Mate Subaru have been shooting themselves in the foot for years! Look how popular and competitive the Impreza used to be. Subaru have lurched from one **** up to another much to the dismay of loyal customers. The oil filter issue may actually not be cost related but an internal **** up (again!) within Subaru.

 

Honda it is then.

 

Scubbay - Unfortunatley i work as a Quality Engineering Manager and from my point of view the failure rate of motor industry products these days is pathetic. In other industries we talk about less than 10 failures per million units be acceptable, when you look at subarus major component or mapping failures it must be close to 100000 failures in every million. Think nearly every 2005 + imprezza has had its rear shocks replaced at least once and every hatch engine has had to be remapped. You just need to look at these filters to know they are not the sort of product you would want fitted to your new 30k imprezza. We have heard its the drivers fault over and over from subaru for all sorts of failures, if this is what they are doing with oil filters what other corners are they cutting.

 

I nearly killed myself watch that long and boring video.
I'm sure they are fine, besides he said Fram filters have been known to explode, yet the Subaru filter has thick metal casing! And has anyone had one explode or ruin their engine? Personally i'm ignoring this video, i'm running one and it's fine.

Thanks
Sam

 

I understand where you are coming from but I dont think its limited to Subaru. The company I currently work for has a ppm target of 25 for almost all suppliers, safety critical components and powertrain are lower but I dont know the exact figures as this isnt my field. This is the target for parts that we reject before they make it to the car, as for warranty data I dont know what the targets or figure are. Yes Subaru has had their fair share of problems and I am not defending every one of these but what I am trying to get across is that it isnt limited to just Subaru. People say that the new oil filters may be because of cost cutting, this could be true, every OEM is trying to cut costs at the minute, the same way as almost every business in the world at the minute. I still dont think they are "cutting corners" as you out it though, they would not knowingly put bad parts on their car, reputation is worth more than that. Things may slip through the net and in the case of Subaru these things have been well documented with the engine issue and rear shocks. This isnt acceptable but I am certain that they are working to improve it. What I am trying to get across is that no OEM will put a part on a car if their is a doubt about the quality. Issues may arise later on but the parts will have passed tests and there isnt much more than you can do. If parts then fail down the line you question the quality of the test and learn from it.

On the issue of the filter it may be of lower quality to the previous part but I think it still wont cause any widespread issues

 

Generally speaking i dont think the fact it's a paper insert is a problem for most people, as the oil is changed regularly enough. The thing i really dont like on these filters is the thread quality is poor, it's not a good fit on the engine, plus the o-ring retention is rubbish.

You should avoid a racing filter, as they usually have a lower filtration spec as oil flow is more important in that environment than filtering old oil debris, they also tend to open the bypass valve at a lower pressure.

 

I have also had the O ring fail on a blue filter, not long after an oil change.
I didnt do the oil change personaly, so I cant be 100% sure it wasnt fitted badly. But I guess it was the O ring. Oil pissed out everywhere, turned the engine off sharpish.

However, apart from John I havent heard of any others causing problems. So although not the best quality filter, I guess if there was a big problem with it we would have heard more horror stories by now.

 

Was going to get a K&N oil filter,but cant seem to find one for the 95 2.0 classic, found HP-1015 and HP-1008 but none listed for the classic with antidrain valve,the hp-1015 on some sites says yes to drain valve,some sites it says no,either way,none listed for classic,just 2002 tubbies

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Subaru-Impreza...item3a53ac5986 The strange thing is scoobyworld list this oe one as for all models?? Perhaps the k&n filter uses different release valve pressures

 

Yeah,its title suggests,but i am awaiting a reply from the seller as some seem to just list for a general range etc.

as you say,i couldnt find one listed from the guy who sells them for £11.95 delivered,maybe thats why these are £15 delivered,harder to get,dunno ??

cheers

 

I've just bought a blue from Subaru dealer - £14-50 with sump washer

BUT - how good is that 1" bolt head on the end of the K&N filter?

 

I think I'd rather buy a Mahle or Mann Hummel filter than something from HKS or K&N

 

I would be careful if anyone is intending to use a HKS filter on a hawkeye as its not recommended to go between the service intervals of 10000 miles
INFO;;;

Under normal usage, it is recommended that the filter is changed every 10,000km or 6months. For Sports driving, the recommended distance is approximately 1/3 - 1/2 of the previously mentioned figure (as the engine revolutions are several times that of normal driving). However, to maintain optimum low pressure loss properties, it is recommended to change the filter every 3000km when an oil change is performed

 

Just got a reply back from the guy on ebay selling k&n ones for £11.95 delivered,he says there isnt a listed oil filter for the 95 2.0 wrx weird !

 

Your right they dont exist,there not listed on the k&n website or opies either.

 

Most manufactures use paper filters now, It's no real issue. If this guy worked in the industry it would just freak him out on every oil change, Nearly every European car manufacturer use Paper filters which include High performance cars like M3's Etc. If you are that worried consult your dealer or a top engine/builder. Alternatively change you oil more frequently, every 5/6000 miles, or if driven hard 4000/4500 miles like motorcycles.

 

It's the flimsy paper end caps which are the problem. Paper end caps are liable to flex and allow oil to bypass the filter.................

 

There is nothing wrong at all with a genuine Subaru filter. ALL of us tuners use and recommend nothing else. IN FACT, if you put anything else on an APi engine you will void the warranty. I expect RCM and Clinic will say the same.

The US forums are usually full of crap and I take no notice of them at all, ever .

The only reason Subaru [ or any makers ] filters come loose, is cos someone didn't do it up tight enough.

How many have we fitted over the years ?? Many thousands,

How many have come loose? NONE.

How many have contributed to an engine failure NONE.

QED

David APi

 

You tell em old boy lol

 

Do you think the people who have had a failure did so because the filter wasn't fitted properly?

 

More likely that:

They drove the a*se off it with;

wrong fuel in - [ JDM imports especially]

low fuel

low oil

intercooler heat soak

inapropriate mods

oil system not primed before start up after filter change

Or any combination of the above.

David

 

I'm referring specifically to post 66 and 67.

 

Hi,

Dave has said it all.

We only use the genuine filters, can you imagine the fallout if we used a non gen one and had an engine fail between services.

We have noticed an increasing number of cars coming in for various things that show little or no oil on the dipstick, credit crunch is certainly taking its toll.

Cheers
Kev

 

Makes you think...
Anyone know where you can get the HKS ones????

 

Didn't you see my post 78 ?? Is it written in invisible ink or something?

 

Well I've worked in the [liquid] filtration industry for nigh on 11 years - I would not put something like that near my car.

I just watched the K&N video and off of that the Fram video - to say the Fram was shocking would be an understatement.

 

Oh God..............

 

With respect to David @ API and The Gaffer, the current Fram made Subaru oil filter is poorly made. I don't have to own a garage to work that out.

 

I wouldn't have that filtering the water in to the toilet cistern mate!

 

Haha me either, that would fail every quality plan and inspection stage we have (lots)