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The Worst Parts Ever?


Ulu

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Fram filters...oil, fuel, transmission...had problems with fuel filters leaking on lawn equipment back in the late 90s, then read about oil filters that were basically shoebox cardboard shoved in a can...bought a low mileage '90 Ramcharger at a discount cuz I haggled the dealer on transmission issues, pulled the pan on that Torq-Flite and there's a Fram filter...replaced with Wix and made the adjustments as required and that old buggy came alive, as OD magically reappeared...how they are still in business boggles the mind 

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9 hours ago, JBNeal said:

FB_IMG_1716479225538.jpg.586dec39b009dceef9fc94756df87723.jpg

OOPS! Quality Control Sleeping on the Job Again.

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I suggest a 5 lb hammer and jam that sucker in there. 💪 With a little JB Weld you'll have no problems. 👍

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Speaking of good, solid brands that went to pot after being bought out - for non-automotive, I nominate White Mountain ice cream mixers.  Growing up, we kids spent many a hour either sitting on the top of one, while Dad was cranking it, or later, taking turns cranking it ourselves. 

 

My wife's family had one with the electric motor, so when we wanted to get one ourselves, she wouldn't hear of getting a hand crank model.  So we bought "the best", a White Mountain with an electric motor.  I didn't know then yet that the company had been bought out by 'China'.  It didn't take long at all for the Chinese-made gear box to start grinding up its own inards, till it stopped all together.  I think it might be a local company, but we bought the entire top part in a local lumber/hardware store, American-made, they said.  And it must be true, because it has worked flawlessly since, and doesn't "cry out in pain" the whole time the way the original one did. 

 

It takes a long time to build up a good solid reputation for a company, but it doesn't take long at all to ruin one.  (And much longer to rebuild it, once it's been destroyed.)

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On 5/22/2024 at 10:23 AM, JBNeal said:

Fram filters...oil, fuel, transmission...had problems with fuel filters leaking on lawn equipment back in the late 90s, then read about oil filters that were basically shoebox cardboard shoved in a can...bought a low mileage '90 Ramcharger at a discount cuz I haggled the dealer on transmission issues, pulled the pan on that Torq-Flite and there's a Fram filter...replaced with Wix and made the adjustments as required and that old buggy came alive, as OD magically reappeared...how they are still in business boggles the mind 

So I noticed that the engine on my 1980 Volare was over a quart low when I checked it prior to initial start this year. It was full last fall and at least a quart was caught in the drip pan. I filled it and started it. Couldn’t see any leaks so I shut it off and went inside.  I didn’t check it again for a couple of days but when I did it had leaked out another 1/8 quart or so.  I put it up on the ramps but none of the usual suspects seemed to be wet or loose.  I checked the tightness of the filter and it seemed fine.  Kept searching and noticed a wet spot on a suspension end. I cleaned it and then took a mirror to see the underneath.  Maybe the pressure sensor I thought. Nope, dry as could be.  Finally decided to put another filter on.  The filters are Frams as I bought several some years ago as to have them on hand.  Inspection didn’t show any imperfections and the housing was smooth and clean.  I haven’t driven either car much so far but having checked the oil several times now the level hasn’t changed.  Fram lack of quality?  Maybe so. When I go through this batch I will change brands.

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44 minutes ago, plymouthcranbrook said:

Fram lack of quality?  Maybe so. When I go through this batch I will change brands.

Seems that you bought them several years ago, seems more likely they are better quality then today ..... Maybe you just got a bad one?

 

I am not going to talk bad about the quality of fram over others .... I personally use wix filters.

In another forum recently we were talking about the quality of wix filters. A guy recently ordered a batch of them and one filter he had no oil pressure when starting his truck.

Turned out the crappy filter he had blocked oil flow. The way it was built it was put together wrong, he cut it open and found different quality of parts then expected.

The inside of the canister had surface rust on it .... wix uses a decal sticker on outside ... this filter the canister was stamped no sticker.

 

The only conclusion is someone in China is counterfeiting oil filters. Think they ordered them from Amazon. Imitating name brands and poor quality inside.

The wix filters I bought locally 2 months ago are fine. I also think wix makes filters for Napa also, my local Napa just sells wix though.

 

I'm going to say that fram is probably just fine ..... assuming you change your oil regularly ..... need to be careful where you buy them.

A lot of people are saying the quality of wix is going down also ...... I think the quality of all is going down.

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Speaking of oil filters...

 

Helped my son change the oil in his BMW.  This is the second change we have done since we bought it.  The last oil change we put in a Wix oil filter.  When I pulled it out of the canister yesterday the end cap came off in my hand.

 

Wix had been my go to for a very long time, but they got bought out a couple years ago by Mann and Hummel, a German company that supposedly had a good rep.

 

Not so sure about that now.

 

We won't go into the ham fist goon of a son that I have who stripped the drain plug in his aluminum oil pan.  Other than to say the apple does not fall far from the tree.  He about threw up when I told him a new pan, from BMW, was $800.   Yes, we used a torque wrench, it was set to 18 ft/lbs. 

 

I had him watch the how to replace your oil pan video on that.  Between the tools they say you need and the parts as well, just doing it ourselves, he was looking at over $1k to fix his boo-boo.

 

I introduced him to the tap, drill bit and slightly larger drain plug, under $50. 

 

He learned a lot yesterday. 

 

Lol

 

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I have switched everything I could oil filter wise to Baldwin. Supposedly comparable to Wix and of course NAPA Gold.  But I need to use up the old ones first. The filters I wrote about are probably 6-7 years old. I don’t know if 52 Plymouth filters have many options but I will check next time I need to buy one in about 2030 or so.

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45 years ago, I was assistant manager of an equipment rental co. We only used Wix, except for a few oddballs Wix didn’t cover.

 

I still buy Wix when I can. I quit buying Fram in the ‘70s too. In the past 50 years I have only bought Fram when there was no choice. That happened twice, maybe 3 times.

 

 

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