I feel so stupid

[TruWrecks]

Yesterday I did and oil change. I got the right side fairing off just fine. Drained the used oil out of the engine. Took off the old filter. I controlled the oil from the filter with foil. It worked very well. I put the drain plug back in and torqued it to spec with an in/lb wrench. All was good until I put the new filter on. The filter wouldn't seat down correctly. It looked like the filter housing wasn't strait with the seal. I pulled it off and checked it and it looked fine. I spun the filter back on and tightened it hand tight plus 1/2. It looked fine. I filled the oil up and started the engine.

I heard a strange pop and oil started gushing out the bottom of the bike!

The oil was draining out from the oil filter seal! When I checked the filter it I could tighten it up more. WTF??? Something wasn't right. I pulled the filter back off and it looked fine. I went to get another filter just to be sure it was just a filter problem. Put another filter on an it leaked too.

Something is definitely wrong here! I took the second filter off, grabbed my light, and checked the block for any flaws. I found a small piece of the old filter seal stuck to the block behind the filter post!

I now have a quart of new synthetic oil laying on the floor of my garage, in the oil drain pan, and on the headers! I have NEVER made a mistake like that on an oil change in my life! I felt so stupid!!!

The filter is on correctly now. The bike smoked for about an hour of riding it. The mess on the floor is now covered in cat litter and cardboard. I was freezing last night when I finished my ride so I spent the night trying to get my limbs to defrost. Today I have a messy garage to clean up.

I didn't take any pictures of the carnage, but I though some of you people might enjoy the story.

 

[Mr Bogus]

1/2 turn after contact? sounds light to me...

 

[TruWrecks]

1/2 turn after contact? sounds light to me...

1/2 turn after hand tight. It was plenty tight for a proper seal. The debris was the problem.

 

[pward76]

1/2 turn after contact? sounds light to me...

Supposed to be two full turns after contact if I'm not mistaken, not that it would have helped in this situation.

Thanks for the story, it will remind me to check my old filter to see if it's seal is intact before installing the new one....

 

[CDiPrecision]

2 full turns after the seal touches..I don't see how thats doable, it would need to crush the seal almost 1/8 inch.

In regards to the old seal sticking, I have had that with cars..same result,lol..made a hell of a mess.

 

[heavybusa]

Its always the minor things. Glad you got it figured out.

 

[frisbee]

I just go hand tight . Thats a bummer , i've had the rubber get stuck on the block before and didn't see it until I was screwing the new one on .

 

[Mr Bogus]

1/2 turn after contact? sounds light to me...

1/2 turn after hand tight. It was plenty tight for a proper seal. The debris was the problem.

I agree, but I think I would tend to lean towards the factory recommendation a bit more, say 1 full turn or more? I agree that 2 full turns is pretty snug but if you go from point of contact, it is not that hard to do. Just hate to see you push any oil out at the wrong time..

1/2 turn after hand tight could be pretty close to 2 full turns after "contact"

 

[GSXcite]

On a friends bike, his was leaking, and when I looked at it the complete o ring from the old filter was still there. I always inspect and clean the sealing surface, put a little lubrication on the threads and most important, lubricate the new o ring prior to installing the filter.

 

[boazalmighty]

+, put a little lubrication on the threads and most important, lubricate the new o ring prior to installing the filter.

+1


than
i tighten everything till my elbow clicks

 

[Warchild]

Hmmmmm... I went with two full turns (after the seal contacts) when I changed oil on the bike a couple weeks ago. Didn't think the filter would take that by hand, but it definitely did.

Strangely enough, that is *exactly* what the Service Manual calls for.

(page 0B-12, step 5).

 

[BigBSBusa]

Good to know information.

 

[Haya01B]

I always wondered why the directions said to lightly lube the seal with oil. Keeping seal from sticking to surface must be one of the reasons.

 

[GSXcite]

I always wondered why the directions said to lightly lube the seal with oil. Keeping seal from sticking to surface must be one of the reasons.

Lube on the o ring helps to turn the filter on the two full turns as called for in the manual without bunching up the o ring. Other than making it easier to take the filter off, I don't know why anyone would not tighten to spec. A loose oil filter pouring oil on your rear tire would not be fun. On my bike there is no way you could put two turns on without using the wrench. I would recommend anyone who changes their own oil to invest in a wrench that covers the end of the oil filter. They cost like $8.

 

[orangecrush08]

did you use the suzuki filter? i wanna use a fram when i get mine but dont know the number...

 

[valkyriemc]

Yesterday I did and oil change.  I got the right side fairing off just fine.  Drained the used oil out of the engine.  Took off the old filter.  I controlled the oil from the filter with foil.  It worked very well.  I put the drain plug back in and torqued it to spec with an in/lb wrench.  All was good until I put the new filter on.  The filter wouldn't seat down correctly.  It looked like the filter housing wasn't strait with the seal.  I pulled it off and checked it and it looked fine.  I spun the filter back on and tightened it hand tight plus 1/2.  It looked fine.  I filled the oil up and started the engine.

I heard a strange pop and oil started gushing out the bottom of the bike!  

  The oil was draining out from the oil filter seal!  When I checked the filter it I could tighten it up more.   WTF???   Something wasn't right.  I pulled the filter back off and it looked fine.  I went to get another filter just to be sure it was just a filter problem.  Put another filter on an it leaked too.

Something is definitely wrong here!  I took the second filter off, grabbed my light, and checked the block for any flaws.  I found a small piece of the old filter seal stuck to the block behind the filter post!  

 

 

I now have a quart of new synthetic oil laying on the floor of my garage, in the oil drain pan, and on the headers!  I have NEVER made a mistake like that on an oil change in my life!  I felt so stupid!!!

The filter is on correctly now.  The bike smoked for about an hour of riding it.  The mess on the floor is now covered in cat litter and cardboard.  I was freezing last night when I finished my ride so I spent the night trying to get my limbs to defrost.  Today I have a messy garage to clean up.  

I didn't take any pictures of the carnage, but I though some of you people might enjoy the story.

Thanks for that revealing post. I've had the entire o ring stick occaisionally, but I've never seen a piece of it separate, if thats what your saying. And I've done hundreds of oil changes. I always lube the o ring, always pre-fill the filter with as much oil as practical and never use a "wrench" to tighten one up. I always set the drain plug by hand, as torque wrenches can be inaccurate at the lower ranges, especially clickers like I use. I also go for long drain periods, sometimes letting the vechicle sit over night.

 

[BusaWizard]

Always check the filter mount,

to see if the old seal or parts of it are left on it.

 

[klspeed993]

I did mine today and noticed that the old o-ring stuck to the mounting surface when I pulled the old filter off, no other issues though.
It was kind of scary removing the bodywork for the first time, kept thinking I was going to break something. Next time will be a snap though.

 

[boosted]

I one time for got to put the drain plug back in and poured a full quart of syn. oil through it on to the ground.{expensive engine flush}We've all done a few stupid things before.

 

[rocketgeezer]

Hey Doug: we all do stupid stuff like that anybody that sez they don't is lieing, did the same thing at the track with my race car it let loose in the burnout oiled just about the whole burnout area had most of the other racers pissed at me that night they were really mad when I had the car fixed and cleaned up before they were done with the track they didn't stay pissed long' 2 more sets of cars and somebody granaded a motor right off the line I helped clean that mess up, and as far as the 1/2 turn after tight if you tighten the filter up hard as you can by hand and then 1/2 turn it's probably near where it,s supposed to be