A Cautionary Tale- Screw on Oil Filter Conversion

[DavidJay]

I am posting this so that hopefully no one else makes the mistake I did. I decided to do this 'simple' conversion this afternoon. Everything went ok, original studs came out ok. Noticed that the original gasket was stuck to the block but it was in perfect condition so decided to leave it on. Put the new gasket on and built up the new unit. Everything fine so far. Put new oil in and started the engine. Oil light went out, I was cooking on gas. Checked underneath for leaks and oil was pouring out from the new oil filter body. Oh dear I said or something meaning the same!!!
The mistake I made was leaving the old gasket on. The new filter body and therefore the gasket is a different shape and when it is mated to the old gasket it leaves a gap that allows the leak.
Took it all off, removed studs, carefully scraped the old gasket off. Then put it all back together again. This time no leaks.
What a silly boy(?) I feel, this simple job took three times longer than I expected ...not to mention the mess on the garage floor.
Be Warned

[Plin]

Thanks for sharing your messy tale! I am sure others will have done similar things but it is always good to share such little snippets of good practice!

[tomas.geoghegan]

Thanks for this tale Because im fitting one soon too.!
And may i add another problem that can happen is watch you don:t do is not to shear the thread or twist the oil feed pipe to the filter hauseing.
Tom Geoghegan

[brucek]

Yes The return pipe from the block to the filter housing is VERY fragile and this is often not helped by the fact that the connection to the filter housing itself is usually gunged up with oil and crud making it even more difficult to separate. Be aware that there are two connections here - the pipe itself screws into a threaded connector which itself then screws into the filter housing. You will need two spanners to make sure that when unscrewing the pipe from the housing you don't inadvertently sheer the pipe at the same time as many have done in the past! BE WARNED!

[M25VAN]

For anyone who wants to change over to a spin on filter and is worried about swapping over the head and disturbing the oil feed pipe you can fit an adapter. This leaves all the original housing and pipework in place and untouched.

[chrisryder]

ALWAYS change the gasket. It may be 'unbroken' and look fine, but they are designed to compress, and they can only compress once.

The only gasket I don't always change is the rocker cover gasket as it's cork, and never completely squashed, and never under pressure. Every other gasket you should always change once you disturb it... or you end up doing the job twice...

[tomas.geoghegan]

Yes VERY Well exsplained!
Tom Geoghegan

[moggiethouable]

I dont know wether I got lucky but I changed my 65's oil filter element last weekend, the original cannister type with internal spring, washer support plate and bolt.
The bolt came out a treat, everything cleaned up well and went back together without too much fuss.
I did not change the rubber seal this time and it seems in good shape as it does not leak.
So at this point I would think twice before replacing with a spin on kit, not least because they spin on alright, but without the appropriate strop are in my experience with other models of car, sometimes a struggle to spin off.
I understand the rubber seal can be a bit of a divil though.
Perhaps I just got lucky

[xpress]

once i discovered the oil filter pipe and how well attached it was to the block and the filter housing, i stayed with the original filter too. i used too thin an o-ring the first time round, then got it right in the end. no more leaks.

[tomas.geoghegan]

Hi Spin on oil filters are all right as long as they have been done up Hand tight.Dont over tighten them up.
But if you stick a screw driver through them and twist them off.
All ways worked for me. And before you spin the oil filter on remember to smear a bit of oil on the seal of the new Spin on Filter.
Iv never changed the seal before iv fitted a new filter. Perhaps iv been a bit lucky! If it ant leaking leave it!
Tom Geoghegan

[xpress]

yea i would second that. i am not changing my seal for a very long time. it seems a very strong piece of rubber. the one i fished out was the wrong size.

[Alec]

Hello all,

another useful tip, if replacing a screw on filter and it hangs down, fill it with fresh oil before fitting, it saves the engine cranking to fill it before any oil pressure develops.

Alec

[rayofleamington]

So at this point I would think twice before replacing with a spin on kit, not least because they spin on alright, but without the appropriate strop are in my experience with other models of car, sometimes a struggle to spin off.
I understand the rubber seal can be a bit of a divil though.

You are right to think twice before replacing something that doesn't need replacing.

Replacing the filter housing with a spin on unit takes far more time than the extra few seconds difference time to change an element filter vs spin on filter - even ater 20 years of Minor ownership and goodness knows how many oil changes. A couple of times a year we get posts from people who've had problems with the conversion... Personally I can't see the point, as the element type is really easy once you've done it a couple of times, and the element is cheaper than a canned filter.

Fortunately a lot of manufacturer's see the light too - I've had a few modern cars with element type oil filter - they are diesels though, so maybe a slightly different mentality.