I purchased a spin-on oil filter adapter from TRF for my TR-250 way back in
January. It was back-ordered. After several calls over a four month period,
I finally received it a couple weeks ago. Much to my chagrin, it came
without a filter cartridge. I could have purchased a cartridge from TRF, but
the shipping costs for just a filter would be astronomical, plus I don't
want to buy anything else at the moment.
I called their customer service number and got the following part numbers:
Fram PH 966
PH 2825
Purolator FCO 64
FCO 42
This afternoon about 4:30 I started looking for a cartridge so I could
install things Sunday morning. "No problem," thought I. "A quick trip to
KMart should do the trick." Bzzzt! Wrong answer! "Okay, try some other
places." Napa? Bzzzt! Englert's? Bzzzt! (Already closed.) Auto Palace?
Bzzzt!
I tried the Purolator cross reference listings at Auto Palace. They had a
cross reference for the Fram PH 2825, but it cross referenced to three
Purolator numbers, all different than the numbers TRF had given me. The
cross reference for the PH 966(B) cross reference had the ominous footnote:
May not be a direct cross. Check the application listings.
which of course I can't, since this is not an OEM sort of thing. I decided
not to take a chance on the one Purolator part from the cross reference
listing.
Okay, so I can order one of the filters. It seems to me that I ought to be
able to walk into a parts store and find the right part. Oil filters don't
seem to have any mystical properties. There are only a few design
parameters, right? (Operational pressure range, threads, oil seal, oil flow
direction, presence of a check valve.) You would think the auto industry
could get by with many fewer parts than they currently use. At the very
least, couldn't the designers of the spin-on adapter have chosen something
in widespread use? The oil filtering needs of a modern-day Ford, Chevy,
Chrysler, or Jaguar can't be that different from my TR-250.
Any suggestions? (Besides calling ahead in the future so as not to waste a
bunch of gas or ordering a pack from TRF on my next order...)
--
Skip Montanaro (montanaro@ausable.crd.ge.com)
Now working for Automatrix. Details at 11.
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