One of the perks of my line of work is occasionally there's a stash of parts that just aren't worth going to the trouble of selling, and you're able to pick up a few things here and there. Recently we've had 2 boxes of Motor Trend oil filters made available. They're Z456s, filters for the 3.0 and 3.5 litre Third Gen Magna Sixes (TE to TW). There's also several other boxes of oil filters there too but none for the Mitsubishi Magna.

I'm considering picking them up should the club find any use for them (along with possibly some air filters, etc), but i'm not sure if anyone has used these oil filters in the past and had any positive, or negative, experiences with them.

Anyone used these before?

Are they for sale or give away? If its a good deal then, I'll be interested in a couple of oil filters for the wifes and mums veradas.

Still sorting them out, i'll find out if they're take or buy sometime next week.

Just need to know if they're any good or not, I don't want to be stuck with a shed of ****ty filters if they're no good... lol

if they turn out to be any good i'd be keen on a few, and chuck some $$ donation to AMC to help the cause if thats the way you'd like to go about it!

do they have anti drain back and emergency relief valves?,if not, i wouldnt fit them to be honest

Very good question. I have one of the filters here for a Second Gen V6 (Z79A), and I can't see any mention of an anti-drain back valve on the packaging. Nor can I see any mention of it from a google search. :doubt:

you will have to look inside the filter, there will be like a spring on the inside...

The only other way is to cut open one, a spring in the center, looking into the opening will mean it has the by-pass valve. A rubber membrane should be located on the inner side of the filter cover. The membrane covers the holes where the contaminated oil gets through to the filter and protects from the back flow after the engine stops. If it has these features then they're good.

The only reference I could find on the internet for this brand says the following only...


Great name! Great quality! Great value!
Superior filter from the world's automotive authority helps achieve peak engine performance
Uses the latest technology to maximize the filtration process under even the most demanding driving conditions
Use this with Motor Trend™ Air Filters for the maximum resultThis is the filter of choice for extra engine protection, providing superior protection compared to conventional oil filters; improved high and low temperature performance; improved engine protection against sludge and harmful dirt deposits; and, it's the best choice in severe driving conditions. For American and import vehicles.

Does not say anything else. :doubt:

I'll have to grab another one of the filters to hack it open. Out of all 25 boxes of filters (most of which are Commodore filters), we only had one Second Gen V6 filter, so i'm a bit hesitant to cut that one open.

Ill take whatever you can get, I dont really care to be honest...

You have to ask yourself why they are not sold.......

usually you get what you pay for, and a quality filter isn't that expensive for the job it does. would you put really cheap oil oil in your motor?

OK, I got a reply from the E-bay person who sells Motor Trend Oil Filters, they confirm that the oil filters do have the features I queried on.

"this does offer the Anti Drain Back Valve and the Bypass valve which means once the filter gets clogged it reroutes the bad bring the new in. Thank you for inquiring in our products please feel free to contact us back with further questions."

Welll I guess that answers that then....

The main reason they weren't sold is some of the Commodore filters had issues with the screw-on threads, so sometimes they wouldn't sit flush with the engine block. When we switched back over to Phoenix as the supplier, all the Motor Trend filters were pulled from the shelves regardless of the make/model they were made for, because we needed to start making cash back on the Phoenix filters.

The Motor Trend filters, we just cut our losses and decided to sell off the remainder discounted, hence how these Magna filters have come up. From what I understand they worked well on the Astrons, but i've never had the car, time or space to try them out on the 3.0 and 3.5L Third Gen sixes.

Vrex does make a good point though, if they're not premium filters then I doubt they would be of interest for the club. We all tend to opt for the very best where possible- for regular consumers they may be fine but not for us.

EDIT: Cheers for clearing that up GTVi, maybe they're not too bad after all if they actually have these features (although not advertising them like say... Ryco). I'll check up a rough price on how much they want for the lot this week and go from there.

2 things, the back flow really is not needed as much for the 3rd gen as the filter is upside down anyway and generally will stay full of oil. The bypass is required but all oil filters have them.

Depending on who makes these (as motor trend willnot) they may be ok, you need to be careful of the media

If you can get a good clear pic of the base (where it screws on) I may be able to get an id on these as there are very few oil filter makers. FAS, AC Delco and a few others are all made in Indonesia and are of a very good standard. There are some out htere however where the bedia is very poor quality and will in some cases colapse.

Motor Trend is a popular automotive magazine in USA (headed by an Aussie) they have licensed their name to appear on many products including the oil filters. They are being offered for sale for $5 to $6 US dollars in the US. Not sure of the manufacturer at this stage.