F&M Oil Filter vers El Reno Adapter and Kelly oil filter

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

I know some of theis has been said before in several post but though I'd out it in one place as clear as possible. I'm not recommending one over the other as I have used neither yet.

I just spoke to El Reno and F&M.

El Renos price as of 3/15/04 is $299.50 minus 10% or $269.55. There filter adapters (made by F&M several years ago) DO NOT have the newer F&M modification to the mating surface. They still use 2 crush gaskets and if you ask they'll send a new neopreme style gasket but it's not the newer &M design. F&M has not sold an adapter kit to El Reno in 7 years. I'm not sure if the El Reno kit includes a Champion oil filter but if you go this route make sure you get a fresh oil filter. Champion says the shelf life on there filters are 5 years. El Reno may lend the thread chasing tool but I forgot to ask.

F&M price as of 3/15/04 is $339.50. They all come with the newer approved design mating surface and gasket which was developed in the last 5 years and a fresh Champion oil filter. F&M will lend a thread chaser if you need it.

The F&M oil filter should be approved to use the Kelly oil filter in about 3 months. No word if the El Reno/F&M adapters will be covered under the updated STC by F&M.

If you need to know which one I bought send me a PM.

[zero.one.victor]

I bought the El Reno adapter about 3 years ago. I paid the full price, never asked about a (170 Association?) discount and they never mentioned it. They did include one 48108 oil filter,I don't know if it was fresh or not,it seemed to look & smell OK though.
About a year later,El Reno did loan me a thread chaser when I called & asked. They shipped it to me free,I had to pay ($5) to return-ship it to them.
Last October, I bought the new-style gasket from F&M that ended up costing me $18. I asked about remachining the mating surface with the chamfer of the later adapters,they said it wasn't necesary. The flat gasket eliminated the small oil leak that had been annoying me for 2-1/2 years.
If El Reno will include the later flat-type gasket with their kit,great. I'd be inclined to go that way & save forty bucks. They're super to do business with. I should have called them & asked about a replacement gasket,I guess. Like I've said elsewhere,I'm holding a bit of a grudge against F&M over the $18 gasket deal, so I'm not exactly impartial.
Tell us more about the Kelly filter,Bruce. The El Reno paperwork lists approved filters (besides Champion 48108) as Airmaze 204422,AC OF-53A,and Continental 643226 & 641583. The F&M paperwork --Model CO-300 installation instructions,revision 1,issued 10-26-98-- I got when I bought the gasket lists only the Champion & AC filters as approved. I'd like to find a cheaper substitute,or better yet a cheaper source for the Champion,which is the only one I've ever used. The local fuel & oil distributor (Petit Oil in Port Angeles) has good prices on aviation oil by the case,but doesn't handle Champion filters.

Eric

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Kelly filters are discussed in anotheer post about the oil filter adapters and there is a Kelly Aerospace link for more info.

The guy at F&M said they plan on having the Kelly approved with some other paperwork in about 3 months. He also said they're great filters and if no one is looking, use them, but till the paperwork is completed they're illegal on his adapter.

Don't know if the gasket you got is the standard new gasket and if that it the same gasket that is available from El Reno.

People at both companies where very helpful and pleasant. The El Reno guy couldn't stop telling me how he'd like to sell me his adapter but wouldn't acknowledge that there was a new design. Said the 2 crush gaskets work fine but they do have a new gasket they'll send if you insist. A different gentleman at El Reno then suggested I call another business about my Delco generator requirements without asking what they where, even though the first said they had a huge stock pile of Delco parts.

The F&M guy said the El Reno folks weren't interested in the new design when he talked to them.

[zero.one.victor]

Did a forums search for kelly oil filters. Pretty sketchy results--they're supposed to be F&M approved soon. Maybe. They're supposed to be about 5 bucks cheaper than Champion. Supposed to be sold by Aircraft Spruce.I looked at Kelly Aerospace's website--not much info there either. They
list Spruce as a distributor. I browsed and then searched the Spruce site--no Kelly filters.
Anybody have any solid information on price/availability of the Kelly filters? Or on the AC OF-53A filters? Or on a cheap source for the Champion filters?

Eric

[zero.one.victor]

I got to thinking about the oil filter adapter leak that plagued me for a couple years,and decided to re-read both the El Reno & the F&M installation instructions.
The El Reno paperwork said to tork at 50-55 ft-lbs,this is with the two-crush-ring arrangement. I didn't do that,cuz I didn't have a 1" square socket or crow's foot-- I just reefed it as tight as I could using my 1" open-end wrench. Later,when I installed the F&M flat gasket,their instructions said to tork at 65 ft-lbs. This time,I borrowed a 1" crow's foot to use with my tork wrench. Man, 65 ft-lbs is a lot! Way more than I could get with my short open-end. I'm wondering if maybe the crush ring arrangement as per the original El Reno kit would have been leak-free if I'd done it right and actually torked it to the 50-55 ft-lbs they specify. I'm sure now that whatever tork I got on it was well short of spec. It always seemed as if I wasn't getting much of a crush on the two crush rings used on the original set-up. I never had a problem getting the single ring to crush with that open-end when I was running the oil screen. To crush two rings do you need twice the tork?
Anyway,if anyone's fighting a persistant oil leak with the El Reno/ two crush ring installation,maybe it's just not torked enough. Beg,borrow,steal or even (gasp!) buy the tools to do the job right!

Eric