Is this really a thing? NAPA oil filters

firehunter

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So, my wife is returning from a 1,000 mile road trip in her '02 7.3. We have owned this truck since almost new and she has put the far majority of the 293K miles on it to date. She knows this truck. She calls me on the way home and it is acting "weird", occasionally losing power, won't rev past 2K rpm even with her foot to the floor, idles rough then dies. She was close to home and with a couple of restarts was able to get the truck home. In preparation for her road trip I changed the oil/filter and fuel filter maybe 100 miles before she left - all good.

I check it out today and sure enough it is exactly as she described. After the GP's cycle the engine starts crisp and idles smooth (normally) for maybe 3-4 seconds then the check engine light comes on, the engine feels like it is only running on half the cylinders, romps, and dies. I try this multiple times and it is very consistent with the symptoms especially the crisp starts and smooth idle for a few seconds. Either running out of fuel or oil I presume. I clean the IPR, no change. Check the fuel filter and pressure, all good. Then I come inside and read some threads on PSA...

I read a long thread from 2018 where somewhat similar issues are being discussed and one of the last comments was a fellow asking what oil filter the OP was running and that NAPA filters had caused him issues in the past. A second post said he had heard of this too. For many, many, many years I have run only motorcraft oil filters from wal-mart ($10 ea) on both of my 7.3's. I had one NAPA filter on the shelf that was given to me a couple of years ago from a guy who sold his 7.3 and figured I would run it just to get rid of it. I used it on the wife's truck before her trip. After reading the thread I go change the oil filter to a new motorcraft unit I had here at the house and start it up. Same symptoms but it runs a bit longer before dying. I start it three more times and it runs for longer and longer each time until one time I start it, never get a check engine light and runs perfectly smooth. Full power available. I drive it for 20+ miles and it runs perfectly normal. Get it back home and start it three more times and all is good.

Really? Did the NAPA filter cause all this? If so, why is this not discussed more often or am I just tardy to the party?
 

DEEZUZ

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Cut it open and see what's inside, let's see if there was a breakdown
 

Connor M

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What ctc said.

FWIW, I maintain a fleet of roughly 30 trucks and pieces of equipment and we use mostly napa gold filters. I've ran both napa and ford on my 6.4 with no issues so far.
 

Magnum PD

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I run the NAPA 1734 oil filter. No problems yet but want to see what’s going on here
 

firehunter

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Yep, need to pull codes as the check engine light was on although it has not come on for the last seven starts. Wife just called from 30 miles down the road, running perfectly.

Cut the filter open, had another guy help hold filter paper and strained the cold oil through it. Very, very few little bits of shiny material present but otherwise oil was in good condition. Just a darker shade of gold color and still transparent after 1K miles. Delo 15-40.

Truck still has the original HPOP and IPR so those are on the list to replace soon. I know they are on borrowed time but I am very regular about 3-4K mile oil changes for the life of the truck and so far they supply the injectors just fine. Wife's truck has run PHP tunes for over 200K miles, replaced injectors with FFD reman AD's at 210K. No issues.

Really, was just curious if there is something to these NAPA filter reports. If not, so be it, I don't much care either way as I will continue to run the mortorcraft filters. :shrug:
 

DEEZUZ

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Tiny metallic flakes reminds me of lifter/cam failure.

Maybe take ipr apart and check for scoring/contamination
 

webb06

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Hard to believe an oil filter would cause that kind of issue. Sounds to me like you’ve got a valve cover harness coming unplugged or partially burnt which will cause them to only run on one bank of injectors as described.


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firehunter

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Multiple starts, below freezing temps, about 200 miles driven. No issues. Wife says truck is running perfectly.

Other posts mentioned filter issues a few years ago and I bet this particular filter was around that old and had been sitting on the shelf for that long. Bad batch of filters a few years ago? Whatever, back to running great after the filter change!

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lincolnlocker

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Well for starters. If for whatever reason it was oil starvation then you would have introduced air into the system each time you tried to start it and even more so when you pulled the ipr. So, if all it took was a filter swap then there you go. Im guessing the filter media was to restricted and slowed down flow. But then again, electrical connections on a heui 7.3 can be a mofo and totally screw up the day. Could be a gremlin that wont ever show back up..... sounds like the ole lady knows the truck so she would know of it messes up again. Even a hiccup needs a scanner on it to pull codes regardless if the cel is on.

live life full throttle
 

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