Honestly, I would have freaked the hell out if the filter were not utterly exactly the same.
Many years ago I was working in a garage that did oil changes as well as most maintenance items. After I changed the oil/filter on a car the lifters were very loudLast Friday my wife was driving our 2020 Ranger XLT when the oil pressure light came on and she pulled over immediately as the truck shut off. Upon arriving to where she was, I saw there was no oil on the dipstick. I had brought along two quarts just in case, and put them in the truck, they promptly flowed right back out again. I pulled the rubber flap off in the driver's side front wheel to look at the oil filter and it had come off the truck and was laying in the inner well. I had changed the oil myself four months earlier and had bought the oil filter off Amazon, a Fram that Amazon set "Fit my vehicle". When installing it in April, It seemed to be slightly smaller that OEM, but that happens a lot so I didn't pay much attention to it. I went down to the Auto Parts store, bought a new OEM Motorcraft oil filter / 6 quarts and figured it would start right up after all was put together again. It did not, the battery was fine but the engine would not turn over. I had the Truck towed to the local Ford dealer.
Three days later they called me up with the bad news, my engine was seized. I went up to look at it put a breaker bar on the nut on the harmonic balancer and it would not budge. A new Long Block with labor was $ 13,500 installed. I said "Why a Long Block? This truck has only 13,200 miles on it, let's price out a short block and move the components over." Their lead mechanic said we could do that, but once he gets into the engine the Turbo will likely be fried from oil starvation, the cam journals ruined, passageways problematic, he didn't recommend it.
I paid $ 31,500 for this truck new two years ago, before pandemic pricing cranked the prices up. It's a company truck, so I was able to Section 179 Deduction on it back then, Both my wife and I really like the Ranger and its been super solid. I'm not big on junkyard engines, so did I want to spend $ 13,500 and have it down for a month to fix it? The dealer had a exactly one new Ranger on the lot, the limited edition "Snow" in the Avalanche color (Lariat) and I had them put a number on the 2020 with the locked up engine towards the MSRP on their new one. I was expecting the dealer to offer $ 8K to $ 10K on the truck, instead they told me $ 17K towards the new 2022, so I took the deal and can Section 179 Deduct the new one in my business as well. No headache on engine replacement and no down time.
I researched that oil filter from Amazon that "Fit my Truck" in the Amazon Garage. Turns out it's a Honda Civic oil filter and fits a few Hyundais and Toyotas as well. Obviously. the thread pitch was different and over those four months vibration loosened it enough to come off the engine. I went back to Amazon and see that it no longer lists that oil filter as fitting a 2020 Ranger, but I cannot prove that it did back in April when I purchased it, either. This was an expensive lesson to ALWAYS double check your oil filter fitment when going cross brand and doing it yourself. If it is not the same exact size, or the threads don't feel right, stop and check. I've done probably 1,000 oil changes in 50 years on all sorts of equipment, never had this happen before but you can be sure I won't trust third party oil filters to fit based on a website any more.
It's not all bad though, I got a new and nicer Ranger. Still the best truck in class even if it does have an oil filter access point that clearly was an afterthought.
The only filters I use are either OEM or Wix, nothing else...
If you google cross ref for Motor Craft FL910S they list 312 filters that will work, OEM for me!
I cannot fathom why anyone would want to cheapen out when it comes to a critical part such as an oil filter.
Is J.C. Whitney still in business?
It also says to wipe a thin film of new oil on the face of the rubber seal before installing, but almost nobody ACTUALLY reads the entire set of instructions. But I am an unusual sort of fellow. I read stuff.
A few cars got destroyed because of the K&N filters with the nut on the end, the welds around the nut would leak and cars ran out of oil.
Remember the good ole PH8A well now that you jogged my memory. My very first car was a '66 Fairlane w/C code 289..... (2bbl). Will always have fond memories..... Correct color - body - wheels - hubcaps except mine didn't have the R code 427 and fiberglass hood....
I bought a couple of illuminated grille emblems from them back in the day.....Is J.C. Whitney still in business?
