FL400 Oil filter

[HenryMac]

And another review:

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[HenryMac]

And now here is Ford's take....

 

[Floyd]

Anybody do the math?
What really is the volume capacity difference?
The 400 is taller while the 910 is larger in diameter.

BTW... Doesn't the FL1-A interchange with the 400?... much larger volume.
I'm still using the 910 on my TC, my 2019 Ranger, and my former(now my son's) 2008 Escape.

 

[HenryMac]

I went down this Wix vs Motorcraft road when I first got the truck. I almost posted these pictures but didn't want to start a war.

Tl;dr they're both perfectly acceptable but I'm using Wix

The Motorcraft is taller, so on first glance it looks like it has more filter media. However, the Wix pleats are deeper. I don't remember the calculations but the Wix had a significantly higher filter area by the square inch.

Not sure the deeper pleats is a good thing. Look at the center core diameter difference between the two filters.

In the videos they take out the paper element and pull it length wise.. then measure the length.

And the Motorcraft is longer, plus it's taller, thus more filter area.

Do you still have the two filters such that you could measure the filter elements extended lengths?

 

[dmeyer302]

Not sure the deeper pleats is a good thing. Look at the center core diameter difference between the two filters.

In the videos they take out the paper element and pull it length wise.. then measure the length.

And the Motorcraft is longer, plus it's taller, thus more filter area.

Do you still have the two filters such that you could measure the filter elements extended lengths?

What I was describing was exactly what you’re suggesting, only measured a different way. If I had pulled them out flat, the Wix would have had more material.

 

[Floyd]

In over 50 years of experience with all types of filters I have not had a Motorcraft filter fail in service or show a defect out of the box. I use Motorcraft on all my Ford products.
I have found Wix to be a consistently high quality filter as well, and have used them on machinery and off brand vehicles as well as heavy equipment.
Unfortunately, I have seen too many failures and quality issues to trust Fram. They had a fine reputation 40-50years ago but now I think they are no better than store brand and maybe worse than some of those.
Fram does have that nifty grip surface which is great for removal provided it can be removed in one piece.
I know a lot of enthusiasts and mechanics and I think most of them would agree with the above assessment.

 

[t4thfavor]

I'm using the Mobil 1 equivalent of the FL400s because I get them buy one get one free, or with $10 off my oil purchase making them really close in price to the FL400s. I had already acquired about 5 FL5400s (for my Focus ST) filters on clearance for 1.99 each, so I used those up first (I think I have one left) in rotation with my Mobil 1 filters. (I think the Mobil filter is a 201a or something like that)

 

[HenryMac]

I'm using the Mobil 1 equivalent of the FL400s because I get them buy one get one free, or with $10 off my oil purchase making them really close in price to the FL400s. I had already acquired about 5 FL5400s (for my Focus ST) filters on clearance for 1.99 each, so I used those up first (I think I have one left) in rotation with my Mobil 1 filters. (I think the Mobil filter is a 201a or something like that)

https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants...-us/wmi/recommendations/2019/54/696/14865/1/0

What I was describing was exactly what you’re suggesting, only measured a different way. If I had pulled them out flat, the Wix would have had more material.

Did you take into account that the Motorcraft has 62 pleats, where the WIX has 50 pleats?

I guess I need to buy a couple of filters once my truck gets out of warranty.

Motorcraft has more pleats, and the o.d. is bigger and the filter element is taller. Taking some crude dimensions from your photo's (scale doesn't matter since the same scale was used for each) it appears the Motorcraft would have more filter media area?

 

[t4thfavor]

https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants...-us/wmi/recommendations/2019/54/696/14865/1/0

...

Not that one, that's the FL910s equivalent. The one I use is about 2" longer than that one. Probably a 202a then, but I'm too lazy to go out into the garage to check

 

[RedlandRanger]

I'm using the Mobil 1 equivalent of the FL400s because I get them buy one get one free, or with $10 off my oil purchase making them really close in price to the FL400s. I had already acquired about 5 FL5400s (for my Focus ST) filters on clearance for 1.99 each, so I used those up first (I think I have one left) in rotation with my Mobil 1 filters. (I think the Mobil filter is a 201a or something like that)

I bought several FL-910 filters from Rockauto and they were only $3.19 each. You have to pay shipping, but even after paying shipping they are still pretty cheap.

 

[dmeyer302]

@HenryMac I can't find them now, I think I probably pitched them. At any rate, I remember making the same assumption as you (Motorcraft is better) until I actually did the calculations, then the Wix came out on top. I got an A in geometry so I don't suspect that's the issue. Point is, we're splitting hairs here and like I said before, both are fine quality filters.

 

[t4thfavor]

@HenryMac I can't find them now, I think I probably pitched them. At any rate, I remember making the same assumption as you (Motorcraft is better) until I actually did the calculations, then the Wix came out on top. I got an A in geometry so I don't suspect that's the issue. Point is, we're splitting hairs here and like I said before, both are fine quality filters.

Take that paper out of the filter entirely, stretch it out, and do an area calculation on both. LxW. The one with more will have better filtering capacity.

 

[VAMike]

Take that paper out of the filter entirely, stretch it out, and do an area calculation on both. LxW. The one with more will have better filtering capacity.

no, that one has more surface area. unknown in that comparison is what they pass and how efficiently they pass it. just looking at the two it's seems that the ford filter material is thicker. that one also has more holes on a larger inside surface. they almost certainly won't behave identically, but do they behave "close enough"? I don't know, but I don't see a good reason not to just stick with the one ford says to use.

 

[t4thfavor]

Surface area along with micron rating is what I was getting at. If they have comparable micron ratings, then generally the one with more area will be the better filtering device. I also like filters with metal inside vs plastic that you see in tons of other filters, so it's nice to see they both are comprised of metal parts.

 

[VAMike]

By law they can’t void your warranty based on routine maintenance.

Yes they can. What Magnuson–Moss prevents the manufacturer doing is voiding a warranty solely because a third party did the routine maintenance. The manufacture may refuse to cover damage if the third party performed that maintenance incorrectly or if a third-party part caused damage. As an example, if you go to the quick lube place and they forget to put the drain plug back in and you drive your truck until the engine stops, Ford will not cover that under warranty. Or, if you get a cheap oil filter and it pukes its guts all over the inside of your engine, Ford will not cover that either. In the first case you can try to get the quick lube place to pay for your new engine, and in the second case you can get the cheap oil filter manufacturer to pay for your new engine (good luck with that).

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