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Caddyinfo's Cadillac How-To Section
Cadillac Oil Filters
| Oil Filters FAQ | 11:30 am thursday february 7, 2002 | |
|---|---|---|
| Below is the compilation of several
e-mails regarding oil filters, specifically the PF58 used on the
Northstar. Info contained may be useful..... Question: what is the difference in the PF58 oil filters on the market and what is the UPF58 filter Answer: The slight design changes in the PF58 don't surprise me. From past development with AC and now Delphi there are periodic, ongoing process and product improvements and design changes. Sometimes changes are incorporated simply to improve the productivity at the plant making the filters and some are product driven, i.e., increased oil flow requirements, the desire to use a common filter design or components on two different applications, etc. All of these changes are tested and validated on the products affected. I can assure you from past experience that nothing is changed that deteriorates the filter's capability. In general the changes will either be "transparent" or actually improve the filters performance, i.e., more flow capability, less pressure drop, finer filtration, etc. One difference noted, the color of the seal is likely due to the fact that our OEM filters have a teflon coating on the gasket to eliminate the need for lubing the gasket. Also the teflon coated gaskets have less tendency to "vulcanize" themselves to the oil filter adapter over time. The teflon gaskets are usually red or blue. The after market gaskets are either plain or teflon coated, depending on where they went to and when they were made. As the aftermarket filter pricing is very competitive any small item that costs that may be eliminated as a non value added item (teflon coating) is often "optional". The teflon is really just an assembly aid in the engine plant as the replacement filters generally get oiled or at least the surface of the oil filter adapter is oily not squeeky clean like at brand new assembly. I would not consider this to be of any consequence when purchasing a filter. I don't know if the PF58 production is out- or inside of Delphi at the time. Over the past 20 or 30 years different filters have been outsourced depending on the volume and demand for the filter. Delphi will generally only manufacture the highest volume parts themselves. It really doesn't matter who makes it in a way because the filter will be made to our specifications and our quality standards. We buy the tooling for those filters no matter where they might be manufactured so the manufacturing source is not really an issue. It is NOT a situation where we would go to a "Fram" and just buy their filter and paint it blue...... The PF58 has always been used for our in house testing and validation so I am sure that the latest changes are always being tested on our dynos and in our test fleets. If a substantial change takes place we change the GM part number ( the actual relesed part number not the PF58 designator) and only the new part number will be used as the OEM and for testing to validate the new changes. Say, for instance, Delphi wants to change the method of "hemming" the filter parts together. This would be of no interest to the end consumer but we would run a complete series of cold pressure burst tests, etc to validate the change. The filters could be made either way from that point on and it wouldn't matter. The worst case for a filter is a brand new engine at breakin. The breakin material from the cylinder walls, any miniscule maching particles , dust sediment, etc. in the engine must be trapped in the filter. Probably 90 percent of all the material to be trapped by the oil filter over the life of the engine is trapped by the first filter....which was a Delphi filter. Please don't be offended but I think everyone is being way too anal
about the oil filter controversy. It is true that some filters are
better than others but the filter is of so little use and importance
after the first one (breakin is 90 percent over in 500 miles) that I
think it is needless worry. There are much more important things
to worry about. In fact, the only real reason I always change the
filter is to get that 1/2 quart of dirty oil out of the engine. Once
I have unscrewed the filter to |
||
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