Beretta.net

*ATTENTION AC DELCO OIL FILTER USERS*

AC Delco has changed how they manufacture their oil filters! All filters ending with the prefix "E" have plastic internals instead of the original metal! This is more than likely a cost cutting measure to try and cover some of their losses on the recent mass recall. Inspect the internals of your filter before purchasing, don't buy these economy grade filters!

Comparison photo below:

I prefer WIX...

And I highly doubt it has anything to do with the latest recall...

The ACD filters have been switched over to that "new" design for a few years now. Wix, NAPA Gold or, M1 is my top picks.

Give me Wix or give my engine death. All those years of using Fram......what a waste.

Thanks for trying to warn people, there are some that don't know.

Money pit Beretta wrote:All those years of using Fram......what a waste.

but but but.. it has the grip guard on itttttt

You don't know how many times that saved my overtighting butt. Give a fool an "out" and he will do it every time. Had to learn the hard way I guess. I've never had a leak though(lol).

I reached more people with this post on Facebook, but I felt it should be posted on the forum as well. The original and the "S" prefix filters at least were equipped with the metal lining on the inside.

I've always preferred Bosch oil filters on the Beretta, so I'll stick with them. Just check the internal construction of your filters, and if you buy an AC, avoid any with the "E" prefix.

I would doubt there is any real disadvantage with the plastic internal. Take the ecotec oil filter for example. All plastic construction. Ive changed hundreds with no notice of issues with the plastic. But to each their own .

I just happened to check the shelf yesterday, all the ones at my AutoZone are the old style.

I really hate plastic for internal-engine parts... Gaskets (3x00 guys, sorry ), pulleys even, just don't belong in plastic, not yet at least. I've liked Fram for years, one of my co-workers picks on me, saying it is just because I am old, like Fram. Lately, I have been switching over to Bosch too, for some vehicles at least (Berettas specifically). To me though, the oil you put in the engine is far more important that the filter on it...

UPDATE;

Want to use a Delco oil filter for your oil change, but don't want an "E" economy filter? Problem solved!

K&N Pro Series. Only $5.99, with the same build as the now discontinued previous Delco design, except for the upgrade of a Teflon internal seal replacing the rubber seal! Too good not to share!

Mobil 1 5W30 and Mobil 1 oil filters are fine with me.

Cost a lot less than a new engine.

WHY mess with unknown/ever changing stuff?

We use NAPA Gold at work, these are (according to the WIX rep...) actually made by WIX. WIX is fine, I've actually seen a defective one right out of the box, but any manufacturer will have SOMETHING bad go through QC, and I have seen a LOT of filters. Asylum's statement is why I've used FRAM for so many years -they have been around for a very long time, and I have personally never had an issue with their performance or function from decades of use. I do realize that the filters they make now are far from identical to the ones they made twenty, forty, or even eighty years ago, but if a product works, does everything about it need to be changed? And how often should something like ths be re-engineered, seriously? I hear "oh, they still use the same filtration media they used umpteen years ago" -so? It worked fine then, so what has really changed? I hear "they use paper end-caps!" -sounds bad, but if the end-caps are the same material as the filtration element (or similar I guess would be a better word), is there a problem there? I also hear "FRAM is so expensive compared to the other brands!" -no, they aren't. Sometimes priced about the same as WIX, rarely priced higher and almost always lower, they are priced lower than everything but the store brand for most applications. You get what you pay for guys, but how much money is the filter worth really? Couple extra bucks for Bosch, several extra bucks for K&N, an extra $10 for Royal Purple, or save half a dollar on the store-brand... Hey, you changed the filter with the oil, I say good job, the rest is wherever you needed to draw the line between cost and quality. I believe I will get a consistent quality of 'decent and functional' out of FRAM that I may not get from a store brand, and that is good enough for me. I have cut open my share of oil filters over the years, and will continue to do so occasionally for my own piece of mind -it is like checking your gas-mileage at every fill-up, sometimes it can let you know if something is going wrong with your vehicle before you get any other indication-, but I am not chopping up brand new filters so I can count how many pleats it has -that only tells us a part of the story about how well a filter is flowing oil through it (although more pleats generally means more surface area, unless the pleats are shorter). Anyway, use what you are comfortable with -piece of mind is worth buying, I say.

Napa Gold is made by WIX that is correct, I've heard that elsewhere.

I also buy my oil filters in bulk online... I just ordered a whole case of WIX ones for my legacy and forester for 4 bux each. (The 23PSI bypass valve setting is the reason why I use WIX on my subaru's. Say what you will but that is not created equal across brands and will pump unfiltered dirty oil into your engine if it's not right.)

Case of 6, long S10 style filter XP version

http://www.discountfleetsupply.com/wix51036xp.html

OR just get it from Rockauto at $7.42 each.

If WIX alone is good enough then http://www.discountfleetsupply.com/wix51036.html $3.58 each.

I'm also a bit confused... PF47 is still listed on RockAuto for the beretta, the PF47E is actually more expensive, Yet you say it's discontinued... A PF52 is also available for 5 cents more than the E version.

For Reference
ACDelco PF47 OEM, PF52 S10 style Longer filter
WIX 51040 OEM 51040XP Extreme performance OEM, 51036 S10 Longer 51036XP S10 Longer Extreme performance.

I guess to sum it up, you back yourself in a corner if you only buy filters from a box store...

On a note about defects with filters;

Had a Fram new out of the box at my work a couple weeks back with no threads, lol.

If I type in PF47 at work, all it pulls up is the PF47E. All they've been sending from the vendor ever since are the "E" filters. If you can still find them online and they'll actually ship the correct ones to you, by all means! Do it! Especially when you can get them cheaper shipped in bulk and you know you'll use them. I drive such short distances, between the three cars I only need to change mine once a year in each car.