FRAM=bad

my dad said that he has seen a few cars that have had the engines replaced (blown up, spub berings you name it) at the dealership that he worked at just because they had a fram filter on the car

I know a fram on a GM engine or any for that matter is expensive trouble

Until I read the thread about oil filters I never realized the FRAMs were the problem I was noticing when I had my 1996 SSE. The oil was dark brown after just one week changing the oil and filter. I was using FRAMs. I am thinking that was what caused the "dirty" looking oil. I have since bought the WIX for my GXP. Waiting to change it. The car has 5,000 miles on it now and I was skeptical about letting it go that long but the oil is still pretty clear. The DIC says I have 42% oil life remaining but I will change it shortly just for peace of mind. But like others are saying, I would stick with AC Delco, Purolators, or the Wix. I have read good things about Wix. They are made by the DANA Corporation if I not mistaken.

Generally the Frams do well from a filtration standpoint,it'* just that the construction quality is not great.Can't imagine it turning the oil dark in such a short time period .From personal experience ,the Wix premium (NAPA Gold, Carquests best ) filters keep the oil cleaner for a longer period of time.Some oils are darker to start with,some seem to darken sooner(but not necessarily any dirtier) and some seem to clean better thus getting dirty sooner if the engine is a bit funky inside.

Trust me on this. I had MAYBE 50 miles on my oil change [Castrol GTX {Cheap ****}], oil was black as night [Fram filter]. I had 300 miles [max] on my last oil change [again, Castrol GTX], with a Pure One oil filter [From 3.8L, at the time, I was confused about which car the 4.3L filter came from], and the oil was a beautiful brown. Looked brand new. I can attest to the Fram making the oil black. 50 miles people! Come on, the oil should look like it came out of the bottle with that kind of mileage. Not to mention my oil pressure went up 2PSI [about; we all know how accurate the GM gauges are ] with the Pure One. I cannot afford K&N or Mobil One oil filters, but for my car, the Pure One is worth it.


-justin

Same here on da Wix filter

napa gold is the same as the wix filter.

#1) your oil should turn black if it doesn't then its not holding the dirt suspended in the oil which is 50 percent of its job

#2) if it turns black fast, then you may have a very dirty engine in which case you might want to run a cleaner (seafoam?) and do an oil change 500 miles after your last one to help get rid of some of that.

#3) check out www.bobistheoilguy.com for everythign you everwanted to know (and then some) about filters and oils.