Trying to Decide
 

FRAM CH2930 at $11 plus $5 in shipping or Baldwin P102 at $16.30, but have to buy three to get free shipping.

With the latter, can oil changes be extended to 10,000 mile interval? That then could help in the cost difference. ;)

Thank you so very much for the help! :D

For the Mercedes! You never want to go that far on the oil. The filter doesn't contribute much to oil life. I have the same om617 engine and get STP filters at a local AutoZone and even Wallmart. Don't go 10K, maybe 5. Even with synthetic, these motors are tough on oil and the oil gets dirty pretty quick. Don't use FRAM, not even on your lawn mower.

I would only use a Mann or STP filter.

Dkr.

No.

I only use Mann. 9 bucks and it comes with a crush washer and o-ring.

Agreed, even with synthetic oil the soot loading is what makes oil "bad" in these engines. That happens 3-5k miles no matter what oil is in it. Dino is good for 3k. If you want a better oil and don't mind spending more, synthetic IS better but it still goes bad at 4 or 5k at the MOST! There is no extending OCIs safely in these motors, sorry.

Hastings LF380 is the same as the Baldwin Filter an Granger Sells them. Also on internet sources the Hastings LF380 is cheaper. Also Hastings and Baldwin are acutally the same company.

The last STP Filter I saw was made in India and appeard to be the same Oil Filter as the Purolator one that was also made in India that was selling at the same time.
The Central Tube in the top portion of the Filter is not sealed on either end it sits metal to metal.
Both the STP Filter had like a Rubber Stamp mark on the Filter Made in India but in different places on the Filter. Both had the Red Paper with holes on the full flow section of the Filter and both had the same thin wire Handle at the top of the Filter.

Unless of course they have changed suppliers.

The German filters, Baldwin and Purflux are the best filters. Fram is junk.

the made in turkey Fram is the best filter you can buy with ease... baldwin/hastings is the best filter you can buy period... none will get the 61x motors oil change interval above 7500 miles safely.

normal fram filters are junk, but the made in turkey fram 2930 filter is a quality spun cord bypass, not cotton gin bug and dirt junk in a basket...

if it were me, and those were the choices, I'd go with the baldwin 3 pack, and be done.
I'd only get the fram if they were local. PepBoys stocks them.

[QUOTE=vstech;3399699]the made in turkey Fram is the best filter you can buy with ease... baldwin/hastings is the best filter you can buy period... none will get the 61x motors oil change interval above 7500 miles safely.

normal fram filters are junk, but the made in turkey fram 2930 filter is a quality spun cord bypass, not cotton gin bug and dirt junk in a basket...

if it were me, and those were the choices, I'd go with the baldwin 3 pack, and be done.
I'd only get the fram if they were local. PepBoys stocks them.[/QUOTE]

This was over about 5 Years ago in the various Oil Filter threads it was said some of the Fram CH2930 Filters came from Turkey but there was also the same Filter made in Mexico that did not have the same internal construction.
Meaning the buyer needs to read the Box and or look on the Filter itself to see where it is made.

John, thank you so very much for this! :D I didn't even know Pep Boys sold parts and had locations here in the Valley! This lead me to finding a hardware store. ;) :P So the days haul includes two FRAM filters and M4x6mm bolts. ;) :D

Somewhere I got that idea of 10,000... Guess since I lost the note of when I did the oil change, better to be safe and just change it. Now I have a moleskine in the door pocket. ;) Got all the big trips, major repairs, and notes in it.

Thank you for the reminder. Of the many sources I have checked, all that seem available are made in Turkey. I checked at least one I bought today.

So thankful for y'alls help! :D I am at a low in live and nice to be reminded there are nice people out there.

Good to know, so thank you so very much for the help! :D

I know about soot, thus why me and the P.O. had a spat because he insisted using SM oil was fine in a CM engine. :rolleyes: I did basically a flush and drained all the oil, even in the cooler. :P

I run synthetics partly because of the O.C.I., but mostly because of the wear prevention properties, engine heat/cooling, and cold starts (including cold engine starts especially, when bearings are lacking in oil).

I run synthetic because it makes winter starting easy.

Ewww! I was talking to a guy who was using just regular Pennzoil Ultra in his new Jetta TDI. I told him he should switch to something Commercial rated right away. He said "Nobody told me it needed special oil." I thought it would be a common-sense train of thought that if the engine burns diesel you might want to double check if you can use just any bottle of oil off the shelf. That goes for double since it's a VW with all their crazy specs.

And the sad thing is he is a trained Mercedes mechanic with specialization in diesels. That is what really caused the spate and rift for a long while.

It isn't commercial, but compression. The SM stands for spark motor and CM stands for compression motor, which was part of my argument for different oil. I would suggest pointing that out in the future, Heaven forbid you come across it again.

Yep, have heard something about them having special specifications. Kind of glad I didn't get a TDi after all.

Factory oil change interval is 5k on dino oil. Synthetics can go 7,500-8 miles without oil analysis. Soot loading on some oil analysis show soot loading to below 2% at this mileage which means OCI can be extended out.

Here is James Dean's posted 617 UOA with 7.4k miles on Dino.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/316346-420sel-300sd-oil-analysis-report-thoughts.html

Some past discussion on extended OCI.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/333781-dump-rotella-t6-use-delvac.html