Re: Mythbuster #777 Fram Oil Filters

Posted by JWL On 2011/6/21 16:38:04

Let me add a first-hand account of an oil filter failure.

It happened in the mid-1980s. I changed the oil and filter on my daughter's 1980 Honda Accord. I bought a Bosch oil filter. I had never used a Bosch filter before, but given the reputation of their electrical parts, I figured it would be a quality product. Wrong.

Shortly after the oil change, my daughter drove the Honda to visit a friend in T or C, New Mexico (yes, there is a town that is named after the old radio quiz show). T or C is about 150 miles from Santa Fe where we were living at the time. Anyway, on the way home the car lost oil pressure. She sat in the car waiting for help for several hours. Finally help came. She got the car towed back to T or C. Where it received a new filter and oil.

She called me to report the incident. I told her to keep the Bosch oil filter and bring it back with her. The Honda was drivable, but it was making a noise and some damage had been done.

I took the failed filter back to the parts store where it was bought looking for reimbursement for the engine repair and towing. The store management said they would need to send the filter back to Bosch for testing to see if the failure was because of a bad filter or incorrect installation. I figured that was the end of it, I'd never hear anything.

We had the engine repaired and paid for it. Several weeks later we heard from Bosch that the filter failed because of the gasket did not seal, and to send them the invoices for the engine work and towing charges and they would reimburse us for the costs. We did and they did.

It ended well, but I still shutter when I think of what could have happened to my daughter when she was stranded by the highway late at night.

(o{I}o)