I though all Walmarts, US and Canada, have gone to Purolator and Bosch filters? The Toyota OEM is still the best IMHO.

 

I noticed this also at my WalMart which isn't surprising since it's not an auto store. I'm partial to Purolator or Toyota OEM anyway and wouldn't consider the brand you mentioned.

 

Our Walmart has Fram filters. The filter used in the 2013 RAV4 is used in a lot of recent Toyota's. Look for a for a 2012 or 2013 Camry filter. The Fram filter element used on recent Toyota's looks very much like the OEM filter. Over the years Fram has been plagued with counterfeit filters.

 

If I were to counterfeit an oil filter it would be for a brand which sells for more e.g. K&N, AmsOIL, Mobil, ....

But I heard of couterfeit filters before.

 

Counterfeiting Fram filters is like making knock-off Yugo's or Hyundai Ponies. Copying junk just gives you worse junk

 

It took Walmart years to list an air filter (here they stock only Fram) for my wife's 2002 Honda CR-V. By the time they finally began to stock and list the filter that CR-V version had gone out of production.

 

I used to use the xg fram line. I knew that had the best filtration in fram's line up, but didn't realize that they spec out oil type conv/ synth for their filters...good to know.

 

Don't get too caught up in trying to find the filter with the best filtration. That is not what Toyota believes. Actually, Toyota (Denso Filters) but will change to another manufacturer occasionally.

Surprisingly Toyota (OEM) filtration is not that great, more like the 95% Fram Extra Guard filters. Why not better filtration? Toyota figures, like many other manufacturers that it is better to have quantity of oil flowing through your engine vs. minimal flow but very filtered oil. What I have read; Toyota and other manufacturers do not believe that your engine can be damaged by a few microns of dirt. They seem to be right.

I know many people who will only use the Royal Purple, Mobil 1, or K&N filters on their car on the belief that the highest filtration filter must be best for your engine. To make that theory correct, you must find some engines that (under similar conditions) using the cheap orange Fram filter and had damage. Problem is; many people have upwards of 500,000 miles and more using nothing other than the cheap orange Fram filter. How could this be?

When someone tells you that one filter is better than another, make sure to ask for their test data, and rationale. Even the people who cut open filters; quickly learn that this tells them about the construction of the filter, but does not tell them much about how well it works.

Lots of good oil and filter information can be found at Bobistheoilguy.com

 

Some comments say Toyota or Purolator is preferred…would you please expand on why. Do you have objective facts or is this a personal preference? Your reasoning is appreciated.

 

Here's two studies, you can see the poor Fram in the first, both Toyota and Purolator come ou good in the studies.

Oil Filters - Dissected - Chrysler 300C Forum: 300C & SRT8 Forums

2nd study

http://www.minimopar.net/oilfilters/index.html

in addition Purolator are readily available and Toyota may be purchase online in bulk to amortize shipping cost for a good price.

 

Which oil filter is best?

This question will have everyone chiming in with: My neighbors, buddy, friends cars used a (add filter brand of choice) and his engine blew up. Heck, even my dad had his preference for oil and filter.

I believe for the average consumer vehicle (not a race engine), the most important thing is to match the filter to the oil. If I were running Mobil 1 synthetic, I would use a filter designed for synthetic oil and up to around 10,000+ miles. As for brand, I would pick whatever is most convenient and cheapest. In my area, we have an Advanced Auto, Auto Zone, NAPA, Car Quest, and a Walmart. The Walmart has Fram which is just fine with me. For my synthetic oil usage, I prefer the Ultra Guard.

I like the Ultra Guard for these reasons:

1) The filter comes in a sealed box. No possibility for switching or tampering.
2) Price is $8.95
3) Advertised at up to 15,000 miles of protection
4) Designed for synthetic oil
5) 99% dirt trapping efficiency using ISO 4548-12 tests with particles in the 20 micron range
6) They include an oil change reminder window sticker – convenient – Yes, LOL

 

I wasnt going to post this...but..I stopped using the fram filter some time ago. Both myself and a co-worker changed our oil one weekend.( seperatly...my camry and his matrix Both of our filters were crushed in the middle, like you squeezed out in your hand. I now only buy either genuine yoda or napa gold, i have since noticed my oil is MUCH cleaner at change time than with the fram filters.

 

I also had reservations about posting this, but if one watches the video a Q/A issue becomes apparent, and there would be a question about how often this problem occurs: Smitty sez--: OIl Filter Comparison--Fram Users Take Note

 

I also had reservations about posting this, but if one watches the video a Q/A issue becomes apparent, and there would be a question about how often this problem occurs: Smitty sez--: OIl Filter Comparison--Fram Users Take Note

Should a $3.98 orange Fram filter fail, who pays for your engine? Fram does. How long do you think they would be in business if their filters failed? Even if just a handful of filters failed, the bad press would cut their stock in half or more.

I realize that when an engine fails, we would all like to point our finger to the oil filter, but is just isn't always so. There are videos on Youtube showing the failure of almost every brand filter, so who is right? Who is wrong? Its difficult to find a race car not running a FRAM filter. They make a great like of high performance filters.

The link you sited discussed the construction of the FRAM filter. Again, I have to ask: Show me an engine that failed due to a FRAM filter. With the millions of filters sold every year, there is just no evidence that FRAM is any better or worse than any other filter.

 

I've used the STP S9972 (yes, the STP oil treatment people) from AutoZone.

No objective evidence, just opened the boxes and looked at the construction of the Bosch, Fram, STP, etc. side-by-side. The STP was noticably more uniform or perfect in the filter pleat arrangement. Also, the top and bottom are a cleanly attached to the filter element; other types have blobs of glue, mis-shapen tops (warped). Of course, the filter element proper is what counts; again, I do not have any facts on the filter capability proper.

 

This thread is a perfect example of why car manufacturers are making maintenance by the owner more difficult and eliminating things such as the transmission dipstick.

A person buys a $25k car but then tries to save $5 by buying a cheap oil filter at Walmart instead of an OEM part. And later, when the car develops issues due to improper maintenance, the owner of course wants to hold the manufacturer liable for the repairs. With current extended warranties of 5 years and 60k miles, car manufacturers are on the hook and it is very difficult to prove that a failure is due to owners mistakes (like using a cheap $3 oil filter from Walmart).

I am an engineer involved in the design of complex equipment and the only way to make things idiot-proof is to prevent the idiot from being able to touch anything he is not supposed to touch. There is a good reason why car mechanics have to receive at least 2 years of professional training. Most car owners are simply not qualified to maintain modern cars. The fact that you learned how to change oil in your old beater in the 1970's does not mean that you are qualified to perform maintenance on anything build in the 21st century.

 

There is a good reason why car mechanics have to receive at least 2 years of professional training. Most car owners are simply not qualified to maintain modern cars. The fact that you learned how to change oil in your old beater in the 1970's does not mean that you are qualified to perform maintenance on anything build in the 21st century.

And you think the guy changing your oil and filter at a dealership is a red seal ASE master tech? Give your head a shake. The "old guys" changing their own oil and filter at home will do a more thorough and accurate job than 99.9% of the minimum wage kids manning the lube rack at any dealership. I am quite confident that not one of those kids even knows the torque specs of a drain bolt, or how to correctly use a torque wrench.

Today's oil changes are no different than any other wet sump internal combustion engine's from the '70's. A drain plug is a drain plug, and a filter, whether a canister or cartridge, is still a filter.

 

By the way, regarding the original topic, I shop for oil filter cartridges where I know they'll always be in stock, my local Toyota dealer. I don't like to go there often so I bought a 10 pack. Should keep me going for a few years!

 

++ on that. Like to say, when you DIY at least you know what the idiot who worked on it did.
A dealer tech may have more first hand knowledge, but that doesn't mean it is applied properly if at all. It can be hard to find a good dealer tech, if you do find one, how do you get him assigned to your car.

 

How do you determine a filter caused an engine failure?

 

I am on retainer with some large oil change shops. Quite often they get into trouble for all sorts of reasons. When an engine is ruined, we always send the filter to a lab for testing. They check the threads for stripping, the gasket, virtually everything about the filter. To this day, we have not found even one bad oil filter.

The only thing even close to filter related is the tech failing to remove the oil rubber gasket off the oil filter boss and then screwing on a new filter, thus doubling the gasket.

 

People like to have something to point at. Usually a filter fail will happen because of some other failure. But because somebody cut open the filter they can point at it and say they solved the mystery. Fram, since they sell the most filters, will get blamed the most. Of the pictures I've seen I can't remember one that looked like the oil was in good shape and the filter just failed.

 

Price being equal the quality of the basic Purolator is better over the basic Fram, so why not buy the Purolator.

Shown here Oil Filters - Dissected - Chrysler 300C Forum: 300C & SRT8 Forums

Fram has a bad reputation and maybe it's undeserved BUT it has that reputation.

That's said I'm partial to Toyota OEM or Purolator Pure One Gold.

 

Not that link AGAIN. To avoid any qualms use about filter quality, use the reasonably priced factory filter.