Oil filters

[MI-Roger]

I planned to buy a pair of Bosch 3422 filters today for upcoming oil changes. I found that O'Reilly's sells these filters for ~$7.50 each, a savings of nearly 50% compared to other mainstream auto parts places! While in the store I spotted that O'Reilly's also sells Wix brand filters for a dollar less than the Bosch.

I left with two Wix 51561, the slightly over-sized Chrysler PT Cruiser Turbo filter that also fits our Saabs.

[200095wagonV6]

... And they sell those at Walmart, the obvious place to find the cheapest products of anything.
<snip>
There really isn't much price difference for most filters and most only seem to differentiate between packaging and marketing talk. So I just stay with the larger brands like Bosch, K&N, Mobil, Saab or MANN.

I seem to recall seeing that Walmart low price claim debunked pretty regularly over the years. No? Or did you just mean to say that they generally sell a lot of crap, maybe?

As for the difference between filters, I have no expertise. However I recently stumbled across this:
http://www.austincc.edu/wkibbe/oilfilterstudy.htm
... which might suggest that there are some non-trivial differences between brands and lines of filters, in terms of their construction.

A QUESTION FOR THE GROUP regarding oil filter size, in general: Let's say a car's spec calls for a 3" tall oil filter (standing on the threaded end), and a 4" tall filter is available with the same fitting and gasket, in the same line from the same manufacturer.

If there is plenty of room for the "taller" filter to attach to the engine (without reducing ground clearance, etc.), are there good technical reasons to stick with the smaller filter, with its presumably smaller filtration media? I'm tempted to buy a taller filter because intuitively it seems like a smart bet.

Then again, my intuitions have been debunked at least as regularly as Walmart low price claims. I'm hoping to hear something empirically based from someone with some real background in this topic.

[Also looking forward to hearing: "If the manufacturer's engineers called for a 3" filter, mounting a 3.25" filter on your car will surely cause perturbations in the orbit of the moon.]

Thanks!

[southsaab]

I've read that it is better to have the larger oil filter due to the increased size. More filter area, more filtering. But I've been checking out Chuck Andrews saab site with his many articles in Nines magazine, and there was much research done about sludge, and one off the things found was much of the filtering was done by the fine mesh pick up screen in the sump. Seems to be a Saab feature. If that's the case, the oil filter brand used may not be that critical. The oil that is used , the mileage it's changed at, and according to the research, the temperature the oil operates in are more important( cooler is better).
If in doubt, using a Saab brand filter either standard or extended will be fine for piece of mind. Not sure an oil filter fight , ah discussion, is in order, but passions run high when it comes to fluids

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[200095wagonV6]

I've read that it is better to have the larger oil filter due to the increased size. More filter area, more filtering. But I've been checking out Chuck Andrews saab site with his many articles in Nines magazine, and there was much research done about sludge, and one off the things found was much of the filtering was done by the fine mesh pick up screen in the sump. Seems to be a Saab feature. If that's the case, the oil filter brand used may not be that critical. The oil that is used , the mileage it's changed at, and according to the research, the temperature the oil operates in are more important( cooler is better).
If in doubt, using a Saab brand filter either standard or extended will be fine for piece of mind. Not sure an oil filter fight , ah discussion, is in order, but passions run high when it comes to fluids

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I haven't seen, here or elsewhere, any claims of inherent risks to a larger filter. I guess I'll give that turbo PT Cruiser number a try.
If anything, slightly higher capacity and a (perhaps trivial) increased in exposed area for cooling cant hurt in terms of temp and might help a smidgin.

[Gen-X'er]

I tend to go with Bosch. I change the oil regularly and use synth so I don't know how much it matters.

[rayben]

I think that the ones for Bosch are the best choice.

[wally]

I pretty much only use fram filters these days. They put out some poor quality products a while back, which hurt their reputation, especially with the folks posting over on BITOG, but recently they've really stepped up their game.

Many would say that their Ultra line is one one of the best out there. They have high efficiency ratings at both 5 and 20 microns, have synthetic media, etc.

[SSpencer740]

I personally have had a positive experience with Bosch filters.