MicroGard MGL3980 (old, Fram) in use since 2012!

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This came off my Suburban - it's from back when MicroGard was made by Fram (they have been Wix for several years now). Date code indicates 2012, so the filter was installed 2012 or 2013 (which makes sense, last registration was 2013 when I bought the Suburban. Mileage on the filter unknown, probably somewhere in the range of 3-5K miles based on what I know about the vehicle and the Carfax report. I did change the oil shortly after I bought it but was in a hurry and didn't change the filter. Finally got around to doing it right, and changed the filter too! The Suburban now has a new Wix-made MicroGard MGL51036 along with O'Reilly Full Synthetic High Mileage 5W-30.

Observation: the ADBV was rock hard. I had to pry it off the base with a screwdriver. It was really hard to squish and took a while to go back to round when squished.

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Talk about being rode hard and put up wet
lol.gif



Good job here dogememe. I hope you get a good discount from OR being that you work there. I like the Microgard filter. I've run them on my Altima combined with Mobil Super Synthetic when it's a combo sale.
 
The filter was left on way too long judging by all the crud in the can and pleats. Looks like there was lots of delta-p force on the pleats, and the filter was probanly in bypass for a long time.
 
Originally Posted By: bbhero
Talk about being rode hard and put up wet
lol.gif


You got that right.
 
Not good, looks like it pulled down on the end caps, likely in bypass for a while. Looks like a good candidate for some short OCIs with a cheap filter & HDEO to clean it out somewhat. My old 350 TBI Sub looked better on a steady diet of 20W50 MaxLife & whatever cheapo filter I slapped on it.
 
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
The filter was left on way too long judging by all the crud in the can and pleats. Looks like there was lots of delta-p force on the pleats, and the filter was probanly in bypass for a long time.
The nitrile ADBV was hard as a rock. Only a little oil flow would get through it. That would mean the engine block's bypass would have to stay open! Of course, no oil pressure light on, no problem I guess.
 
Originally Posted By: oil_film_movies
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
The filter was left on way too long judging by all the crud in the can and pleats. Looks like there was lots of delta-p force on the pleats, and the filter was probanly in bypass for a long time.
The nitrile ADBV was hard as a rock. Only a little oil flow would get through it. That would mean the engine block's bypass would have to stay open! Of course, no oil pressure light on, no problem I guess.


Oil pressure was totally normal, and though after the oil change the engine sounded quieter, the oil pressure gauge is pretty much in all the same places on a cold start and when hot after driving for a while as it was before.
 
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You won't see an oil pressure change even with a plugged filter if it was running in bypass you wouldn't know without an analysis of the oil to see how many particles are in it.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
You won't see an oil pressure change even with a plugged filter if it was running in bypass you wouldn't know without an analysis of the oil to see how many particles are in it.


Well the vehicle is sort of a beater piece of junk anyway so the particles can do as they please. Do you think after this oil change the new filter is going to come out looking exceptionally bad given how little to no filtration was being done by the Fram MicroGard for a while?
 
Is this your boyfriend's truck or yours? Either way good job getting it changed out for a new filter and oil.
 
Originally Posted By: dogememe
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
You won't see an oil pressure change even with a plugged filter if it was running in bypass you wouldn't know without an analysis of the oil to see how many particles are in it.


Well the vehicle is sort of a beater piece of junk anyway so the particles can do as they please. Do you think after this oil change the new filter is going to come out looking exceptionally bad given how little to no filtration was being done by the Fram MicroGard for a while?


You might want to change the new filter mid-cycle to get rid of any extra stuff being cleaned out with the fresh oil. Filters are cheap enough anyway, even if this is a beater piced of junk.

But as another post said, this one is a good candidate for several short OCIs... if you intend to keep it for awhile.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Is this your boyfriend's truck or yours? Either way good job getting it changed out for a new filter and oil.


Living the single life currently so I have time to cut open my used filters
laugh.gif


Now if I could find a guy that drove a 97 Suburban that would be pretty awesome to have matching trucks. But most of "us" seem to favor Priuses :'(

And to the poster above me, I probably will change this filter early and just top up the oil, to see how it looks.
 
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