died, but never thought anything was wrong because the car kept running. Apparently she kept driving for several miles before it siezed. Foolish mistake on her part; costly, too. New engine for a car with 31k miles on it. Chevy demanded proof of oil/filter changes (which my relatives had no proof because they never had it done). Total cost paid by my uncle. Moral of this true story? Some people are not "car" people. So, just how far did this "Kia Sportage" driver go before he realized the light came on?
Anyone got a link to the actualy news story?
