I agree with whoever told you that Fram filters suck. If you cut one open, you will see why. There are way too many cardboard components in there. The anti-drainback valve is a joke, as is the bypass valve. These filters plug up fast and go to bypass. Although, since bypass is built into the 103, I'm not so sure if a 103 oil filter even has a bypass, but most others do.

Good brands are Purolator, NAPA, Wix, and any other brands that are ultimately manufactured by those makers. I think NAPA is a purolator, but I forget. At one point I did a bunch of research on oil filters. There are some good sites out there that have comparisons of all the brands. The consensus is that Fram filters are cheap garbage, as are all the brands made by them such as the Penzoil filters provided by SuperLube..... Yet another reason to avoid that place.

While you're doing your plugs, you will want to at least inspect if not replace the cap and rotor.

Also, pull off the air cleaner and inspect all those vacuum lines under there. There are lots of places for cracks to develop leaks. Take a nice lint-free cloth and wipe all the crud out of the air intake underneath the air meter flap. You'll find that it gets pretty oily/dirty in there especially if you have a K&N air filter. Avoid FRAM. If you use a K&N you must be religious about cleaning and oiling it or you will let dirt into your motor. Too much oil, and that runs down into the intake as well. I use a K&N, but sometimes I honestly wonder if all the effort and risk is worth it.

Take some grease in a small syringe and lubricate all of the linkages to your accelerator pedal. This can make a big difference in throttle response.

Inspect the breather hoses, especially the funky one with two 45 degree bends in right behind the big one that goes to the air cleaner. That one tends to get cracks on the underside that are otherwise invisible. When it finally opens up, the vacuum leak is huge and causes much havoc.

Snug up all your radiator hoses while you're at it.


-tp