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Oil filter won't release

wkuwiz

New member
Have an '08 R1200R that belongs to the Mrs.
Changing oil today I find that I cannot back out the old oil filter. Filter turns but does not release. Threaded component must have come loose from the housing. I have a reasonable assumption as to how (old gasket stuck on install initially and couldn't tighten enough to seat. Figured out the issue and found the previous ring still in there) but my question is now how to remove the filter.

The only path I can fathom is a dremel tool to remove the outside canister and essentially disassemble the filter. Hoping to cut my way through to get my hand into the threaded neck. Oil is weaping slightly (yes i filled it to make sure no one inadvertently hit the starter when dry). i'll drain the good oil out and re-use it since it's Mobil one.

Any suggestions to remove this filter are welcome.
 
I had a call from a friend of mine recently, filter would not come off his Chevy truck. It was really buggered up after their 2 hours on it, can shredded, punctured with a screwdriver. I thought I could take it right off with my "strap" tool but couldn't get anything on it due to the "can" being so messed up.
I eventually got it off for him with an air-chisel, carefully used on the metal "rim", then back to the strap wrench to equalize the pressure. After 4 or 5 rounds like this, the filter came off. I would have taken a picture but I had oil to my armpit from the event.
I don't know if you have an air-chisel or there is a spot on the filter you can choose to "bump-spin" the filter off- but it's a way to git 'em off.
OM
 
Following Omega Man's general advice, and assuming you do not have an air chisel handy, you might try a hand punch or chisel and hammer. Put the punch/chisel up near top of the canister, which is presumably where the outer can has separated from inner threaded body. Angle punch at a tangent in direction such that it will rotate in the "removal " direction when you hit it with the hammer, but angle slightly inward to "bite" and hopefully get a friction contact with inner body, so as to get it to spin off.

If that isn't working for you, I think I'd just go at it with the dremel tool. But punch or drill a hole in bottom of filter first to drain it, to minimize the ensuing oily mess!

Jim


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Just as a point of reference - look at a new filter. The threaded boss is part of the baseplate that makes contact with the sealing gasket. That baseplate comes out and is crimped over to retain the "can" part of the filter. If all else fails - do what is necessary to remove the entire can portion (and filter medium) - and you'll see the inside of the baseplate, which has 4 holes in it allowing oil flow into the filter from the mounting base on the engine. One could find or make something to fit in those holes and use them to spin the remaining baseplate off.

I would be a bit hesitant to take a chisel (air or other) to the baseplate since the threaded pipe nipple the filter mounts to is screwed into an aluminum boss cast into the engine casing. If that boss was to crack you've just lost the engine (or at least that side of the case.) So.. I'd try to keep the forces in the direction the design was made for - rotary motion centered on the filter mounting nipple.

YMMV.. and other techniques may work equally well, but I'd try to err on the side of caution.
 
Fellas:
I am highly reluctant to try the air chisel route (even if I had one). I have a new filter and can see where the old filter may have separated. I'll continue to think through this while I travel this week.
 
We're assuming you have the proper tool for removing these filters. It's a fairly specialized item.
 
We're assuming you have the proper tool for removing these filters. It's a fairly specialized item.

Yes, I have the oil filter wrench from my good friends at the local BMW dealer. But thanks for asking. Stopped by a BMW shop here in No Cal and essentially got the same answer to tear the filter down. I am on the right path I believe.
Thought there'd be more who've done this....
 
I did have another thought that may be a possibility. It's another toughie but depending on your tools and experience, you could mig-weld the two pieces into one and give it a twist.
If you were closer, I'd have a look for you. I spend all day with screwed up things........and making them "whole" again.
OM
 
If the filter is still intact and the tool fits snug, howz about an air impact at full zip in reverse?
May spin fast enough to allow some friction... just thinking what I would try.

And it has happened to others on other models, just not the same way you are describing. Typically the filter body will not turn at all.
 
I see two possibilities: 1. The "can" might be turning and the base isn't due to a failure of the crimp where the cylindrical part meets the flat part. Or, 2. Everything is turning but the threads are stripped - hopefully in the filter and not on the pipe onto which it threads.

If scenario 2 is correct then pulling while turning might work.
 
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i can see how this can happen....on the first oil/filter change on my S1000R the filter was apparently put on by a gorilla....i have the correct filter wrench and it took probably 75ft/lbs of breaker bar to get it to start turning....i was lucky...they dont need to be THAT tight...:banghead

good luck...FWIW, i would cute the outer housing off and fab up a "wrench" to grab the vent holes in the base plate as mentioned above...:thumb

good luck!!!
 
I see two possibilities: 1. The "can" might be turning and the base isn't due to a failure of the crimp where the cylindrical part meets the flat part. Or, 2. Everything is turning but the threads are stripped - hopefully in the filter and not on the pipe onto which it threads.If scenario 2 is correct then pulling while turning might work.

Paul - I cannot agree more with the hope the pipe is not stripped. I called my local shop yesterday to ask if they'd seen this and the owner (& Chief Mechanic due to labor shortages) said to "persevere" and try to cut it off and get the top of the filter using needle nose pliers or something akin to twist the holes in the top. I'll let you guys know how it goes. And even post pics.

I promise I was not a gorilla when I installed this filter prior to a 4,000 mile ride. Even used my Harbor Freight Torque wrench to 11nm per spec.
 
I sure hope your story has a happy ending.

Just out of curiousity, was it an OEM filter or an aftermarket?

Dave McDougall
2011 R1200GS
 
The ugly truth

Ok - so in the vein of trying to solve the problem.... And the potential humility of embarrassment... I tore down the filter in an attempt to get at the shoulders here. Got needle nose up in the holes and can turn but she's stripped. Here's what she looks like. I applied heat from a heat gun to see if I could expend the threads and create friction but she just spins. Upon close examination of the blown up photo it appears the filter is cross-threaded but it may be the angle. then again my eyesight is not what it once was up close. As I said, the filter was put on by hand and tightened to spec before a 4,000 mile ride.

My only guess now is to have it cut out with a torch. Suggestions?
IMG_2332 2.jpg
 
I did have another thought that may be a possibility. It's another toughie but depending on your tools and experience, you could mig-weld the two pieces into one and give it a twist.
If you were closer, I'd have a look for you. I spend all day with screwed up things........and making them "whole" again.
OM

Thank you for the offer Omega Man. I did live in Harvard, MA for 10 years and then in South Dartmouth. Wish I was closer...
 
Ok. I guess my next try would be to snake a wire- maybe nylon cord in on hole and out the other. Then, form a loop just shy of the surrounding alumina where you can stick a piece of wood so as you can apply a "pulling" pressure- then a bit of a twist with vise grips.
OM
 
Maybe I am not understanding what I am looking at, but can you get a pair of channel lock pliers onto the center post area and turn it out that way?

Dave McDougall
 
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