Technical Yet another TwinAir misfire right after an oil change.

[Peter Pick-Up]

I like the grooved Bosch design better over the fabric on top, Bosch knows what they are doing.
I only have grooved Bosch filters on my car since three years...
And the grooves will almost hit the cap, so that's why there are grooves, acting as a seal.
Actualy, it's not that important, as the fabric will allow oil to seap through as well..

( Did notice, UFI is made in China...)

 

[Louie Bee]

I too noticed the made in china and many global brands have production facilities around the world. https://www.ufifilters.com/en/the-group/history/

I only mentioned country of origin because the design is not the same as the one I removed and sometimes the devil is in the detail.

Here is the Bosch filter I removed and the too is completely covered in material & made in Austria so also made a a different production facility No dips or grooves unless they are covered by the material.

I'm not saying Bosch don't know how to make a filter, but I'd expect the fit form and function be the same for a given part number so raised a red flag for me. The specification has changed with no explanation.

Last thing I'm going to do on the 4th consecutive oil filter change is fit what looks to me to be a cost saved change of design. I don't claim to be a filter design expert, but if you remove the protective bag and a layer of material it's bound to be cheaper to make.

In keeping the same part number it appears to be masking the design change I've noticed and I decided to reject the part as it looks like the cheap Napa brand part.

 

[Louie Bee]

Here are the 2 other filters also recently removed from my Punto. UFI left, Napa right

The material seems to be about sealing the central tube which which ever was the oil is flowing is going between dirty and clean sides of the filter.

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

Well, the fabrik looks a bit cheap to me, doesn't do much imo.
I stick to the trusted, grooved Bosch filter....

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

Imagine small parts of the fabric come loose, and circulate inside the UniAir unit...
To me it's a cheap, bad design.
No wonder Bosch made a design change.

 

[Louie Bee]

My mistake, i presumed UFI was the OEM for the oil cooler assembly, but it's mahle (that explains why the filter cap hex head is so different (smaller) to the ones on the multijet I've seen
https://www.fiatworkshop.co.uk/parts/500L_Oil_Cooler.shtml

Genuine Fiat 500 0.9 Twin air Oil Filter Housing / Oil Cooler (55225515) | eBay UK

YOU ARE PURCHASING A GENUINE FIAT 500 0.9 TWIN AIRPETROL OIL FILTER HOUSING. THE OIL FILTER HOUSING IS IN GOOD USED CONDITION AND WILL FIT ALL 0.9 MODELS OF THE FIAT 500 (2008 ONWARDS). CLUB 500 ITALIA.

www.ebay.co.uk

Maybe UFI brand is a bad choice for me. This is how the original looks according to autodoc.

I've ordered a mahle filter so the UFI one will also be returned.

Still take care Peter in case you end up with the material top Bosch filter which may still be out there. Fit what you are comfortable with as it's probably going to be you funding any expensive repairs and the Uniair is one to take as much care of as possible. Maybe I've learnt the hard way, maybe I'll get lucky at the end of the cleaning.

I don't think Bosch are the OEM for the Twinair oil filter & cooler assembly, so that would make them a "will fit" supplier brand in this case. How can they improve the design without access to the technical drawings?

Interesting story I was told by my local motor factors the other week when I asked about a napa fuel filter i had quality issue with for my Tipo (missing strainers and just a paper element). He reckons some of their customers are choosing and asking for Napa over Bosch as Bosch have lowered their quality. I'm just skeptical about them all now so have a good look before fitting.

Napa left, Bosch right i won't be buying Napa again as the quality is so bad.

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

Original is what the factory can buy cheap.
It will vary from year to year, maybe faster.
Our Alfa Giulietta, 1,4 MultiAir, bought new in 2016, came with French Purlux filters, still use them for oil and air.
(I rekon Bosch as one of the most reliable and trusted aftermarket suppliers, btw.)

 

[Louie Bee]

I was put off the Bosch filter today before I opened the box as the box had plenty of dust. Then looking like a Napa filter with dust on the element.

 

[Louie Bee]

After 272 miles driven with the first oil flush in I added the second product this evening.

I only let the engine run for 70 mins with the flush accelerator before changing the oil.

I seem to have 2 missfire errors logged during the oil flush

But nothing else since I cleared the errors last Friday. Not sure how MES shows errors. I assume they just logged the operation time for the first instance until you clear the log. Maybe worth changing the coil packs over of it comes back.

Change the oil right after 70 mins.

I did suck the oil out the filter base. 70ml no less so worth doing.



I added the correct spec (for euro 5) 5W40 C3 spec oil (Comma PD plus) and fitted the Mahle brand filter which I'll probably be sticking with. I left a bit of space for the adaptive so not to push oil level past max.

I was moving the bowl while taking the picture to catch oil trace colour. Few little bits of muck found in the bottom but nothing worrying. Went for a drive to get oil past 80 degrees (around 17 miles) then added the final product.

Had a sporty drive until no more white smoke came out the exhaust (17 miles) No error codes and no unusual sounds. I'm not really a fan of oil additives and this was scary territory for me.