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I recently did a teardown of a genuine OEM oil filter. Now I did one of a counterfeit. This was not bought on eBay, but through a reputable Volvo and Saab parts specialist in Germany.
To their credit, they sell a genuine Volvo filter for € 7,90 and the Bosch version for € 6,90 and don't name a brand for this € 3,90 item. The Bosch I threw in when I ordered a new fuel pump and I confirmed it's genuine.
When I was ordering this time for new carbon brushes for the alternator, curiosity had me include this cheap no name oil filter as well.
When I got it I became suspicious about its quality as it looked conspicuously identical to a Volvo filter, but without the word "VOLVO". The paint quality and colour looked a bit off from the usual Mann Filter strict quality control (they can't help it, they're German ;-) ). The weight was near as makes no difference the same.
A quick peek inside the filter showed a different bypass valve but my mouth dropped open when I saw a big hole between the filtered and unfiltered side, basically making the use of this filter a waste of time and a danger to the engine.
All teardown photos of the counterfeit are here.
A few things noteworthy are the omission of seals between the two parts of the baseplate and on the bypass valve. Also, there was very little pressure needed to open this valve.
I test the anti drain valve on a new fiter by blowing in air through the centre. On the real filter, the ADV seals perfectly, on this counterfeit, the air easily escaped.
If you haven't seen it already, the album of the real thing is here.
I measured the filter media at about 4 cm width and 1.9 m length making it 0.076 m2 (~118 sq in). Compare that to the 0.185 m2 (~287 sq in) of the real thing. This counterfeit has only 41% of the genuine filter's surface area.
Not that anything matters with that big hole in the end cap.
If I had to choose between this POS and a FRAM, it'd be a FRAM...
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