The wrong oil filter bought on Amazon destroyed my engine

[OrangeStreak]

Did you get your internet forum user training in a package deal with parking lessons?

Yep... got a package with both from Tracy's Parking School @Tracy Bowman and she threw in a helmet just in case I get into any parking altercations...

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[dtech]

or when the fuel line on the hearse popped and was spraying gas right on the muffler. so glad it was still cold

Ok grew up in WNY and fuel line popping off reminds me of when a friend gifted me a 1960 Mercury Monterey, with a leaking rusted out fuel line. I had to get to my parents garage about 15 miles away, it was unregistered/uninsured, I rigged up a temporary rubber hose which hung a few inches off the ground, was driving thru a not so great neighborhood when a dog ran in front of the car, I couldn't avoid it, ran over it and it tore the fuel line off, spewing gasoline, I had to crawl under the car and hook it back up and get the hell out of there as I'm sure I would have been lynched, the dog seemed ok but I didn't wait around to verify.

 

[pbethel]

Last 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 wel...

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...

No.
Threads are right or they are not. Wrong pitch, courser or finer, would bind as you tightened.
Don't think Amazon is the proper one to sue. Fram building a defective filter, is the one to sue.
Long post, but not all the info, like Fram number.
Glad everything turned out OK.

 

[NotBudule]

Ok grew up in WNY and fuel line popping off reminds me of when a friend gifted me a 1960 Mercury Monterey, with a leaking rusted out fuel line. I had to get to my parents garage about 15 miles away, it was unregistered/uninsured, I rigged up a temporary rubber hose which hung a few inches off the ground, was driving thru a not so great neighborhood when a dog ran in front of the car, I couldn't avoid it, ran over it and it tore the fuel line off, spewing gasoline, I had to crawl under the car and hook it back up and get the hell out of there as I'm sure I would have been lynched, the dog seemed ok but I didn't wait around to verify.

Edit that story so it's a LOG that you run over , and not a DOG , just one letter , makes a.big difference...

 

[D Fresh]

Edit that story so it's a LOG that you run over , and not a DOG , just one letter , makes a.big difference...

Do logs run out into the street where you're from?

 

[THLONE]

So because you had a business you were able to write the loss off. Spread the pain. LOL

 

[NotBudule]

Do logs run out into the street where you're from?

WV ? Hell yes , every rain , had them fall in front of me and behind me ....
Story could have been told without a fuel soaked dog crawling off to die , that's all I'm saying...

 

[Dsc]

Thanks Internet forum......I have been changing my oil and filters for over 40 yrs, never had anyone else do it. Now I am questioning the risks.
Always checked parts look to same, cross check PNs but at times there are differences, mostly as manufacturers commonize designs.
To the OP that certainly sucks and is a tough lesson but be sure it happens more than you would think. It just few have the guts to say so.

 

[egilbe]

At least one more here
The Ford parts counters have sent me the wrong part more than a few times over the years. Twice on the current Ranger. If something like an oil filter is a slightly different size then that is certainly a red flag for me. Internal bypass may likely be incorrect also that would allow dirty oil to bypass the filter media . There are other things to consider on some very important parts other than , " it fits".

When I had my first windshield replaced on my Ranger, I gave they parts guy at the dealership the vin number, he called the autoglass place that does their windshield replacements and they installed the wrong windshield. I noticed it because none of the automatic wipers worked or the autosensing headlights wouldn't work. I called them up and they replaced the windshield again with the correct windshield, but a few weeks after they left and I moved out of state, I noticed a scratch on the inside of the windshield and now both lower corners are cracked. Worst experience replacing a windshield I've ever had, all because my truck is lifted and Safelite wouldn't replace the windshield because of that, stating it needs to be recalibrated. Nobody has recalibrated anything on the windshield. Crock of BS if you ask me.

 

[drcollie]

"To the OP that certainly sucks and is a tough lesson but be sure it happens more than you would think. It just few have the guts to say so."

Thanks. Well, I knew when I posted this there would be sniper shots in various forms, there always is. And that's OK, that's the way forums work. The whole point of the post was really two-fold

1. Check your parts before installing. "Measure twice, cut once" is a good analogy and I failed to do that. The incorrect part can ruin your vehicle. If this thread helps just one other person to stop and check - and catch a bad part, then the thread is successful.

2. The value of these trucks have held up well, better than I expected. Sometimes it pays to punt rather than repair.

 

[VAMike]

For giggles I checked a couple of places for the oil filter, using each site's functionality to specify the vehicle. On ford parts I just drilled into the options and found the FL-910s for $7.36 (and out of stock at the local dealer). Only option listed. I picked advance auto as a representative brick & mortar parts shop, searched for "oil filter motorcraft" with the vehicle filter in place. FL-910s is the only option, $8.99 and I can pick one up locally right now. rockauto drill through ford/2019/ranger/engine/oilfilter menu and motorcraft FL910s is right there, $4.09 or $3.72 in bulk. Amazon, "motorcraft oil filter" and under the banner "These products fit your vehicle / 2019 Ford Ranger" are these results:

FL-910S. $8.18 but "51% off" so $3.97

FL-910S. $11.75

FL-910S. $15.77

VP Racing VP2835 $14.99

ACDelco PF53 $6.85

Purolator L10241 $9.08

K&N HP-1002. $15.99

Motorcraft FP88 $24.25 (this is the cabin air filter)

Motorcraft YCC612 A/C Compressor $294.82 (WTF? )

Motorcraft FL-820-S Oil Filter $8.18/$3.97

Motorcraft FL-500S $9.07/$6.92

Motorcraft FL2051S $29.07/$15.97

Motorcraft FL2016 ... you get the idea


So can you find what you need? Sure. Is it the best or even a great way to find what you need? That's a personal decision, but I find it pretty easy to say no. As far as I know there isn't a way to get amazon to just give you the exact matches for the thing you asked for and not other stuff. If I add quotes around "motorcraft oil filter" the results actually get worse, and now FL2051S comes up as the third non-sponsored result, after the sponsored results at the top for "oil filter cap removal tool" and K&N HP-1010.

The "51% off" stuff varies based on whether amazon thinks you're a good customer and willing to extend a loss leader. Depends on your location, purchase history, etc. A dozen people checking can get a dozen different prices. If you check from another browser that isn't associated with your amazon account, you can get a different price yourself. Sometimes lower, sometimes higher. So if amazon likes you, yeah it might be the cheapest by a few cents unless you buy in bulk. If amazon doesn't give you as big a discount it's about the same as ford/any other parts store. If the "shipped and sold by amazon" part isn't available or maybe not immediately available in your area so you go to the next option which is "sold by a sleaze on amazon's site", you're suddenly paying anywhere from a couple of bucks more than normal to double for the same part. If they're out of stock also and you scroll down further and don't check carefully, you're suddenly getting the wrong part. No parts supplier that I've used lately will do that ridiculous "well, I'm out of ideas, now I'll just throw vaguely related shit against the wall so it looks like I have a lot of stuff" thing that amazon does. Should the buyer double check before using a part? Sure. But humans are humans, and if the tech exists to help reduce human errors, why not use it?

Anyway, end of the day, amazon might save you a couple of bucks over a brick and mortar parts store. Compared to other low margin internet-only suppliers, it's about the same but it does have the most unreliable search mechanism.

 

[Blmpkn]

Being able to get what exactly what you need, every time, off of Amazon likely requires a birth date at least into the mid 1970s.

 

[Bob902]

Do logs run out into the street where you're from?

Damn logs are fast, too!

 

[dtech]

Edit that story so it's a LOG that you run over , and not a DOG , just one letter , makes a.big difference...

sage advice as if nothing else Americans are dog crazy (never had one, have a cat) but this was back in the 70s and to be more explicit I was driving thru a ghetto section and yes dogs commonly were allowed to run loose. I was a poor college student and drove junk cars, another car a friend gave me was a pontiac custom, in decent shape but the parking pawl had broken so one had to remember to use the parking brake. Well it snows in buffalo and there are numerous narrow one way streets in older sections of town that don't get plowed, again in a not great part of town I got hung up on the snow, the noise of spinning rear wheels attracted help, I got out of the car to greet the volunteers - putting on the parking brake, got back in the car and forgot about the brake, 3 folks pushing and car goes nowhere, more pushers joined, then more and finally the car starts moving but it's only slowly sliding on the snow, they renew the pushing, same result, finally one guy sees the wheels aren't turning and says" man you're f**cking with us , we're gonna take care of this piece of s*it and you too" .
Fear made my brain work and I remembered to release the brake, had enough traction to get my sorry butt outta there.

 

[elvis-earl]

I learned on my previous 2000 Ranger....ALWAYS use the Motorcraft OEM filter. It seems like all other brands leak at least a little. And, BTW, when shit like that happens you should be able to sue the bejesus out of Amazon but that will never happen.

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