WIX date Codes?

[earlyre]

With the Current Purolator paranoia, and the last Puro I took of the Vibe Showing tears, I Figured I'd look @ getting some WIX made filters for it. Looked on Rock Auto, ad they had some WIX 51396 "Private Label Closeout" for $1.21 ea "only 5 remaining" so i bought all 5. Got them today....absoultely ancient looking. "Big A" branded, with a Made By WIX Filters, that still has the Dana logo as part of the WIX logo....
Dana Sold off WIX in 2004.... so they are at least 10 yrs old..
Date Code is 35197E1...is that the 351st day of 97?

I'll post pics a little later tonight.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: earlyre
Dana Sold off WIX in 2004.... so they are at least 10 yrs old..
Date Code is 35197E1...is that the 351st day of 97?


I don't know what WIX's date code format is, but your guess makes sense. Maybe you could email WIX tech dept and find out for sure.

 

[NHGUY]

BIG A went into closure bankruptcy in 1998.So they are no newer than that.Seems a bunch of money went missing (assets vs liabilities),the CEO left and BIG A went into chapter 11 a year before,after losing millions more the judge ordered chapter 7 a year later.Some assets were sold off to Car Quest Auto Parts.Namely some warehouses.Many BIG A stores changed over to Car Quest.BIG A was actually started in the 1970s by a couple of ticked off NAPA higher ups who aimed to hurt NAPA.Really didn't hurt much at all.

 

[earlyre]

So...with these being 15-16 yrs old, should they be okay? They were cheap enough I could justify sacrificing one for examination...or ship one to someone more skilled @ filter examination...

 

[ZeeOSix]

Any signs of corrosion down inside the center tube or on the base plate? Cutting one open to see what the glue and media looks like would probably be a good idea based on how old they are.

 

[KCJeep]

Yep definitely cut at least one and examine carefully before using.

 

[earlyre]

well here goes with the external exam:
of the five filters, there are 4 different date codes
(3)16197E1
(1)35197E1
one has 2 date code stamps
03697E1(faded);14997E1
so if i am interpreting the coding right,
3 were made the 161st day of 97 (06/10/97)
1 was made the 351st day of 97 (12/17/97)
and either the 36th, or 149th day of 97(02/05/97, or 05/29/97)
any way, On with the Photos!

no real obvious Corrosion/Rust issues.I don't Like the Nitrile ADBV.... would rather have Silicon...anyone Know what the official Toyota Filters have?

size comparison to the 2 filters i've been using on the Vibe.
the 14476 is the OE Size for the 1zzfe, the 14477 is the oversized filter for this Engine, OE size for the 2zz-ge in the GT model.

 

[ZeeOSix]

They look good on the outside. Maybe consider cutting open the oldest one for a look inside (?).

 

[earlyre]

Just Emailed WIX with the part numbers and date codes, and asking them, in their opinion, how old is too old to use.
I will Definitely Cut one of them open in the next couple days, right now Bed is calling my name.

 

[earlyre]

well, that response was certainly worth the wait....(not)

"The shelf life on oil filters is 5 to 7 years from the date code shown on the filters. 3 to 5 years on fuel/water separators.

Thank you for your interest in WIX Filters."

no mention of how to read the date codes, etc....

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: earlyre
well, that response was certainly worth the wait....(not)

"The shelf life on oil filters is 5 to 7 years from the date code shown on the filters. 3 to 5 years on fuel/water separators.

Thank you for your interest in WIX Filters."

no mention of how to read the date codes, etc....


I found this old BITOG thread that talks about reading WIX oil filter date codes.

WIX Oil Filter Date Code

Post by Pete C. on 08/03/05 05:45 PM

Date code on Greasers filter - 27696A1

This filter was made on 27 June 1996 (27696) Here at the Allen Manufacturing Facility on the first shift.(A1)

 

[earlyre]

saw that as well before my initial posting, but the date code on the one filter is 35197E1 that would say it was the 35th of Jan 97...
the others that formula plays nicely with:
16197E1(Jan 16,1997)
35197E1(Jan 35,1997)
03697E1(Jun 06,1997)
14997E1(Sep 14,1997)

 

[earlyre]

replied to earlier email, asking how to read the codes, the reply said (I just cut and pasted)
"The first 6 digits is month, day and year = example 050514B1"

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: earlyre
saw that as well before my initial posting, but the date code on the one filter is 35197E1 that would say it was the 35th of Jan 97...
the others that formula plays nicely with:
16197E1(Jan 16,1997)
35197E1(Jan 35,1997)
03697E1(Jun 06,1997)
14997E1(Sep 14,1997)


Yeah, that's a strange one. I don't recall Jan '97 having a super leap year with 35 days.

I would guess that one means the 351st day of 1997 ... but that doesn't follow the date code format of the rest of those filters made around the same time frame.

Maybe they all mean the xxx day of 1997 ... maybe they switched the date format code something around there.

I think it's safe to say they were all made something in 1997.

 

[earlyre]

parts all laid out(left-right, top-bottom) that second from the left thing, is the Rim/lip of the can.

This White stuff on the Nitrile ADBV kinda concerns me(unless it shouldn't) it was on the gasket as well, but it pretty much wiped off.

Media looked like this all the way around the filter. the Seam is Crimped, but the Crimp is on the INside of the media, facing the tube.

Laid out for comparison with media from my recent unused PL20195 dissection.

Media didn't cut any harder or easier than the PL20195, and the Glue seems just as solidly attached.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Was the ADBV sill pretty flexible? The white stuff is probably rubber oxidation over the years.

Doesn't look bad overall.

 

[earlyre]

as flexible as ever.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: earlyre
as flexible as ever.


So are you going to run one? If so, you might make it a short OCI so you can see if it holds up initially. Could just change the filter and top off the oil if the oil is only 1/2 way through the OCI. What's the plan?

 

[earlyre]

see. that's the problem. these are for my buddy's car, and we have trouble getting our schedules to align where we are both available on the same day. not to mention there is 100mi between us.

last time it took 9 months. that's why his OCI was so long. I had told him back in Feb to go and have it changed, but he "never got around to it"

Most Recent UOA
Dissection of the Filter in above OCI/UOA

I was just hoping to get some decent wix made filters for a standard 6mo/5k change. as you can see by my sig, he's currently Running my FrankenBrew, and a PL14476. I planned on using these for the next few changes, hoping Purolator gets things figured out.
Never thought i'd be getting Filters nearly old enough to vote....
thanks Rock Auto! (at least they were only $1.21 ea....)
Next up oil wise is PP5w30, for the winter Run, Followed by either PYB, or Castrol GTX for Next Summer.

 

[earlyre]

Just got another response back from wix. These do use the Julian calendar date system. So 35197 is Dec.17 1997. Which they say is too old to run.