Accord Oil Filters

[RealWing]

I cut open several oil filters that fit Hondas after I found out that Honda Canada filters are made by Fram. Fram filters appear to be poor quality and I would not use one in the Accord - nor will I use Honda Canada's filters either!!!

I've posted many of my photos on the Acura MDX web site.

http://www.acuramdx.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9528&pagenumber=1

[Big Mike]

http://www.knfilters.com/oilfilter.htm

These are the filters I use in the cars I still CARE about. I do thinks its a bit anal retentive to worry about the filter. If you change the oil frequently I think thats much more important than the brand of filter you use. I mean if the oil is always "clean" what difference is the filter gonna make? BTW I highly recommend K&N's air filters. Thats a whole different can of worms.

Mike

[RealWing]

I have to disagree with you about the oil filters not mattering if you change your oil often.

Oil filters are installed to remove the very small particles that can cause engine wear in critical locations. Some of these critical locations are connecting rod and main bearings where the bearing clearances are about 20-40 microns. This is the size of particles you DONT want going thru your engine continuously.

K&N are good filters but they are definiely not as efficient at removing these small particles as other filters. They flow lots of oil - but do so at the expense of filtering capability. (ie a finer filter causes more flow restriction and less overall flow- for the same surface area)

Here is a quote from one researcher: "Abrasive engine wear can be substantially reduced with an increase in filter single pass efficiency Compared to a 40 micron filter, engine wear was reduced by 50 percent with 30 micron filtration. Likewise wear was reduced by 70 percent with 15 micron filtration."

Note that the trucking industry uses a bypass filtration system in addition to the full flow system. This filters oil down to about 5 micron. This is one reason why truck engines last so long!!

This is the same thing for K&N air filters - they flow lots of air but dont have good filtering capability. In fact the air filter efficiency is probably more critical than the oil filter because the engine inhales tons of air - and it contains lots of dirt!!

[Big Mike]

Well as a point of reference my first Accord ( 84 sedan) was driven over 400,000 km without any engine overhaul of any sort. The body was shot and it was put out of its misery in 1998. By the time it hit 300,000 km I treated it with much less regard than when it was new. I delayed oil and filter changes until at least 10,000 km had passed. That engine never burned oil and ran like a swiss watch till the day it was retired.


My next Honda ( 94 Del Sol Si) was pretty much the same story. I only had it for 2 yrs ( too small for wife AND kids) but using the K&N filters ( air and oil) plus a synthetic blend of oil I put almost 150,000km on that little 4 cyl engine. It never failed to run perfectly and I'd be willing to bet it still is.

I think with the road conditions being what they are in Canada any car that gets over 400,000 km has served its useful purpose and microns be damned.

Mike

[RealWing]

"I think with the road conditions being what they are in Canada any car that gets over 400,000 km has served its useful purpose and microns be damned."

I agree 100% !!!!!!

[impulse]

Now that statement says it all!!!!! Bravo!