I bought a 2012 Mazda 3 last week, and the first thing I want to do is replace the old crappy oil and filter.
I have a 2.0L engine, not skyactiv. The filter that WAS on the vehicle when I bought it is a Pentius Ultraflow Blue PLG6607. It's much smaller than the FRAM PH3614 that I got from Autozone.
When I look up the part number on Oreilly, Autozone, and even the FRAM website it says if I have 'VIN G' (The 8th letter of my VIN is G) then I use the 3614. The 6607 is listed for if my VIN is 7 or 8.
Since it had the 6607 on already, should I continue to use the 6607 model? Or should I use the 3614 model that FRAM, Oreilly, AZ, and the other websites claim I should?
>first thing I want to do is replace the old crappy oil and filter.
Filter quality changes with time. Lots of filter companies now get their components from China. In some cases, the companies that claim to be manufacturing the filters in the USA or Europe are doing so with chinese components. It is the country of assembly that can also specify the "Made In Germany" or "Made in USA" label. But the parts and entire subassembly was made in china and all they did was put it in the can and seal the can.
Fram was good long ago. Then it had a period of mediocrity. Then it became good again. Then it had a period of real badness in the 2000's and tried hard to reform around 2010 onwards.
In my opinion, Fram is a reasonable filter once again even though they have filters made from chinese parts. The chinese parts still vary in quality for the SAME FILTER model. Chinese companies have a habit of bait and switch or even fradulent substitution once they think you are no longer inspecting.
As expected, the same filter model number put together in the USA may be quite different from the filter made in china although it is the same filter model. That is also a reason why China strongly fought for and maintains "Most Favored Nation" trading status as it allows them to directly input into the distribution system. Thus, the customers get sent the china items while the fram HQ gets a different (what it was supposed to be) filter to test.
I use Fram ToughGuard. The car is 2016 new, so I was taking advantage of the normal desire to get early oil changes in case there is any "new engine debris". It was also to swap out the factory synthetic blend to go to full synthetic. First swap at 500 miles went to Fram ExtraGuard. Next swap at 1500 miles went to Fram ToughGuard (current).
Kayden Foster
I only use mazda filters. Same price as most other. Makes be feel better knowing i used oem parts.
Chase Bailey
Best filter on the market apparently, according to an independent garage study. Fram is fucking trash.
Jace Peterson
wix/napa gold is pretty good too.
Colton Lewis
>Makes be feel better knowing i used oem parts. OEM parts have varying makers. They change all the time too.
Just recently, UCI declared bankruptcy as the chinese competition killed it. UCI owns various automotive parts companies that you may have grown up with. Prestone, Champion Labs, etcetera. Their companies made parts that were then relabeled for NAPA, Motorcraft, GM, etc. Anyways,
You have to be careful about chinese companies. They will substitute or change the manufacturing process on you without telling you as part of their process of making money. And if you go out of business due to that, they can even buy up your name, patents, or distribution network for pennies on the dollar.
China has been getting into motor oil exporting too. So eventually, you might see all those USA brand names buying the oil from china instead of manufacturing it due to price war competition.
Less than 70% of chinese oils tested passed the cold temperature "W" rating that they were labelled as. But...the European labels were better, but not hugely so in the 10W and 15W ranges. US was over 95% compliant.
The small independent oil/filter change service centers will probably use the lower priced oils and filters.
