Out of curiosity I checked with a bunch of independent specialists here in Sweden and some in Germany and England.

Without exception they use Mahle.

FWIW.

I remember Fram having a real bad rep in the motorcycle industry in the early 90's. Apparently, someone had used one of their filters on his race bike and it split in the middle of turn 8 @ Willow Springs. Needless to say, that gentleman will remember that ride.

I have also personally seen a few that were either mis-labeled, or just plain manufactured incorrectly where the threads did not fit their intended application.

The Mahle works fine -- is anyone having problems with the Mahles??

If not, then why worry about using anything else?

even if there is a chance you would get a "better" filter than mahle, how wold you know? And there is a significant premium for running such an "experiment" in terms of the risk to your engine.

Read post #1. Poster simply said he used a Purolator in place of his usual Mahle and was surprised at the amount of metal on the mag plug at the next oil change. Went back to Mahles and the metal went away, obviously trapped by the filter. Purely an informational post, pro-Mahle.

Too funny. I was reading up-fixen volume III last night and this debate was alive and well in 1972, whether a Fram filter was up to spec vs. the German Purolator.

I'm with the Steves on this: Mahle OC-54.

Chuck, my airplane didn't have an oil filter, only a screen. Made 25 hour oil changes a requirement. 25 hours is a long time for an IO-320.

I just buy another Mahle everytime I order something from Pelican; the cost difference is negligible and it IS the factory replacement, minus the P-word label. I have an unused Bosch in the garage, anybody ever use those with confidence? If not, I'm out five bucks.

steve or john..........did you ever see or photo the porsche powered plane offered by porsche. i just read a little blurb a while back. wasnt it based on an american fuselage????? never saw any pics of it. just for grins, it would be cool to see pics and specs!

Chuck this should get you started learning about the "Mooney PFM"

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=216457&highlight=mooney +pfm

I just did a study on oil filters for a Ford Duratec 3.0L (Porsche design)and the results were surprising. You don't really know what you are getting if you can't see it AND you can't tell without looking at your specific filter you purchased.

<edit> I went to verify my recollection posted before on the Mahle OC-54. The structure of this filter is quite different than the ones observed in my Ford study. The bypass appears to be in the base and there may be no anit-drain-back-valve.<edit>

Here is a relavent snippet from my FORD study:

Purolator PremiumPLUS L24651 and PureONE PL24561 ($3.50 / $6 Pepboys)
www.pureoil.com

The construction looks like the Motorcraft FL-820S except the bypass valve in the dome, not the base. Both have the red Silicon ADBV. They are considered by others as moderate flow rate and the PureONE is very well regarded on particle size. They claim 98% multi-pass efficiency for PureONE and claim 10-20um filtration for the lower PremiumPLUS on website. They call the better media Micronic.

Purolator was/is owned by Arvin Meritor who has signed an agreement with Bosch and Mann to sell it and be run as a joint venture. See www.arvinmeritor.com. Watch for any changes.

Bosch Premium 3410 ($6 Autozone)
www.boschautoparts.com/Products/Filters/PremOilFilters.htm
This was observed to be identical to Purolator with red ADBV and dome bypass. 98% efficiency is claimed on the box (microns?)

Chuck, I've flown the PFM. Sent you a PM.

ADBV??

something something bypass valve?

BTW, there is a nice pic of the Mooney's motor in Pooschey, Fine Art of the Sports Car, p. 255.

ADBV = anti-drain-back valve

Crap! I also have a four-letter F-word filter in my car that is bright orange. After reading this thread I start to wonder if my filter wrench will still fit around it's obese, bulging carcass. Actually I have used Fram the last 3 changes because that's what the Napa guy handed me. No problems to date, but now I wonder if its actually, like, FILTERING?
Like Grampa used to say... it doesn't have to make 'sense' if it makes dollars!

Charles, you need to cut open an HP-1 filter. If you did, you'd find out that the internal guts are exactly the same as the regular crappy Fram filter. The only difference is that the HP-1 is made of thicker steel, so it won't blow.

Hi Charles:

I was fortunate enough to examine that airplane, a Mooney PFM 3200, in great detail at the Reno Air Races one year and flew one the following year for a bit.

Not the fastest thing in creation (the Mooney 252 would dust it). but it ran VERY smooth and was quieter than its Lycoming counterparts. Further, the single-lever throttle & fuel control reduced pilot workload a bit and made it easier for folks who wanted to transition into complex A/C.

I still have a bunch of factory literature on that airplane & engine here and I'll look to see if there is a picture of the oil filter. I'd bet that it was a German Purolator.

Another method to get definitive results about a particular filters ability to filter is to have an oil analysis done.

Years ago I used Fram exclusively. I have to admit, I bought into the Fram commercials. It's only been within the last few years that I really started reading comparisons and making more informed purchase decisions.

I used to do oil analyses every oil change when I was flying. The important thing to know about them, though, is that one analysis--more specifically the first analysis, and even a couple after that--won't tell you much, unless the's something really bad going on--oil's full of bronze dust, chrome flakes, etc.

What you want to do with oil analysis is develop a baseline--"This, this and this are normal for this engine"--and then, with further analyses, easily spot any worrisome trends deviating from that base.

There may be an exception here or there, though I'm not aware of anybody specializing in 911 engines, but most oil-analysis companies do everything from huge stationary powerplants to earthmoving equipment to turbine aircraft. They can't look at the oil from a track-use RS and be all that knowledgeable about it, though they're doubtless very familiar with what a D9 Cat's oil should look like. So it's important to give them sufficient oil for a series of analyses to establish that baseline.

Funny you should mention that.
The Baldwin that fits my 3.0 is a BT 292.

That just happens to be the same filter that fits a certain German diesel industrial engine that also happens to be air cooled - Deutz. I thought that was quite a coincidence

In my business we've been using Baldwin for a few years now on a bunch of different heavy equipment. They seem to be of high quality. We've never had a filter related incident.

In using them on my Porsche I've found zero metal on the drain plug magnets.

I too liked the Mahle when I held it in my hand. IT WAS HEAVY! However, Mahle is not exactly an everyday brand so I had to buy a Mobil 1 from the store when I did my last change with some Rotella T. Although that too was heavy, I will definetly trust my german engine with a Mahle next time around. Plus MOBIL 1 FILTERS ARE OVERPRICED!

I recently bought a oil filter at the porsche dealership and was amazed at the differences with the Mahle filter I normally use.

First of all the contstruction of the porsche filter (partno 93010776401) feels more flimsy. Also the hight of the Mahle filter is about half an inch more than the porsche filter. The Mahle filter weighs 488 gram on my kitchen scale, while the porsche filter weighs 396 gram. The Porsche filter is made in the USA, the Mahle filter is from Austria.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1163106444.jpg

Also looking in the filter there seem to be some differences, the Mahle filter has some kind of valve at the top, and one on the bottom. The porsche only has one on the bottom of the filter

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1163106596.jpg

Mahle
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1163106634.jpg

Porsche
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1163106706.jpg