Oil Filter Caused Oil Leak Fram 3593A
 

I want to let you all know about an experience I just had with changing oil filters and an oil leak.

I had about 3k miles on the car since the last oil change and I was about to driving up to Killington so I figured I would change the oil when I got back. That would add about another 1000 miles to the car. It was using about a quart of oil every 3000 miles so I figured no problem and it was just too cold to change the oil before I left.

Well I drove up and back and everything was okay. Then I started to notice a pool of oil forming under the car when I was at work and the car had a strong burning oil smell when I stopped for lights. It used about 3 quarts in 500 miles but I didn’t know that until I changed the oil. I thought for sure the front crank seal was gone and maybe the oil pump was shot.

Then I changed the oil and changed the filter and the leak went away. So now I can wait for warmer weather to change the front seal. I put on a new Subaru filter and took off the Fram 3593A. I watched for leaks and it has been okay for 5 days. The car is not leaving pools of oil in the lot at work. So that is great for my car.

I know there is information available about how bad the Fram filters are but I was not aware of that until recently and only found out by looking around on this site. So I have been using the Fram 3593A filter in my SVX, OBS and Legacy for the past 3 years on the average that would be about 100 filters that I have used. I never had an oil leak that was caused by a bad collapsed or dirty oil filter up until last week. I will not use the Fram any more.

The other point here is that I have noticed when I fill up a Subaru filter with oil is that the oil flows right into it. With the Fram filter it takes awhile for the oil to weep through the paper and several minutes to fill up.

Well lets just hope that it was just the filter with problems and not something else in the engine that plugged it!

Yup

Were you using a regular Fram or one of their Super-happy-fun-gard filters?

interesting! its sounds like they all have faults, one way or the other! i'm curious to see how the 'yet to be tested' filters rate.

So is the OEM subaru the best one to get for the SVX?

OEM subaru is made by purolator last time I checked. If you can get them cheap go OEM. Or get a purolator at the local auto store. They are slightly different though.
I use purolator pure one in both svx's. Have not had a problem yet. Like the site said - there are alot of criteria for a good filter - there are alot of good filters to choose from also. I haven't heard of a purolator destroying an engine yet but I have heard enough horror stories to stay away from fram.

svx_commuter
 

Interesting story but your conclusion is pretty strange...


After 100+ fram filters, ONE MAY have leaked, you didn't say anything that said that there was a filter failure or a wrinkle in the rubber gasket or, or,or..... (could you have made a little error on the install???)

ERGO:
I have had 100 friends in my life and I think ONE messed me up so I will never have another friend!!! NONSENSE!

Personally, I think that after 100+ positive experiences, you have well exceeded the odds of having some glitch occur: I think you have done very well and I will take your recommendation and USE that FRAM filter!!!

Hotshoe

Re: svx_commuter
 

The filter was not leaking it was installed correctly. It was blocked or plugged and the leak was from the front of the engine out of the timing belt cover. I started to use the Subaru filter after reading about the Frams which I was buying at Walmart. Just the regular Fram with the grip coating and I really miss that on the Subaru filter. I can get the Subaru filter at 25% off locally so no problem. I just buy a bunch at a time.

The part that really bothers me is when I fill the filter with oil before I put it on the car. The Fram filter takes a lot longer to fill than the Fram. Seems to flow a lot easier on the OEM filter.

The other part of this is that Fram says the 3593A can be used on a Legacy, Impreza or SVX but Subaru has a different filter for the SVX. The face that connects to the engine has a different shape.

Do you really think a filter thing can be compared to a person?

I did not mean to set you off on this. I just wanted to let others know about my experience here as I really thought the front crank seal was wasted.

Oil filter leakage
 

I have used Fram 90% of the time on every subaru I've owned plus a few friends cars and my moms. All said and told I'm sure I've used well over a 100 of 'em with out a problem. My brat was the first of any of these vehicles to suffer anything internally (aside from an old hatchback which went through 3 feet of water) and even that I wouldn't blame on the oil filter since it has over 175k on the clock. The only difference I've noticed between Frams and Purcolators was that the oil seal actually seemed a little more substatantual on the Fram. As for driving diffenences. The Fram seems to allow for a little more valve noise as the car reaches 3k on the EA81 and EA27 engines than does the Purc but the Purc catches back up by the time the car has 3500 on the oil. I still like the fact that I don't have to use a wrench with the Frams now. Big selling point! Like Hotshoe say's I've never known anyone to have a problem with Fram that caused the engine to implode.

I even use the 3593A on my Justy. It's larger than the stock one and fits perfectly. Never had any oil filter issues.

I used Fram filters almost exclusively until I found the Castrol filter. I've never had difficulty with a Fram. I've had to return to Fram, since the only store that carried the Castrol, in my area, has been K-Mart. With their financial difficulty, they have sold out and will not re-stock. So, I'm back to Fram.

Just a note: I'm not familiar with the practice of filling the filter prior to installation. Interesting concept. What's the advantage, besides not starting the engine to get the oil flowing (which one usually does, to check for leaks, anyway) and then adding oil if necessary?

For a real "oil leak" experience, you should try leaving your drain plug a little loose. Sure makes for a helluva smoke screen on the Interstate. :D

(I still have the Gasket you gave me at Reading Iii)

I believe the idea is the promote more rapid oil circulation during the first few seconds of startup, since depending on where the filter is in relation to the pump, it could potentially starve the rest engine of oil until it is filled up. On a filter with large capacity, the problem could be more pronounced.

KuoH

You're right about the concept. Whether it's really something to worry about or not is another question.

I've always wondered, since you have to tip the filter on its "side" to screw it on, how do you keep the oil from dribbling out while you're trying to get the filter installed?