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Message started by nikmad on 06/18/07 at 07:32:46

Title: Blown oil filter cover
Post by nikmad on 06/18/07 at 07:32:46

Hi guys, this is first post on the forum and unfortunately it has to be on a sad note. This morning I cranked up my 2001 Savage up and the oil filter cover blew!....and I mean the metal triangular cover cracked open with oil spewing out onto my pants and onto the pavement.

Ok some history here. I bought this bike about 2 months ago.( Actually from a member on this forum - 'trouble'). Its in good condition otherwise and the only thing I thought I would do was to change the oil and oil filter recently and take in to the shop to get a new front tire. So last week I changed the oil and oil filter using the Clymer manual. I went with the manual recommendation of 2.5 qts for oil filter change and after I'd done it noticed that the oil filled the whole window instead of being between the top and lower marks. So I had to drain the extra oil to get it to just above the lower mark. I took it around for a spin after and everything seemed fine. This was yesterday.

This morning was when it blew up. I asked a couple of rider friends who told me usually its gaskets that fail due to excessive oil pressure. They said they never heard of anything like what happened to me. Anybody have ideas as to why that happened?
Did I torsion the oil filter covers lugs too tight? or loose? Or was simply oil pressure. If so, how can that happen with less than full oil? I appreciate any ideas as I wait to order parts online and replace it.

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by smokey02 on 06/18/07 at 07:57:42

Hi Nikmad
This is just a guess, but I wonder if the filter cover had a defect or crack that made it fail. The oil pressure isn't all that high in this engine. As long as you only snugged the bolts enough to compress the O-ring, it doesn't seem like oil pressure alone could break it.

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by vroom1776 on 06/18/07 at 08:00:49

replace it and ride it. that shouldn't have happened, obviusoly. did you over tigthen the bolts, ot overtighten one of them?

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by verslagen1 on 06/18/07 at 08:08:23

It's a pretty sturdy part normally, but it's just a die cast piece. Defects can be cast in. And unless it was heavily polished. If you need one, I have an ugly spare.

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by nikmad on 06/18/07 at 08:10:56

I torqued the 3 lug nuts in a criss-cross fashion and ensured that they were tight, not overly tight (tapped with a small hammer at the end of the allen wrench/hex key after tightening by hand). The spring on the inside of the oil filter seemed to resist the tightening but it felt normal, and not very hard to hold it in.

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by nikmad on 06/18/07 at 08:15:16

verslagen1 wrote:

It's a pretty sturdy part normally, but it's just a die cast piece. Defects can be cast in. And unless it was heavily polished. If you need one, I have an ugly spare.

THanks!!That would be great! But let me check with my local dealer here first, bcos it'll be easier to get it fixed quick. Will let you know later today.....

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by Savage_Rob on 06/18/07 at 08:24:04

This has happened once before on this site. See previous thread (http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?board=RubberSideDown;action=display;num=1123789261).

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by Midway1954 on 06/18/07 at 08:47:43

I can see alot of of reasons this could happen including smokeyo2s and Savage_Robs. But i think something was not right to begin with after your oil and filter change. Over torque, uneven torque, in other words maybe a bad torque wrench. That cover must have been in a bind for whatever reason ( foreign object) and just the vibration from starting the engine pushed it to the point of cracking. Just my thoughts. Hope you get it resolved.

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by nikmad on 06/18/07 at 10:22:08

I went to the dealers and he said to drain the oil and haul the bike in. He surmised that the filter may be placed the wrong end in or the lugs torsioned too much. I placed the filter with the flat part out so I don't know if that was the case.

Thanks Verslagen1, but I think I'll take it to the service shop and let them handle it. And thanks Savage_Rob for the link to the earlier post.

Will upload some pics today and also let you guys know what the mechanic says.

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by Max_Morley on 06/18/07 at 10:24:50

The correct oil amount is documented in comments about the Clymer manual, IMHO it had some kind of interference at installation this time. The oil pump would create a higher pressure when the oil was cold. I take it only the cover broke out, it did not strip out the retaining bolts? If so maybe you can find out what happened if you haven't taken the bolts out yet and can see if something is pinched under the cover at a point. You had the filter in correctly, maybe the oil ring slipped out of position and cracked it. I see no need to take it to the dealer at this point, this is a DIY project. Max

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by DrT on 06/18/07 at 10:25:07

Is it possible that you accidentally put the filter in back to front? That would block the oil flow and the pressure may have forced the filter outwards, breaking the cover.

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by nikmad on 06/18/07 at 10:31:36

One last thing...

from the previous thread discussing a similar situation, here's what I found in common

- It happened when the engine was cranked. Not when the bike was running.

- The crack looks exactly like the filter tried to "punch" through the metal

- The metal is pretty flimsy. Wafer-thin is how I would describe it.

Given all this, my suspicion is that when the engine started oil was pumped forcefully into the filter chamber like a burst. Because of the "burst" of oil, a poor quality filter and maybe bad torqued lugs, the filter received the impact of the oil and punched through the metal.

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by verslagen1 on 06/18/07 at 11:36:35

I took a look at the former post, I'd say it was corrosion induced fatigue failure. The material doesn't look overly thin. But corrosion is evident. We know the castings some times have pores in them. When these were cast, most likely the outside would be facing up. Evidence of the tooling id on the inside. So there would be a likely hood of bubbles collecting at the top. There's a fracture line through the middle of the largest area mostly perpendicular to the surface with a transition to a angled fracture surface. My guess would be an impact that may have cracked it even slightly, and fatigue and corrosion aided it running to the outside diameter of the filter cavity. And then the weaker half gave way.

Image from previous thread
http://w1.bikepics.com/pics/2005%5C08%5C12%5Cbikepics-408156-full.jpg

Makes me worried, mine is spotted like that. Not as bad, but like that. :o

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by justin_o_guy on 06/18/07 at 22:21:39

There's no need to be smacking on the allen wrench tightening the bolts on the oil filter cover. Just run 'em up tight. Those threads are gonna be needed for many, many tightening & loosening cycles.It will be obvious if they are getting loose, cuz it will leak oil & it wont be running more than 100 hours till you will be changing oil again. Surely they wont fall out that fast.

Title: Re: Blown oil filter cover
Post by Oldfeller2 on 06/19/07 at 03:50:31

Look closely at the picture from the previous thread (NOT this occurance).

http://w1.bikepics.com/pics/2005%5C08%5C12%5Cbikepics-408156-full.jpg

The hollow cast-in-place post on the inside of the broken bit of the cover (the post that locates the spring) is squashed and deformed looking to me. All c0cked and catawampus too.

Enough force involved in that to do the deed to the cover, certainly.

Remember there is a substantial perforated sheet metal column dead center of the filter's axis that would transfer significant force back to the cover if there was something assembled incorrectly.

How it happened is up to conjecture -- yeah, I'd be looking at that filter to be the filter that fits another bike, not this one. Or else I'd be looking at mash marks on the wrong side of the filter for the dreaded backwards assembly oops thing.

I like this picture, I hide a larger-than-the-filter-diameter supermagnet inside the same exact space that was involved in this breakout issue. So I know there is room in there normally.

Oldfeller