| Author | Message | ||
     Dooley |
My oil filter vibrated loose on a ride, while commuting home from work. I noticed oil on my right boot, looked down and saw a huge mess, pulled over on the freeway and got it towed home. I don't usually do a detailed inspection before riding to work, I save that for the weekend rides, but the oil filter will be one of the things that get checked more frequently. I decided to throw a hose clamp on to stop it from spining off, if vibrated loose in the future, but I found this in my garage, its a union clamp for pvc pipe, I just removed the rubber slip joint and used the stainless steel clamps and sheet metal.   The clamp can be found at various hardware stores, Home depot, lowes Whats your oil filter safety device? | ||
| Miko_k |
My safety device is a strong hand and a nice NAPA gold filter, with a decent rubber seal that does not disintegrate  Yours case is the first I ever heard of. Now it makes me want to check it, but I already know that it's tight. | ||
| Dennista15 |
I have heard of this happening before. I just keep an eye on it. Some oil filter come ready for safety wiring, or you could put one clamp on and safety wire to that. Here is some info on safety wiring:http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/158 664/435346.html | ||
| Pashlipops |
Is it a genuine Buell filter? Some aftermarket filters have a metric thread rather than imperial... | ||
| Sam_07 |
WOT! Buell filter + hand tight | ||
| Marko138 |
I'm convinced this bike will shake absolutely anything loose that is not loc-tighted or wired down. | ||
| Saratoga |
Lube the gasket so you can get it off the next time you change it and crank that joker down tight! I've never had problems with oil filters vibrating loose on any vehicle in the past. | ||
| Aldaytona |
Me neither, and I can't think of anything off hand that shakes/vibrates worse than a pre 04 Sporty at +75 on a long road trip and I've made lost of those and to quote Lance Armstrong "boy, does my butt hurt". | ||
| Jlnance |
I have never had the filter come off, but I have touched it with my fingers and had it rotate. I'm assuming it wasn't put on tightly enough. It certainly can vibrate loose in that case. | ||
| Randomchaos |
Use da good ol' pimp hand and tighten that bitch up! Ive never had one loosen up on me. Always put a little oil around the seal and hand tighten it down til it wont turn anymore  Is that clamp you put on the filter attached to anything on the bike? I cant see how it would help by just slapping it on the oil filter. | ||
| Boltrider |
I think the service manual says to turn it down till the seal makes contact, then give it another half turn. I just use both hands and tighten the crap out of it. When it comes time to take the old one off, I sometimes have to use a big pair of channel locks. | ||
| Randomchaos |
Heh, I've had to hammer a screwdriver through an oil filter once to get enough leverage to take it off | ||
| Figitt |
Oil filters are very well known to fall off various machines. Most every racing sanction makes you safety the filter on. K/N even sells a filter with a safety drilled nut on the end. Ive worked on Hogs for 20+ years now, and seen several (more than 5) come off. | ||
| Hr_puffinstuff |
make sure the the rubber gasket (from the previous oil filter) is not stuck to the block, before installing the new filter. | ||
| Dooley |
Is that clamp you put on the filter attached to anything on the bike? I cant see how it would help by just slapping it on the oil filter. The clamp is placed on there so that if it were to start to twist off it will stop by hitting the front oil line fitting, and also makes it easyer to notice the filter out of place by a glance. The filter that came loose was a Buell filter and I always crank the heck out of them when installing, I usually have to use a pipe wrench or a screwdriver to get it off. | ||
| Al_lighton |
It's a good idea to do this. I use this clamp: http://www.americansportbike.com/shoponline/ccp0-prodshow/6183.html The end of the T-bolt touching the engine keeps it from being able to loosen.  | ||
| Sifo |
I just checked... It's tight! I usually put marks on the engine case and filter with a marker. Easy to check visually if it's starting to turn. I usually check it again right before the next oil change.  | ||
| Eicas |
Are you sure it was tight to begin with. I have never had a properly tightened oil filter come loose on me, but know of car filters coming loose when they were not installed correctly. Usually the problem is getting an old oil filter to brake loose! | ||
| Oneeightsix |
On my race bike I put a hose clamp around the filter and drill a small hole in the front exhaust bracket Then you can just run safety wire to hold it tight. | ||
| Werewulf |
i thought only tubers vibrated loose.. | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
"make sure the the rubber gasket (from the previous oil filter) is not stuck to the block, before installing the new filter." VERY true. I don't see it being so much of an issue on these bikes with everything out in the open, but I've made the mistake on a car of installing a new filter on top of the old filter's gasket. As soon as you start the engine, oil pressure blows both gaskets out of the way and makes a big mess. As for the X1 filter, I just eat a big bowl of wheaties then go put it on hand tight. | ||
| Typeone |
i started using a regular hose clamp after it was required for a track day. kept using it from that point forward, just in case. i dont know the size i used but its very well hidden slid all the way to the top of the filter. | ||
| Swordsman |
"Heh, I've had to hammer a screwdriver through an oil filter once to get enough leverage to take it off" I've twisted the entire end out of a filter the exact same way. Screwdriver started tearing through the metal, all the way around. That's tight.  ~SM |
