Oil Filters PF454 vs PF25 on a 1969 350 ci

[6shark9]

I changed my oil today and used my first PF454 on the corvette. Seems like I've changed oil in my cars and trucks nearly a million times by now, so I think I got it down.
Filter seemed to seat and I gave it about another 1/4-1/2 hand tightened turn. Real snug.
Started the vette and there goes my oil onto the garage floor slipping past the rubber gasket on the filter.
On inspection the rubber seal was straight and looked to have seated.

Measuring and sizing up the filter it looks like only about half of the thickness of the rubber gasket makes contact with the flat seat on the block. The filter appears to be narrower.

Any HELP?

 

[6shark9]

Hmm my reply was lost.

Further investagation:
OD of the PF454 gasket is 3/16" smaller in diameter than the PF25.

The PF454 gasket fits entirely inside of the blocks seating pad and I get NO seal.

What to Do??????

Went shopping:
Purolator is the way to go. PL20049. Very close to the diameter of a PF25.

Other brand replacements that would not fit because they are greater than 1/8' smaller in diameter than a PF25:
Fram PH30, TG30 - (wouldn't even take a free one anyway)
K&N HP-2002
ACDelco PF454 and PF1218

 

[bill81vette]

WOW thanks for the tip!!! I just bought 2 of them last month,to keep on hand for when I change the oil, I'll keepm an eye out for this!
do you have a big or small block????

 

[6shark9]

Small block

 

[bill81vette]

thanks...

 

[cinci5]

Hmm my reply was lost.

Further investagation:
OD of the PF454 gasket is 3/16" smaller in diameter than the PF25.

The PF454 gasket fits entirely inside of the blocks seating pad and I get NO seal.

What to Do??????

Went shopping:
Purolator is the way to go. PL20049. Very close to the diameter of a PF25.

Other brand replacements that would not fit because they are greater than 1/8' smaller in diameter than a PF25:
Fram PH30, TG30 - (wouldn't even take a free one anyway)
K&N HP-2002
ACDelco PF454 and PF1218

I almost did the same thing, I put oil in filter tried to screw on but something didn't look right so I measured it and the same thing its wrong. Now I have a filter that I can't return.

 

[6shark9]

I'll use mine on my boat. a Chevy 152 cu. in. 4 banger.
Ever try to clean 3 quarts of new oil up off concrete, man what a mess.
The wasted time is the worst thing. I'll go buy 4 more Purolators next time I'm at the parts store.

ACDelco letting down the older SBC crowd, I'm not into marketing, but what a mistake (IMO)

 

[bill81vette]

mine are still unopened,I'll see if I can still return them and get the right ones!!!!

 

[Yoda]

FYI...

I use the AC Delco Duraguard PF1218 and have no issue's

I just changed oil this week, and the ticket from AutoZone shows it to be:
AutoZone #287813
AC Oil FI #1218S

Fit like a glove, no leaks

Bud

 

[pgtr]

That is really strange - the 454 is 'the' Delco distributor for this application and you'd think considering the millions of SBs they'd get this right. The 1218 should be identical to the 454 except taller.

The Purolator and Champ Labs (AZone, WMart and many others) are excellent options.

The 454 allowed them to save a few pennies over the 25 since it's slightly shorter. It also xrefs to more applications to simplify their inventory. Still, dropping the 25 was not a good thing IMO.

 

[c84/99y]

pf454-pf25-pf1218-pf35-pf932

wow i just had to check this out. i have a variety of these filter so i checked them against each other and i found no difference in the sealing surface diameter at all. i've been using the 454s with no problem in place of the 25s i save these for my truck because of the larger capacity and less frequent oil changes. i can't imagine why these instances have happened but am intrigued

 

[6shark9]

A couple months ago I noticed at my local parts store a difference in some of the ACDelco boxes. Some boxes were slightly smaller and majority of the writing on the box was Spanish. Now they are all the Spanish boxes.

I took my PF25 (purchased in 2002) with me to the store. Only the Purolator was the same size.

The old PF25 only sealed on the outer half of the gasket thickness against the block (I could see the imprint), so the diameter difference for me was critical. Maybe newer SBCs have more compatability.

 

[6shark9]

Here is the newer box. Notice the 3 languages yet only Spanish is in the actual description box:
"camionetas Chevrolet y GMC" -(light trucks chevrolet and GMC)
1963-1990 - Didn't know the "screw on" oil filter existed in '63 (debut in about '66 or '67?)
Are there TWO types of PF454 or is the light truck desc. a carry over from the original application? Can't be.
This is the only PF454 type box in the store (about 10 of them)

Stacked - see the difference. the PF454,PF1218 and every other brand with the exception of Purolator was smaller than the PF25. I'd bet the $ savings is in the construction at the metal seams vs the slightly smaller size.

Upclose -

Last is the old PF25 notice that the outer 1/2-2/3 of the gasket actually made contact with the block. You can see that the PF454 is not going to work.

 

[Crimson Thunder]

I use the pf-35.Its the same as the pf-25 but about an inch longer.

 

[Crimson Thunder]

If memory serves me correctly,the 454 is the filter that my LT1 Camaro calls for.

 

[6shark9]

I haven't seen a PF25 or a PF35 on store shelves for 3 years now.
I know they're not made anymore.
They can be found on ebay for around $20-30.

 

[pws69]

I have been using NAPA Gold filters (WIX) with no problems since the demise of the PF-25. Very well built filter.