At 04:03 PM 4/5/2001, James W Wagner wrote:
>I haven't thought about this for a while, but I thought there was some
>kind of relief valve in the official filter?

That's it precisely.  The list has experienced many tales of heavy lifter
clattering on startup that went away as soon as the victim changed to an
"official" filter.  It may or may not be coincidence, but Fram seemed to
figure in many of these tales.

Specific Vanagon issues aside, there's a fellow active in MoPar racing or
something who's done some thorough examinations of oil filter quality --
try a google search on oil filter quality.  The URL has minimopar in it,
pretty sure.  From his studies it seems clear that Fram are using their
excellent former reputation to sell a filter that's about the worst of the
bunch.

david

David Beierl - Providence, RI
  http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"