Oil Filter Warning

[jwynne2@domain.elided]

Good morning all,

This isn't IH related, but I guess it could have been!  I'm not looking to
get sued by defaming any companies, but be very cautious.  I recently
purchased oil filters for each of the vehicles in the fleet.  I stocked on
these filters because the price was just too good to pass up.  I purchased
STP oil filters from Auto Zone about a month ago, and have installed them
on all of the vehicles, including the Scout.  Luckily the Scout hasn't been
started or moved in a very long time, so no damage incurred.
Unfortunately, I've been putting around in my Dad's Chevy Sprint, and I
installed one of these filters in his car as well.

Friday after work, I started the car and her a slight clunk sound.  I
didn't think much of it because it was a really soft clunk sound, and it
didn't make any other odd sounds.  I pulled out of the parking lot and
started to head towards the highway.  No big deal there, but after about a
minute of driving, the oil light came on.  I stopped and popped the hood
only to be horrified by the amount of oil that had been blasted out of this
tiny engine.  The oil filter had fallen off, and of course, it wasn't there
in the engine bay.

The filter had worked itself off in the parking lot and immediately dumped
all of the oil.  Good ol' idiot lights!  It took a mile with no oil
pressure for the light to come on.  When I installed the filter two weeks
before, I noticed that the threaded hole in the filter felt really loose.
I only had one good turn of the filter that actually fely like it grabbed.

I checked my wife's car, which had also received the same brand filter, and
it was pretty loose.  It hadn't leaked any oil yet, but I was able to give
it another full turn.  Needless to say, I've replaced all of these filters
with a much better brand.

Just a fore warning to all that might be lured by the low price of the STP
filters.  I'm not saying that they are all poorly manufactured, since the
one on the Scout felt really good and snug after installing it, but I'm not
impressed with the over sized hole of the threads.

Take care,
John Wynne
76 Scout Terra
Sterling, CT