Then this failed filter was STP. Sorry about bad-mouthing Fram - I always use Mahle in my 602. I get them from the local parts importer at wholesale for 10.50 ea.

pretty sure there was an ink stamp on the bottom. All the metal surfaces were smooth, no creases / bends.

Geoff will know better.

edit^^^^ beat me to it.

yes - I just edited my post as well - it must have been STP. I just cannot understand why someone would make an oil filter that ultimately would cost an owner their engine.

Because they are filled with cotton gin waste, after long debate and research in another thread here on the forum, it was found that there are a select few filters that do not spill dirt and cotton waste into the engine.

Can of worms indeed!

Accept where the Made In India was stamped the Purolator and STP Filter appeared to be the same. even the box was very similar.

Well, summa*****. I am waiting on a new pre-filter and was going to re-install on top of a new Mahle. WHAT SHOULD I DO OH GOD TELL ME WHAT TO DO, INTERNETS

Turkish Fram Filter
 

Hate to poke holes in the Turkish Fram Filters.
Here is one I pulled out of a engine I dragged home from PNP. This is out of a 85 300D. How long had it been last changed? good guess, but they
should stay in one piece.


After I got the engine home, I started going through it, got it steamed cleaned and so on.

Pulled the filter out, and wow, a short filter. that`s a first. then looked in the bottom of the filter housing, and saw something else down there.
Pulled out this short piece, and at first thought it was a 2 piece one:confused:.

Then on closer examination realised it had come apart.

Charlie

Damnn! Moral of the story, don't leave filters in your engine too long.....


.

Your wife must love you a lot to let you put dirty diesel oil filters on her nice white towels. :D

What about wix filters? What filters do you recommend?

Looks real close to what we found. Dang! That's pretty gruesome. Stone age oil filter technology in a machine designed by automotive engineers at the top of their craft. Doesn't add up.

This is what I did;)

I took a 0.5 Nominal Micron Cotton String Wound Filter and inserted it in a Bosch Oil filter after Dumping out the waste Cotton Filling.

It is in my Car right now.

Where are all the millions of Mercedes diesel engines that have been killed by the many many millions of Mahle filters used over the last couple decades! It's a shame that after long debate and research here on the forum it wasn't found that packed cotton fiber filter used by the millions over many years caused any significant verifiable damage. How many forum members have actually had an engine damaged by filter material?

You'd think that, arguably some of the best engineering staff of again arguably, one of the oldest and most successful automotive manufactures the world has know, would be at least able to spec the single most commonly replaced maintenance part!

Well those cotton gin filled Mahle and Purolator made in India run the OM616 with shoddy maintenance, infrequent oil change with sub par oil and yet the engines regularly run for 400000 miles before needing any work done. Amazing isn't it, that too when they are severely overloaded way beyond their capacity and driven in serious heat. Thats the average for OM616 in India.