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Oil filters


Graham NZ

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Graham NZ

When I changed the bike's oil recently I had a very difficult time removing the old filter.  It was a genuine Honda one because it matched the new one I had ready to fit.  Often I can remove a filter by hand while wearing rubber-faced garden-gloves but this one need much bigger guns.  My strap wrench wouldn't budge it so I fitted a screw-hose-clamp right next to the back rim of the filter and then drove a drift onto the screw end with a club-hammer.  That worked, as it always does. Then I discovered something new to me - the landing for the filter is textured!  No wonder the filter was a stubborn mover.

 

With that textured surface even the recommended half-turn-once-seated could be more than enough to ensure the filter stays tight.

 

Next time I'll use a K&N filter with the hex nut on the end so more tool-leverage can be used.  The K&N is only a little dearer than an original filter here.  And I won't be using a spanner to tighten it!

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Jeffprince

Honda sell the filter with a cup tool for little more than the cost of the filter alone, Graham. The metal cup tool fits over the filter, with a nut protruding on the end. I'd struggled to remove the filter, but it was simple with this tool and a socket wrench. May be worth asking a dealer....

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Yep, I use the filter cup tool and have no problems. For info they also fit the common Toyota filter used on the Yaris/Aygo etc. (YZZJ1). They usually wedge themselves onto the flats, a light tap in the opposite direction will free it off, this is mainly an issue when removing a particularly tight filter. I get it moving undoing it, then turn it in the tightening direction to release the tool, than continue to undo it. The tool will then come off with a light tap.

You can get sets of cup tools if you are into servicing many different vehicles.

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It sounds like another example of the manufacturers getting their heads together and dreaming up new and ever more fiendish ways of eliminating the intrepid DIYer

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Jeffprince
46 minutes ago, klrman said:

It sounds like another example of the manufacturers getting their heads together and dreaming up new and ever more fiendish ways of eliminating the intrepid DIYer

Not when they provide the removal tool, a damn sight cheaper and more efficient than other makes, in fairness to Honda. Oil filters have been notoriously difficult to remove at times, cartridges that had to be pierced with a screwdriver and the like, for cars and bikes. There are loads of examples where manufacturers prevent amateur dabbling (like fault code diagnosis), but not in this case methinks.

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Just now, Jeffprince said:

Not when they provide the removal tool, a damn sight cheaper and more efficient than other makes, in fairness to Honda. Oil filters have been notoriously difficult to remove at times, cartridges that had to be pierced with a screwdriver and the like, for cars and bikes. There are loads of examples where manufacturers prevent amateur dabbling (like fault code diagnosis), but not in this case methinks.

You may be right. I'm not familiar with this. I've never previously been fazed, but I'm thinking that maybe i will be next time, especially if they've been done up to those daft torque settings that manufacturers seem to be recommending these days

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Jeffprince
2 minutes ago, klrman said:

You may be right. I'm not familiar with this. I've never previously been fazed, but I'm thinking that maybe i will be next time, especially if they've been done up to those daft torque settings that manufacturers seem to be recommending these days

Doing oil and filter on the NC isn't a tough job. Hardest bit is getting the oil from the collecting tray into a container suitable for disposal at the council recycling centre. 

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Graham NZ

Thanks for advice on the Honda cup tool.

 

I had one for a Guzzi where it was recessed into the sump and other tools were useless.

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6 hours ago, Jeffprince said:

Not when they provide the removal tool, a damn sight cheaper and more efficient than other makes, in fairness to Honda. Oil filters have been notoriously difficult to remove at times, cartridges that had to be pierced with a screwdriver and the like, for cars and bikes. There are loads of examples where manufacturers prevent amateur dabbling (like fault code diagnosis), but not in this case methinks.

+ 1 never had an issue when using the cup tool... honda's is cheaper... the one for my hilux cost me €50 and no other tool will fit the tiny spaces between the other parts. A few months ago lings had the filter + tool for the same price as the filter only.

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8 hours ago, Graham NZ said:

The landing for the filter is textured!

 

What is the landing of the filter? How is it textured?

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Graham NZ
13 hours ago, wendeg said:

 

What is the landing of the filter? How is it textured?

 

The landing is the surface the oil filter O-ring seals onto.  Usually the landing is smooth but on my NC it has a slightly textured surface.

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Wedgepilot

I changed my oil and filters recently and used the cup tool, no problems. The hardest bit was getting the tool off the old filter! I'll use Embee's tip next time 👍

It's strange that Honda want the new one torqued up so tight, it always used to be hand tight back in the day.

 

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22 hours ago, Graham NZ said:

When I changed the bike's oil recently I had a very difficult time removing the old filter.  It was a genuine Honda one because it matched the new one I had ready to fit.  Often I can remove a filter by hand while wearing rubber-faced garden-gloves but this one need much bigger guns.  My strap wrench wouldn't budge it so I fitted a screw-hose-clamp right next to the back rim of the filter and then drove a drift onto the screw end with a club-hammer.  That worked, as it always does. Then I discovered something new to me - the landing for the filter is textured!  No wonder the filter was a stubborn mover.

 

With that textured surface even the recommended half-turn-once-seated could be more than enough to ensure the filter stays tight.

 

Next time I'll use a K&N filter with the hex nut on the end so more tool-leverage can be used.  The K&N is only a little dearer than an original filter here.  And I won't be using a spanner to tighten it!

stear clear of K&n with welded nut on, they fail only few spot welds and can leak if nut used to tighten on!

 

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Cup tool didn't work on my Er6n. I have a Draper Heavy Duty Oil Filter Removal Tool Chain Wrench Type that did the trick. It didn't totally destroy the filter like a screwdriver/hammer (in case you got the wrong new filter or you step on it while in a rage trying to get the old one off).

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TheEnglishman

Years of experience has taught me that the easiest way to remove oil filters is to not do them up too tightly in the first place.  People have a tendency to do them up as tight as they can.  26 nm on an oil filter isn't even hand tight.  And no - mine don't leak.

 

 

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Graham NZ

Neil, absolutely the best approach but someone in Japan fitted my filter.

Many tears have been caused because of over-tightening for fear of something leaking.

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