Chinese OIL filters any good?

[GSVR]

I've got a choice of fitting a Chinese or a Japanese manufactured oil filter to my SV650 bike. To look at them I can't see too much diffence but the chinese ones a little bit more expensive.

I heard some talk about the relief inside some non OEM ones not being correct.

Anyway just want peoples opinions on weather they would buy Chinese in preference to the Japanese ones

[twinkle]

Can't you just buy an OEM filter so you don't have to worry about things like this? You are never going to know what the filtration and relief valve pressure are like unless you get them tested.

[Squiggles]

Have a read of this:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=52720

[Grub]

I'm currently experiencing an "... anti shitty chinese product ..." period so don't ask me

[Albino]

Lead paint in Mattel toys.

Antifreeze in toothpaste.

Formaldehyde in childrens clothes.


The filters may be ok, but do you trust chinese quality control enough to put in your pride and joy?

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

I'm currently experiencing an "... anti shitty chinese product ..." period so don't ask me

me 2... You get what you pay for... you buy cheap you get cheap... so if it breaks in 5 minutes or doesn't do what its suppose to do you no where as good as a OEM part then don't complain it was cheap

[GSVR]

Thanks for the comments.

I have put the Chinese filter on the bike and will pull it apart and compare to a Japanese one next oil change as I have a few of these now becuase I change oil and filters often.

The Chinese one should be better quality. Not everything made in China is crap. GN250s are a good example.

[FROSTY:Me]

Garry--to me its a no brainer--OEM filter $25 Cheap filter of questionable quality/ability $15-20 Engine rebuild due to oil starvation or similar -$1500-6000
Say you change filters every meeting and say you do 15 meetings a year
Saving in total $150.00.
If it was me I'd hit my local suzuki dealer up for a bulk purchace discount and buy 10 filters at a time.

Im not saying the after market filters ARE crap just that it aint a risk Im happy to take

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

GN250s are a good example.

errrr... wrong... the GN250 went down hill since the chiness started making them... the chrome is crap and the I hear many parts of the engine are not as good...

When my partner was buying her bike we saw a GN (2005) and it was rusted out... even the other half noticed it. and it was in for engine repair... Get an older Jap GN and it will still be going and minimal rust on the chrome

[MSTRS:Me]

Not everything made in China is crap. GN250s are a good example.

Ummm...I see your irony and raise you a mini-chopper

[Crisis management]

I'm with the majority here......saving money on fiters and oil is the fastest way to wreck a perfectly good engine.

If you're serious about checking the quality, pull the filter apart before you use it and check the following:
Does it have the same area of filter membrane?
Does it have the same level of filtration, micron permeability of the membrane?
Does it have a bypass valve built in?
Is the housing of the same quality, no rust and electro galv finish through out?

If you can not confirm these basics then I would suggest you leave the horrible things alone.

You are correct that not everything out of China is rubbish but the difficulty is in believing the level of quality control they provide (or not). Without knowing and trusting the supply route of these parts I wouldn't risk using them.

[GSVR]

Well this is the first time in memory I have fitted a OEM filter. And to tell you the truth I felt alot better about fitting the filters I have been using up till now.

Interesting that TRC Toyota made a different filter for use on race engines that has a higher flow rate. What happens when the filter can't cope with the flow? The oil doesn't get filtered because it goes thru the relief right?

[Finn]

Well this is the first time in memory I have fitted a OEM filter. And to tell you the truth I felt alot better about fitting the filters I have been using up till now.

Interesting that TRC Toyota made a different filter for use on race engines that has a higher flow rate. What happens when the filter can't cope with the flow? The oil doesn't get filtered because it goes thru the relief right?

Did you notice that it's made in China?

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

You are correct that not everything out of China is rubbish but the difficulty is in believing the level of quality control they provide (or not). Without knowing and trusting the supply route of these parts I wouldn't risk using them.

yes there are a few spunky babes from China Other than that I don't really trust chiness made stuff... but thats just me

[Robert Taylor]

Did you notice that it's made in China?

I thought we had covered this. Many of the oem Japanese parts are now indeed made in China but its important to know who is in charge of quality control. Scientific equipment is required for such testing parameters as filtration ability in microns and relief valve opening pressure etc. But it would be interesting in itself to purchase a selection of the filters on the market including oem and to pull them all carefully apart. The amount of total paper area can be a giveaway. When at Yamaha we did have independent tests done years ago there was one brand of filter ( with what we thought was a reasonably respectable name ) that had only 60% of the paper area of oem. That is seriously shonky.....

As Frosty and others have intimated it is not worth the risk for the sake of a few dollars. If I was buying a bike that I had known to be run on such filters and average oil I would be deamanding a lower price or walking away.