Oil Filter Seepage

[rez]

I seem to have a bit of oil seepage from my oil filter housing (1st generation). It seems to be coming from around the large O-ring that seals the oil filter housing 'cup' to the block....the center bolt area O-ring area is dry. I've just installed a new O-rings again and after about 100 km it seems to want to start seeping again. It seems to be very minimal seepage....not even leaving drops on the floor. Any thoughts on me getting a tight seal on this (without me going to the spin on filter adapter)??? Thanks!

[rhncue]

I seem to have a bit of oil seepage from my oil filter housing (1st generation). It seems to be coming from around the large O-ring that seals the oil filter housing 'cup' to the block....the center bolt area O-ring area is dry. I've just installed a new O-rings again and after about 100 km it seems to want to start seeping again. It seems to be very minimal seepage....not even leaving drops on the floor. Any thoughts on me getting a tight seal on this (without me going to the spin on filter adapter)??? Thanks!

 

There should never be any oil leakage in this area. I would clean and check the filter cover very carefully if I were you. I had an 81 XS11 that uses the same filter housing and O-ring. One day I was sitting still and revving the engine and the O-ring popped out and all of the oil dumped onto the ground in less than a second. I pulled the filter and went and got a new one and a new O-ring and new oil. I went riding that afternoon at speeds of 70 and 80 MPH. The next morning I road across the street to a supermarket and got a few items. While riding through their parking lot at around 15 MPH the O-ring blew out again and dumped all of the oil onto my rear wheel. The back end came around and passed the front wheel and I high sided the bike. I broke my elbow in this accident. If this had happened the day earlier I certainly wouldn't have survived the accident. Upon checking the filter cover, I found some small stress cracks in the cover starting at the center bolt hole and radiating out. This let the cover flex slightly so that under the right condition, the O-ring could pop out slightly dumping all of the oil thus causing an extremely dangerous condition.

 

Dick

[mbrood]

I would check both the engine flange and the mate surface on the filter cover for nicks or... that can keep the two from seating FLUSH.. Test it without the o-ring or bolt to "feel" if it rocks at all... you can also lay a piece of paper in between the two and twist a bit on the filter cover to see if it "catches" the paper.