Which is better Napa Gold or AC Delco ?
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The ACDelco is the OEM part for your engine and is a quality filter made by Champ Labs for ACDelco. They are also easy to find at Pep Boys, Advance Auto or AutoZone and pretty inexpensive for the quality. NAPA Golds are made by Wix and are very robust filters with a silicone ADBV and a coil spring rather that the more common and cheaper leaf spring. They are more expensive but many here feel they are worth the extra cost. If the ACDelco filter for my car changes to the Ecore design, I will switch to NAPA Gold. If you want to purchase some NAPA Golds check out FleetFilter, a supporter of this forum.
Triple_Se7en
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If your 6.0 has a vertical mount filter that's absent of a ADBV, I would then stick to AC Delco. If it has an ADBV, then the NAPA Gold is a better filter.
E-core filters have a plastic inner cage instead of the metal tube. Just look into the filter and you can tell real easily.
Just a note of caution. Not all of the AC Delco filters at Advance Auto Parts (at least the ones at my local AAP) are the same.
Some are AC Delco "Duraguards" and some aren't. The PF46 for my Silverado was NOT a "Duraguard" and was stamped as being made in Mexico. The PF61 (a longer version of the PF46) was a "Duraguard" model, and stamped as made in USA. This is the one I bought.
If AC Delco goes to the e-core, then I will switch to NAPA oil filters. The NAPA Pro Select filters for less than $3 appear to be a good filter at a great price.
Of course, I have some of the AAP $1.44 filters to use up first.
Some are AC Delco "Duraguards" and some aren't. The PF46 for my Silverado was NOT a "Duraguard" and was stamped as being made in Mexico. The PF61 (a longer version of the PF46) was a "Duraguard" model, and stamped as made in USA. This is the one I bought.
If AC Delco goes to the e-core, then I will switch to NAPA oil filters. The NAPA Pro Select filters for less than $3 appear to be a good filter at a great price.
Of course, I have some of the AAP $1.44 filters to use up first.
I wouldn't be afraid of AC Delco eCore filters. They should be fine filters that pass GM's scrutiny. SuperTech and STP eCores are probably not much different. I do like the WIX filters though . . . nicely made and good quality materials. I'd use either with confidence.
I bought a couple of $1.44 AAP TotalGrips for my beater car. There was a gritty residue in the boxes and even on the rubber gaskets. I hope it's not inside the filters too. I'd worry more about using those for a decent vehicle.
For the first 90,000 miles. my beater car, a '93 Nissan, had whatever bulk oil and cheap filters the quick-lube places had to offer the previous owner. Since then it's been run on whatever oil's on sale and SuperTech filters. At 150k it still runs like new and uses no oil. I think we worry about this stuff way too much.
I bought a couple of $1.44 AAP TotalGrips for my beater car. There was a gritty residue in the boxes and even on the rubber gaskets. I hope it's not inside the filters too. I'd worry more about using those for a decent vehicle.
For the first 90,000 miles. my beater car, a '93 Nissan, had whatever bulk oil and cheap filters the quick-lube places had to offer the previous owner. Since then it's been run on whatever oil's on sale and SuperTech filters. At 150k it still runs like new and uses no oil. I think we worry about this stuff way too much.
That's easy to say until you get the freak from quick lube who strips the bolt in your oil pan (been there once) or over or underfills your crankcase (been there 3 times). Or that cheapie oil filter disintegrates and you have filter media clogging oil passages or your oil pump. Then a $2 savings turns into a $7,000 repair. I know of a guy who's wife took his BMW 740 to quick lube and they didn't tighten the drain bolt all the way and she got on the freeway and about 30 miles later was on the side of he road smokin away with the idiot lights on......
So, maybe I worry too much...or maybe you are just lucky..
I'm not going to argue with you about the lack if attention to detail by those working in quick oil change places, or even by some legitimate mechanics working at seemingly reputable places. We all have stories to tell. That's one reason I do most of my own work. . . . and I generally stay away from low quality knock off parts.
I think that most of the national oil change chains buy installer grade filters from one of the four major filter manufacturers, and I'd bet that the integrity of their construction is more than adequate. The installer grade filters come down the same assembly lines as the expensive premium filters, assembled by the same imperfect people, with the main difference being the efficiency of the filter paper or the pleat count. The efficiency and capacity might be less than stellar, but the chance that it will literally disintegrate is tiny . . . orders of magnitude less than the chance that it will be installed wrong or that the wrong filter will be used by an inattentive tech. Most catastrophic filter failures result from some other engine problem causing extreme oil pressure anyway . . .like a stuck oil pump relief or using really thick oil in the winter.
From my experience, I really think that if I use any mid-grade or higher filters from a known source, the engine is going to outlast everything else. Fram/Honeywell filters might even be OK, but I don't use them, probably out of irrational fear. Yes, I worry too much also.
I think that most of the national oil change chains buy installer grade filters from one of the four major filter manufacturers, and I'd bet that the integrity of their construction is more than adequate. The installer grade filters come down the same assembly lines as the expensive premium filters, assembled by the same imperfect people, with the main difference being the efficiency of the filter paper or the pleat count. The efficiency and capacity might be less than stellar, but the chance that it will literally disintegrate is tiny . . . orders of magnitude less than the chance that it will be installed wrong or that the wrong filter will be used by an inattentive tech. Most catastrophic filter failures result from some other engine problem causing extreme oil pressure anyway . . .like a stuck oil pump relief or using really thick oil in the winter.
From my experience, I really think that if I use any mid-grade or higher filters from a known source, the engine is going to outlast everything else. Fram/Honeywell filters might even be OK, but I don't use them, probably out of irrational fear. Yes, I worry too much also.
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I like both filters. Also Wix, Motorcraft, Purolator.
I'll use a FramTG in a pinch but not the standard Fram filter. Their standard ones lack the ADBV and every vehicle I own spec's one. That's what I mean.How much wear does an oil filter without an ADBV cause in 3-5000 miles of near dry engine starts or poor bypass capabilities? What does that equate to in 30-50,000 miles for those people who only go to a lube stop where they get the total cheapie filter? That is the wear that shows up on the downside of 100,000 miles when your tailpipe is smoking like a chimney and you are blowing a quart of oil every 1-2000 miles into the atmosphere. I know people who have $50,000 vehicles they take to a quick lube. Makes me cringe...
Like I started to say earlier, my '93 Nissan Maxima got 5000 mile OCI cheapie quick lube service for the first 2/3 of its life and at 150k it's amazingly intact. It needs an ADBV in the filter, and many of the early oil changes were done at a Pennzoil shop using their version of cheap Frams with the questionable ADBV. It is silky smooth at idle, strong under throttle, and uses no oil.
My '99 Malibu got name brand oil and decent filters, changed every 3000 miles by me. For the first couple of years I used synthetic. At 55k it burns a quart of oil every 1500 miles. I've never noticed any start-up noise, so the built-in ADBV must work just fine. It runs fine, so I'll just keep topping it off between changes for another 50k or so, and by then it will be a rusted hulk anyway.
I once pulled the head off a friend's 4 cylinder Nissan to replace a burned valve. It was serviced with the cheapest Sears Spectrum brand oil and filters. At 105k I could still see hone marks on the cylinder walls.
I have owned 28 cars in my lifetime, many of them bought as projects to be fixed and resold. Some of them were totally sludged and clattery at 60k and some engines looked like new inside at over 100k. The really bad ones were mostly neglected, but basic engine design and driving habits have a lot to do with it too.
How much does a top-notch filter effect engine life? I honestly haven't been able to come to a conclusion. Obviously a certain degree of filtration is necessary to exclude particles larger than bearing clearances. Beyond that? The only filters I ever considered to be obviously bad were the couple of Purolators I bought with metal shavings clinging to the threads.
There is an often-cited GM study that showed a 70% reduction in wear when switching from a 40 micron filter to a 20 micron filter, or something close to that. I recently read a copy of the original study. It was done on diesel engines . . . and lots of AC Fine Dust (mostly fine abrasive silica) was added to the crankcases at regular intervals. I'm not sure how that equates to real-world conditions seen by gasoline engines. I do know that if I'm going to intentionally add abrasive to my oil, I'll make sure I use an especially good filter.
If I had a $50k car, it would last forever. The best Amsoil or Redline oil would not be good enough for me. I'd install Mobil 1 filters and sub-micron bypass filtration. I'd change the oil every weekend. I also would probably be too nervous to ever take it out of the garage.
Your friends' expensive cars will probably do just fine with quick oil change service, as long as they do it often enough . . . and they don't let them ever touch their transmission fluid . . . but that's for a different thread.
My '99 Malibu got name brand oil and decent filters, changed every 3000 miles by me. For the first couple of years I used synthetic. At 55k it burns a quart of oil every 1500 miles. I've never noticed any start-up noise, so the built-in ADBV must work just fine. It runs fine, so I'll just keep topping it off between changes for another 50k or so, and by then it will be a rusted hulk anyway.
I once pulled the head off a friend's 4 cylinder Nissan to replace a burned valve. It was serviced with the cheapest Sears Spectrum brand oil and filters. At 105k I could still see hone marks on the cylinder walls.
I have owned 28 cars in my lifetime, many of them bought as projects to be fixed and resold. Some of them were totally sludged and clattery at 60k and some engines looked like new inside at over 100k. The really bad ones were mostly neglected, but basic engine design and driving habits have a lot to do with it too.
How much does a top-notch filter effect engine life? I honestly haven't been able to come to a conclusion. Obviously a certain degree of filtration is necessary to exclude particles larger than bearing clearances. Beyond that? The only filters I ever considered to be obviously bad were the couple of Purolators I bought with metal shavings clinging to the threads.
There is an often-cited GM study that showed a 70% reduction in wear when switching from a 40 micron filter to a 20 micron filter, or something close to that. I recently read a copy of the original study. It was done on diesel engines . . . and lots of AC Fine Dust (mostly fine abrasive silica) was added to the crankcases at regular intervals. I'm not sure how that equates to real-world conditions seen by gasoline engines. I do know that if I'm going to intentionally add abrasive to my oil, I'll make sure I use an especially good filter.
If I had a $50k car, it would last forever. The best Amsoil or Redline oil would not be good enough for me. I'd install Mobil 1 filters and sub-micron bypass filtration. I'd change the oil every weekend. I also would probably be too nervous to ever take it out of the garage.
Your friends' expensive cars will probably do just fine with quick oil change service, as long as they do it often enough . . . and they don't let them ever touch their transmission fluid . . . but that's for a different thread.
Sounds like a good deal.
My Malibu got Castrol Syntec and AC UPF Ultragard Gold filters until it started using too much oil. No abuse there either. It's a bit of dice rolling game with cars though, isn't it?
My biggest requirement is that I don't buy a smoker's car. Even the cigarette filters don't trap that stench, and all of the detailing in the world only makes it go away for a short time. That's one reason I have started to buy brand new cheaper cars rather than nicer used ones.
My Malibu got Castrol Syntec and AC UPF Ultragard Gold filters until it started using too much oil. No abuse there either. It's a bit of dice rolling game with cars though, isn't it?
My biggest requirement is that I don't buy a smoker's car. Even the cigarette filters don't trap that stench, and all of the detailing in the world only makes it go away for a short time. That's one reason I have started to buy brand new cheaper cars rather than nicer used ones.
Try valvoline 5w30 from wallyworld if you are consuming oil. As for the smokers car, I got my neighbors smoked up Honda for my daughter. I had the interior steam cleaned and then sprayed it (soaked it) with scotchguard fabric waterproofing and stainproofing and left the windows down for 3 weeks in the garage. Then I replaced the cabin air filter and zama...smoke gone. Works every time.
I'm currently using Valvoline MaxLife 5w30, bought a few months back free after rebate. The oil consumption hasn't changed at all.
I had a smoker's Jeep Cherokee and tried everything to get the smoke out. I flooded the floor a few times with a garden hose one spring and sucked the water out with a wet vac to get out the salt build up. (Crystals were forming on the seat uprights.) That helped. A year later I had to replace the falling headliner, and that pretty much took care of it.
A friend used an ozone machine with limited success.
I'll try your trick next time.
I had a smoker's Jeep Cherokee and tried everything to get the smoke out. I flooded the floor a few times with a garden hose one spring and sucked the water out with a wet vac to get out the salt build up. (Crystals were forming on the seat uprights.) That helped. A year later I had to replace the falling headliner, and that pretty much took care of it.
A friend used an ozone machine with limited success.
I'll try your trick next time.
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