A video on construction of Carquest oil filters, now also available at Advance Auto, who now owns Carquest, for those of us concerned about the media tear problems the Purolator made Motorcraft oil filters have been going through.
The Champion Labs made Carquest oil filters now have the closed/dome end by-pass valve design so says Jay Buckley, where as the former Wix made Carquest filter had the base/open end bypass valve for our inverted, or canted mounted Ford oil filters, like the Ford Factory Champion Labs & Purolator made Motorcraft filters bypass valve location.
The Carquest Blue filter media has better filtration numbers, more like what the Ford factory/Champion Labs made filters our new vehicles come with. So if we're in cold country, we can opt for the Carquest Blue filter & get the silicone anti-drainback valve, along with a better particle size filtration media.
If we're in warmer climates & run shorter OCI's we can opt for the less costly Carquest Red filter, that has slightly lower particle size efficiency & uses a black Nitrile type rubber anti drain back valve that works fine in warmer climates & shorter OCI's.
SO, now we have other viable oil filter options if like me you've become concerned about the Purolator made Motorcraft oil filter media quality slip over the past few years.
Yes that's Jay Buckley of Fram in the video, as Fram now owns Champion Labs.
Mann+Hummel now owns Purolator & Affina/Wix, so we'll see if they & Ford can do something about Purolator & Motorcraft quality slips, but the % particle filtering they've put up on the newly redesigned Purolator filter media doesn't include a particle size, so its worthless filtering information. How dumb do they think the net is now days????
Enjoy the video info.
Who Makes CARQUEST Oil Filters - Bing video

 

So I have a boatload of Motorcraft-branded OF's---how can I tell if they're Purolator-made?

 

There are a few websites that have pictures of all the brand name oil filters cut open and catalogued by construction materials, the OCD level on some of these guys making this stuff must be off the chart.

 

If it says Motorcraft, Purolator likely made those after market filters for us, as we can't get the Champion made Ford factory filter.....until now, if we choose the CARQUEST Blue, then we can sorta have our cake & eat it too!!!! lol

 

Fascinating video---thanks for posting it PP!

I did learn for the most part I could use the Red version because I pretty much stick with the old fashioned 3K miles OCI. I don't mind the expense as it will always be less than a new engine.

I do believe next oil change I'll cut the old filter apart to check the media to see if there are issues I'd otherwise never know about.

Again thanks for a good thread here!

 

For my drive cycle I prefer a filter media with some cellulose in it, as that'll absorb condensation that glass, or all synthetic media wont. So, for those of us that do a lot of short tripping in cold, cool, moist, high humidity conditions, a oil filter media that says its a blend of cellulose & glass, or a blend of cellulose & synthetic media would likely be a better choice, so to have the cellulose grab & hold onto condensation from short tripping.
Those that mostly run the interstate at high speeds for long distances, where the oil gets up to full operating temp for long periods, so the PCV valve & those full operating oil temps could evaporate & burn off any crankcase, or engine condensate through the PCV valve plumbing, could probably make use of the glass, synthetic, or blend of glass/synthetic fiber filter media, as its stronger & can take the oil pump media pulsations over a longer time without weakening & the media being depth loading holds more dirt & doesn't have to deal with as much condensate, or for as long a time as a short trip filter does. Also the depth loading, more contaminate holding micro glass/synthetic blend filter media would likely be a better choice for cleaning up a dirty deposit loaded engine, as it could filter to a finer particle size while holding more dirt without clogging up & going into the unfiltered bypass mode as quickly as a surface loading cellulose filter media would.
Lots to consider when obsessing over which filter design best fits our vehicles differing drive cycle conditions. But we now have more choices & better info on the net to help us make the best decision for our conditions.
I've cut my filters open for inspection for decades. It was one reason I decided to stop using the orange can after Bendix sold the line & those thin non metal end caps & wimpy media surface area became the norm. I just didn't like some of the construction I saw in name brand filters that I used but back then we didn't have the net to get info spread around quickly. So now mfgrs can't hide, or try & cover up design, or production problems for very long, before the word gets out & that's a plus for we consumers.