MC FL820S CUT OPEN

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted by Black_Thunder
Strange, I think it looks fine.


^^Agree^^

Ive used this filter for about 8 years on my 08 Durango, over 120,000 miles on the 4.7 v8 ... its a nice HEAVY OEM feeling filter with a cool bypass set up ... Walmart always sold them at a low price and one reason why I liked them.
In BITOG many people are jaded against them which Im not sure why, wavy media? not sure what difference that makes vs the overall construction of the filter.

But bottom line, what does the picture by the OP show that is defective? Nothing, looks like any other well constructed filter and I always paid around $4. @ Walmart for it.

... and the pleat count?? wow, look at the photo, [censored], there is a lot of media there with a ton of close pleats.

 

[advocate]

Alarmguy maybe you haven't heard of the issues with these filters... They tear right near those wide seams. And when they do they are not filtering your oil. There have been cases where the filter media has broken apart (as it is very brittle) and it goes through the oiling system which will clog any small passages which in turn will destroy the engine. These do not have a good track record like many people think. they are cheap junk filters with a good name on them...

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Napa Gold 1372. Same price as MC when they are on sale...

 

[FastLane]

I've been running the 820's forever. I've cut open a lot too. Ive never found one torn or any other issues. I'll probably stop using them soon. I only have 1 left and I'll use it. I only run short OCI of 3000 miles. My Mustang's oil stays very clean??? Cleaner than what the Silverado's oil is over the same OCI.

 

[alarmguy]

1. All I was saying about the filters was engines are not blowing up over them, there have been a few posts of "torn" media but, almost anything bad is posted in forums and not always the full story.
I was commenting on the photos provided in this thread. The filter media looks great so give credit to the filter for that, yet some comments in here seem negative but the media looks great, lots of it and nicely spaced.
I doubt Ford is blowing up their own engines due to their filters.

2. Internet forums always give half a story. Here we are looking at a really good looking well priced oil filter, there is no reason to have negative comments based on the photo in this thread.
The other half of the story is, looking at the media is only part of the oil filter "test" how many bypass valves are tested?
How do we know they are bypassing when needed, does anyone check PSI pressure? No
So some of the highest praised oil filters are worth squat if the bypass valve does not function properly

Anyway I do appreciate and thank the people who post oil filters in here, it does give us all a great idea of the media inside and this post makes this Motorcraft filter look quite good and at a price point unmatched @ $4.00 ...

 

[Ablebody]

Originally Posted by alarmguy
1. All I was saying about the filters was engines are not blowing up over them, there have been a few posts of "torn" media but, almost anything bad is posted in forums and not always the full story.
I was commenting on the photos provided in this thread. The filter media looks great so give credit to the filter for that, yet some comments in here seem negative but the media looks great, lots of it and nicely spaced.
I doubt Ford is blowing up their own engines due to their filters.

2. Internet forums always give half a story. Here we are looking at a really good looking well priced oil filter, there is no reason to have negative comments based on the photo in this thread.
The other half of the story is, looking at the media is only part of the oil filter "test" how many bypass valves are tested?
How do we know they are bypassing when needed, does anyone check PSI pressure? No
So some of the highest praised oil filters are worth squat if the bypass valve does not function properly

Anyway I do appreciate and thank the people who post oil filters in here, it does give us all a great idea of the media inside and this post makes this Motorcraft filter look quite good and at a price point unmatched @ $4.00 ...


Those are some good points. I agree.

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted by alarmguy
1. ..
I was commenting on the photos provided in this thread. The filter media looks great so give credit to the filter for that, yet some comments in here seem negative but the media looks great, lots of it and nicely spaced.
...


But it doesn't look great, the seam pleat is wide and uneven, which is where they tear when they do.

 

[53' Stude]

Originally Posted by alarmguy
1. All I was saying about the filters was engines are not blowing up over them, there have been a few posts of "torn" media but, almost anything bad is posted in forums and not always the full story.
I was commenting on the photos provided in this thread. The filter media looks great so give credit to the filter for that, yet some comments in here seem negative but the media looks great, lots of it and nicely spaced.
I doubt Ford is blowing up their own engines due to their filters.

2. Internet forums always give half a story. Here we are looking at a really good looking well priced oil filter, there is no reason to have negative comments based on the photo in this thread.
The other half of the story is, looking at the media is only part of the oil filter "test" how many bypass valves are tested?
How do we know they are bypassing when needed, does anyone check PSI pressure? No
So some of the highest praised oil filters are worth squat if the bypass valve does not function properly

Anyway I do appreciate and thank the people who post oil filters in here, it does give us all a great idea of the media inside and this post makes this Motorcraft filter look quite good and at a price point unmatched @ $4.00 ...




I'll say this: you run anything "made for" and or "made by" Purolator; good luck

Sad as dad said in the 70's everyone ran Purolators

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

I partially agree with both the "for" and "against" on this one. Knowing this is not a "premium" filter, and using sensible ideas about how Ford OLMs and factory OCI recommendations are, I think that for $4 and the 5k-7.5k OCIs most of the Motorcrafts are likely to see, this is an "OK" filter. I just would never use it with anything more than MC syn blend in them though; at the OCI I would feel comfortable with this, you would only be wizzing away money to use a synthetic with these filters. VWB, PYB, ST conventional, MC blends, etc... both the risk of the filter tearing and the risk of any damage done over the short OCI before dumping the oil and changing the filter are not likely to severely impact the lifetime of any vehicle on such a lubricant diet.

JMHO; I may be wrong or you disagree... but used in the intended way for the quality of the filter, that's likely why we do not see engine failures or more tearing. I agree it could be a higher quality filter, but with higher quality comes higher prices.

One of my favorite manufacturing truisms: "Quality, price, delivery time. Pick two."

 

[WellOiled]

Originally Posted by 53' Stude
Originally Posted by DuckRyder
Is not this the frequent offender in the MC line for tears at last update of the spreadsheet?

I seem to recall the twist on one of my cut open filters, probably one of the FL500S, it did not seem to bother the filter but isn't pretty of course. I don't like the wide pleat and all the excess glue, the whole thing looks a bit sloppy.

That said, as long as the media is strong enough not to tear in use all it really hurts is the appearance. Is the media strong enough not to tear is the $64,000 question isn't it...?

Thanks for the C&P as always Adam.



Robert, thanks

I recall WellOiled cutting one that tore. Even my dad that got a late 90's mountaineer took off a MC FL820S that had 2k on it with QSGB 5W30 and it had 2 tears. He doesnt have a camera or smart phone. He put a fat Baldwin that crosses to 820S back on.

He says " screw me once, never, ever again!:

53' Stude. You are correct, I did have one of these tear. Ford / Motorcraft did not respond to my report. So, I do not use MC FL820S filters anymore. You do such a good job cutting these open and posting them. However, I have never used QSGB 5W30 nor Baldwin. The Ranger seems to like Valvoline FS. I may have said "Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me!" You are too funny, I am LMAO.

 

[WellOiled]

Originally Posted by SirTanon
The FL820(s, or no s) is definitely the black sheep in the MC filter lineup, and has repeatedly shown itself to be an inferior offering compared to the FL400s and FL910s. I would never even think of trying to compare it to those two filters, as they are consistenly good filters.

The problem, it seems, is that the FL820 filter is substantially larger in diameter, but they don't up the amount of filter media used, nor do they seem to provide adequate additional support for it. If they used even 25% more media, I think we'd see a marked reduction in quality problems with it.

I think you are spot on. More media would help and if they can reduce the width of the wide pleat spaces at the crimp.

 

[69Torino]

All this talk about FL-820s filters tearing, and I've used many on my Marauder. Actually the only three filters I've ever used on that car have been FL-820s, K&N HP-2010, and Ford Racing FL-820s. The Ford Racing version has been my favorite, though I've never cut one open. I just recently bought a Longacre filter cutter, so when the Ford Racing FL-820s comes off this time, it will be cut open. These filters are almost downright beautiful. Problem is that it will likely only get 3k miles in a years' time. I do also have a plebeian FL-820s on the shelf, that I may put in service on my 292k mile Freestyle, just to see if it tears. Likely with Pennzoil HM 5w-20 that I got on clearance. If 292k miles hasn't killed it, a Tearolator sure won't!

I don't doubt the many factual reports and pics of torn FL-820s filters, and I'm willing to perform a litmus test on my own beater, as it were. If it tears on me I guess it'll be K&N or Ford Racing only on the Marauder until the bitter end. I really just use whatever on the Freestyle though.

‘53Stude, thank you kindly for all of your efforts. It takes a great deal of time and effort, and it's appreciated.

 

[69Torino]

Or maybe I'll just cut the stupid thing open. It's cheap entertainment.

 

[WellOiled]

After reading many posts on Purolator oil filters that tear, I decided to buy an oil filter cutter and check my favorite oil filter. I had this one in the oil drain pan checking to see how long the anti drain back valve would hold oil. So it was a good one to cut open.

Dome end tear.

Thread end tear.

 

[ZeeOSix]

^^^ Very wide pleats spacing where it tore ... no surprise there.

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted by DuckRyder
Is not this the frequent offender in the MC line for tears at last update of the spreadsheet?

I seem to recall the twist on one of my cut open filters, probably one of the FL500S, it did not seem to bother the filter but isn't pretty of course. I don't like the wide pleat and all the excess glue, the whole thing looks a bit sloppy.

That said, as long as the media is strong enough not to tear in use all it really hurts is the appearance. Is the media strong enough not to tear is the $64,000 question isn't it...?

Thanks for the C&P as always Adam.


That's it … they tear very easily because they are made from weak material … I have cut open many M1 blended filters and others that are very tough … these tear with very little side pressure

 

[WellOiled]

Originally Posted by ZeeOSix
^^^ Very wide pleats spacing where it tore ... no surprise there.

ZeeOSix - no surprise!!!

Wide pleat space + weak brittle media + a little delta-p and you get a tear.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted by WellOiled
Originally Posted by ZeeOSix
^^^ Very wide pleats spacing where it tore ... no surprise there.

ZeeOSix - no surprise!!!

Wide pleat space + weak brittle media + a little delta-p and you get a tear.


Yep ... that formula for disaster has been said many times for the last 4 years ... YET, Purolator (which I'm sure have read this forum many times) never seems to take note and do something about the problem.

 

[bullwinkle]

Originally Posted by 69Torino
All this talk about FL-820s filters tearing, and I've used many on my Marauder. Actually the only three filters I've ever used on that car have been FL-820s, K&N HP-2010, and Ford Racing FL-820s. The Ford Racing version has been my favorite, though I've never cut one open. I just recently bought a Longacre filter cutter, so when the Ford Racing FL-820s comes off this time, it will be cut open. These filters are almost downright beautiful. Problem is that it will likely only get 3k miles in a years' time. I do also have a plebeian FL-820s on the shelf, that I may put in service on my 292k mile Freestyle, just to see if it tears. Likely with Pennzoil HM 5w-20 that I got on clearance. If 292k miles hasn't killed it, a Tearolator sure won't!

I don't doubt the many factual reports and pics of torn FL-820s filters, and I'm willing to perform a litmus test on my own beater, as it were. If it tears on me I guess it'll be K&N or Ford Racing only on the Marauder until the bitter end. I really just use whatever on the Freestyle though.

‘53Stude, thank you kindly for all of your efforts. It takes a great deal of time and effort, and it's appreciated.
I could be wrong, but I don't think that Ford Racing filter is a Purolator-base plate looks like a Champion Labs to me.

 

[69Torino]

I'm sure you're right. They don't look like Purolator at all. Wish I knew.