So I'm looking at air filters online and I saw someone review a Fram air filter claiming after installation that they saw fibers in their oil, they checked the filter and noted fibers on the filter media which they assume came off and went into combustion.

How likely is this to happen? I would think more people would complain about it but I can't find anything on Google. Could their story be completely made up or erroneous? I don't get how fibers ingested from the air filter make their way to the oil. Do they go past the cylinder rings or something? I would think they would be so tiny as to get burned up in the combustion and not find themselves whole in the oil. I also find it extremely hard to believe that Fram could mess up air filters.

I just checked a spare air filter I have in a box from a different company and indeed I see little pieces of fibers hanging off of it too so now I'm wondering if every filter is like this or just some? Almost all if not every filter I've ever replaced over multiple cars used this kind of fiber media. Does any body use paper filters for engines? I'm assuming paper filters don't have pieces of lint hanging off of them.

I have to admit I tried pulling on the fibers or brushing my hand on them and it was really hard if not impossible to pull them off. Even if some of them did get sucked off it would only be the ones hanging out right? The ones actually pressed together into the media would be impossible to pull out I think. I don't even know how strong the vacuum is but I doubt it's that strong.

 

While I'm no fan of Fram filters (at least not their lower end models), I'd lay odds the whole "Air filter fibers in oil" thing is utter and complete fantasy.

 

How about the fibers having come from the oil filter?