A Look Inside the Body of an Off-Duty Oil Filter

[SparkYellow]

This is my new hobby. The $20 tool works very much like an electric can opener. The hardest part is holding the unit steady. The black one is Bosch 3300, the blue one is Purolator, both in service for 8K miles.

Bosch was easy to cut open, Purolator was five times as hard. The walls seem to be of the same thickness though. The media in Bosch was collapsing, whereas Purolator is still intact. Bosch has been sitting upside down in the tray since May. Purolator let out a lot more oil when cut open, after sitting upside down for two weeks.

Bosch was filtering regular 0w20. Purolator was filtering Royal Purple. I am surprised that the media didn't turn purple. Can you imagine if I put these pics on my dating profile haha ha. Wish I had kept a Mazda filter to cut open for comparison.

Not knowing anything about the filtering capabilities, I can only say that Purolator has a more solid construction than Bosch. My next one is a Royal Purple, which should come off in December. I might have to cut it open to decide which one to use next. I felt the RP filter is smaller than either Bosch or Purolator. Does size matters here?

 

[SparkYellow]

Purolator One is designed to last 15K miles.

 

[SparkYellow]

It doesn't look very good.

 

[N7turbo]

Looks like the Mazda filter is well-made and did its job.

 

[SparkYellow]

Wow the media on Fram is tiny. One of the comments on this video pointed out that Wix 57002 is the aftermarket equivalent of Mazda OEM.

 

[SparkYellow]

Looks like the Mazda filter is well-made and did its job.

True, it shouldn't be clean and pretty.

 

[Mazdiod2]

Both of the filters looked very clean, even under the microscope.
I agree that it looks like the Mazda filter might have better flow as not only the element has more area but the media is much more 'open' .

 

[ColoradoDriver]

I use a Wix 57002 if I cannot find a reasonable priced Mazda (non value line) filter.

Wow the media on Fram is tiny. One of the comments on this video pointed out that Wix 57002 is the aftermarket equivalent of Mazda OEM.

To my knowledge, the Wix 57002 is the only aftermarket that matches the OE spec filter for the NA engine. It's the only aftermarket filter I use if I can't easily acquire a reasonable priced Mazda filter (non value line).

Filters are getting pricey. Last time I bought a 57002 it was like $13. Need to see if Mazda OE filters have swung back the other way to being the better buy. Doubt it, but worth a look.