[DeeLewis]

Hey Guys,

Hoping to get some insight here as to what I did wrong exactly. I was outside last night changing my oil for the first time on my 250. Everything was going great. I drained all the oil out of the drain plug, then removed the oil filter. The problem came when it was time to torque the various bolts back into place. I set the torque wrench to 14.5 ft.lbs, and started tightening it. I had a feeling in the back of my head that it was tightening way too tight, but I didn't pay any attention to it until the wrench gave its customary click to let me know the torque had reached its specification. So I go to turn on the bike, and all of the oil spills out from beneath the bike. Upon removing the oil filter, it appeared that there was a huge crack on the metal oil filter cap that the large O-ring sits on. I had overtighetened the thing so damn much that I cracked the cap

Looking back, I can't see what I did wrong at all and it's really frustrating me. I know I had the proper setting on the torque wrench, so why did the thing tighten so damn hard, could the wrench be defective? Also, am I supposed to be torquing the filter on the filter cap before I put it up into the bike? For example, what I did was I assembled the filter, and then without tightening the mounting bolt, I put the filter, cap, and screw up into the engine, and tightened it from there instead of on the ground outside of the bike, could that have been my problem? Am I supposed to tighten the filter and cap together outside of the bike and then gently twist it into the slot in the bike?

I'll be out of a bike until monday until the new cap comes in, hopefully someone can shed some light on this. Thanks!

 

[S3aturnR]

Hey Guys,

Hoping to get some insight here as to what I did wrong exactly. I was outside last night changing my oil for the first time on my 250. Everything was going great. I drained all the oil out of the drain plug, then removed the oil filter. The problem came when it was time to torque the various bolts back into place. I set the torque wrench to 14.5 ft.lbs, and started tightening it. I had a feeling in the back of my head that it was tightening way too tight, but I didn't pay any attention to it until the wrench gave its customary click to let me know the torque had reached its specification. So I go to turn on the bike, and all of the oil spills out from beneath the bike. Upon removing the oil filter, it appeared that there was a huge crack on the metal oil filter cap that the large O-ring sits on. I had overtighetened the thing so damn much that I cracked the cap

Looking back, I can't see what I did wrong at all and it's really frustrating me. I know I had the proper setting on the torque wrench, so why did the thing tighten so damn hard, could the wrench be defective? Also, am I supposed to be torquing the filter on the filter cap before I put it up into the bike? For example, what I did was I assembled the filter, and then without tightening the mounting bolt, I put the filter, cap, and screw up into the engine, and tightened it from there instead of on the ground outside of the bike, could that have been my problem? Am I supposed to tighten the filter and cap together outside of the bike and then gently twist it into the slot in the bike?

I'll be out of a bike until monday until the new cap comes in, hopefully someone can shed some light on this. Thanks!

the good and the bad news is that this is one of those things that you probably shouldn't use a torque wrench for. you should hand tighten only for the filter and you'll never go wrong.

i also suspect that some torque wrenches are not very accurate at the extremes of their respective ranges. if you were near the bottom of the scale, that may have been an issue...


s3aturnr

 

[hairu]

you should hand tighten only for the filter and you'll never go wrong.
s3aturnr

s3aturnr, you can't hand tighten the filter on a 250r. It's not like cars and most other bikes. The filter is similar to a cloth air filter and is inserted into a cavity at the bottom of the engine. It doesn't take the metal screw-on type of filter.

 

[randomwalk101]

That's why I invest is an expensive torque wrench...Weapon of choice in sensitive tools such as this is SnapOn. Not cheap but it works everytime.

 

[Artood2s]

I have a simple needle type and it's never let me down. I don't think you did anything wrong in putting the filter back together. How is the drain plug??? Is that on REAL tight too??

 

[honda pc]

i suggest that you do the spin on oil filter modification that some people are doing....

 

[kkim]

Hey Guys,

Hoping to get some insight here as to what I did wrong exactly. I was outside last night changing my oil for the first time on my 250. Everything was going great. I drained all the oil out of the drain plug, then removed the oil filter. The problem came when it was time to torque the various bolts back into place. I set the torque wrench to 14.5 ft.lbs, and started tightening it. I had a feeling in the back of my head that it was tightening way too tight, but I didn't pay any attention to it until the wrench gave its customary click to let me know the torque had reached its specification. So I go to turn on the bike, and all of the oil spills out from beneath the bike. Upon removing the oil filter, it appeared that there was a huge crack on the metal oil filter cap that the large O-ring sits on. I had overtighetened the thing so damn much that I cracked the cap

Looking back, I can't see what I did wrong at all and it's really frustrating me. I know I had the proper setting on the torque wrench, so why did the thing tighten so damn hard, could the wrench be defective? Also, am I supposed to be torquing the filter on the filter cap before I put it up into the bike? For example, what I did was I assembled the filter, and then without tightening the mounting bolt, I put the filter, cap, and screw up into the engine, and tightened it from there instead of on the ground outside of the bike, could that have been my problem? Am I supposed to tighten the filter and cap together outside of the bike and then gently twist it into the slot in the bike?

I'll be out of a bike until monday until the new cap comes in, hopefully someone can shed some light on this. Thanks!

can you explain the highlighted part? I don't quite understand what you are asking.

also, did you read the DIY on changing the oil in the sticky at the top?

torque wrenches can sometimes not click... especially at the lower end of the scale. if I suspect the wrench is not clicking when it should, I stop, put on a larger socket on it and try it out on a bolt that I know has a higher torque setting than the bolt that I was trying to tighten up. I need to hear it click before I'm convinced it's working properly.

Also, torque wrenches should be calibrated from time to time.

Last thing is that you may have had a hard piece of debris between the plate and engine when you tightened up the filter plate bolt and the stress from the uneven forces cracked the plate.

can you post a pic of the cracked plate?

 

[nevada]

the good and the bad news is that this is one of those things that you probably shouldn't use a torque wrench for. you should hand tighten only for the filter and you'll never go wrong.

i also suspect that some torque wrenches are not very accurate at the extremes of their respective ranges. if you were near the bottom of the scale, that may have been an issue...


s3aturnr

agreed.
also, understand, that at 14lbs, the wrench will hardly make a sound. the "click" you heard was the cover cracking.
14lbs is about the equivelant of resting you hand on it. literally NOTHING.

i suggest that you do the spin on oil filter modification that some people are doing....

also agree. this is how the bike should have came from the factory. never did understand why they made it this way...

 

[hairu]

agreed.
also, understand, that at 14lbs, the wrench will hardly make a sound. the "click" you heard was the cover cracking.
14lbs is about the equivelant of resting you hand on it. literally NOTHING.

also agree. this is how the bike should have came from the factory. never did understand why they made it this way...

Well it's usually cheaper to replace these types of filters than the screw ons. More of a pain in the ass though.

 

[nevada]

Well it's usually cheaper to replace these types of filters than the screw ons. More of a pain in the ass though.

what are we talking...$2-3 each? if that?
a spin-on filter is pretty cheap.

 

[kkim]

what are we talking...$2-3 each? if that?
a spin-on filter is pretty cheap.

...after you pay the $100+ (?) for the converter.

$100 buys a lot of filters... that and I don't like how the filter sits even lower on the bottom of the bike than the present setup.

 

[nevada]

...after you pay the $100+ (?) for the converter.

$100 buys a lot of filters... that and I don't like how the filter sits even lower on the bottom of the bike than the present setup.

cleaner, and easier to change. should have been a spin-on originally. if you're riding alot, and changing the oil often. id think just ease of use would more than be worth it.
and a $100 towards the bike is pocket change..compared to some of the things ppl buy.

 

[kkim]

cleaner, and easier to change. should have been a spin-on originally. if you're riding alot, and changing the oil often. id think just ease of use would more than be worth it.
and a $100 towards the bike is pocket change..compared to some of the things ppl buy.

true, but I'd rather spend that money elsewhere on the bike.

I don't have a problem with getting my hands dirty working on my bike.

 

[JelloBiafra]

For what it's worth, I remember reading in Super Chevy that torque wrenches - especially the non-digital mechanical type tend to dry out and not work as well over time. If I recall correctly they recommended lubricating the inner working parts every year or so.

 

[headshrink]

For what it's worth, I remember reading in Super Chevy that torque wrenches - especially the non-digital mechanical type tend to dry out and not work as well over time. If I recall correctly they recommended lubricating the inner working parts every year or so.

Do you know how we can find out how to do this???

 

[randomwalk101]

...after you pay the $100+ (?) for the converter.

$100 buys a lot of filters... that and I don't like how the filter sits even lower on the bottom of the bike than the present setup.

Actually the one you saw on the pic I posted was the oversized MobileOne M-110 filter. I put an oversized to filter more/flow more (I think)...overkill I think. The right one is the M-108 which is 1/2 size (tall) of that and will sit flush. Yes, you spend $100 for convenience & cleaner oil change. I pick the Mobile 1 filter cuz there some oil filter test, it ranks way on top..

 

[JelloBiafra]

It was in an article about torque wrenches and they recommended having a yearly calibration done on the wrench. Yeah I know. I think I mis-spoke earlier - maybe they were only referring to the rachet part of the wrench. I remember them saying something about WD-40. Sorry this is so sketchy-I remember reading it but that was like 4 years ago. I guess the point I was trying to make is that not all wrenches were created equally and if a wrench is old and all funky it may not release at the torque you have it set at.

 

[headshrink]

I just won one on ebay.... they say it is "still calibrated", whatever that actually means..... I hope it is a good one.

 

[Kurosaki]

It's a good idea to have torque wrenches re-calibrated every so often depending on how much you use it.

 

[headshrink]

It's a good idea to have torque wrenches re-calibrated every so often depending on how much you use it.

How do you do this, or where do you get it done?