Topic: Broke off oil filter housing - I'm an Idiot

[jneuf]

So while trying to remove the incredibly stubborn oil filter bolt on my 750 K4 I managed to break off my entire oil filter housing...yes, I am an idiot...however, I will say that is the most ridiculous bolt I have EVER had to deal with...

Now, after trying to justify that, the pictures below are what I'm left with...As you can see, I did some damage to the lower case....any suggestions on what I should do here?? Can a machine shop fix that? Any ideas would be great...I'm pretty bummed about this...

[dave500]

new case.

[jneuf]

ugh...that's what I was afraid of.

[Alan F.]

OUCH!  Here's a pic of my 750 K3. I hate to ask, but what direction were you turning the bolt?

You might be able to have the broken piece welded back on, but you'll neet to flush out your oiling system well before running the engine again.

[Terry in Australia]

Jesus Christ, how the hell did you do that? I've seen mechanical butchery many times, but I've NEVER seen anyone do that before, did you try to just smash the filter housing off? 

[voxonda]

That case can be fixed, bit of work but...................... Shame we're so far apart.
Welding can be done but, it can be milled too. Would like to see your arms

Rob

[jneuf]

HA! It actually does kinda look like that, doesn't it??

Believe it or not, it actually broke trying one of your methods!!

I had searched a number of posts on how to get it off...I had been spraying it with pb blaster all week, tried vice grips, pipe wrench, hammering on an 11 mm socket, even welding on a nut, nothing worked...so I saw your post that said:

"Vise grips might work mate, or try a hammer and a chisel, the bolt is buggared anyway, so try hitting the head of the bolt in an anti-clockwise direction, and that should undo it for you. You can buy new bolts with 17mm heads (instead of the puny 12mm OEM) from JC Whitney for 12 bucks. Cheers, Terry. Grin"

I tried the hammer and chisel method...in the correct direction....and the entire housing snapped off...and one would think that I was taking huge swings at the chisel, however, I was definitely not hitting it hard...I was really surprised at how easily it snapped...

ugh..I feel like such an idiot...first time I've ever busted something up like this...looks like it's time to search for new cases

[754]

Wow, never seen that before!

 I might have cases, if you dont need immediately.

 Liiks weldable, but should be apart to do that.

[jneuf]

Yikes! Glad I was able to be the first to do something like this!

Frank, I wouldn't need the case anytime soon...If you have something, let me know!

[Terry in Australia]

Well there you go mate, don't listen to me! But seriously, I've used the hammer and chisel method for years without any damage at all, so I'm surprised that you had such a catastrophic failure like that, it's bloody amazing!  

[jneuf]

Well there you go mate, don't listen to me! But seriously, I've used the hammer and chisel method for years without any damage at all, so I'm surprised that you had such a catastrophic failure like that, it's bloody amazing!  

I do what I can 

Don't think I'll stop listening to your advice though, I've learnt a lot from you on the forum!

[Don R]

If anyone else has this problem just weld on a nut! If you do a nice job you can leave it.
Sorry to see your damage WoW. That sucks.

[dave500]

lets hope the next thing you break is an olympic record.

[Gaither]

FWIW

I know very little. However, perhaps this will be of use to some in the removal of the oil filter housing bolt (and other stuborn bolts).

If you want any stuborn bolt out aluminum without damage, let it soak in Blaster, or whatever brand, for a while - there is no substutute for that. Then, turn a 1/2 inch air impact wrench all the way to its LOWEST setting, stick it on the bolt (preferably before you round it off by other methods) and BE PATIENT - do NOT rush it. It will soon get it loose with no damage.

***This method has been successfully used on a very stuborn oil filter bolt by a member of the Forum recently.

I learned this while desparately attempting to remove a very stuborn spark plug that had "grown into" a 4.6 Ford V/8 aluminum head (VERY easy to strip). It took a minute or two but the plug came out with absolutely NO thread damage.

Had I continued with a 1/2 inch "pull handle", I would have very certainly stripped the threads in an expensive aluminum, overhead cam head (a common occurance on the 4.6).

As you know, the impact wrench doesn't twist or torque constantly, it effectively "taps" (impacts)  repeatedly. At its lowest setting, the impact wrench will be very "gentle" with your aluminum threads.

Remember, use the very LOWEST setting.

[ghankerson]

I wouldn't say your an idiot. You tried a lot of different things that should have worked and went more drastic towards the end.

My friend topped that. He used an air impact wrench to tighten the oil bolt on his KX.

[Nortstudio]

I know this also is too little too late, but a forum member here turned me on to the trick to getting stubborn bolts off.

Mix 50/50 blend of ATF and pure acetone (I bought mine at drugstore in the nail polish isle).  Quickly pour it onto the bolt, because the acetone will evaporate fast.  I tried to get mine as "all over it as possible," hoping to get it into the threads.  

After having no luck with the bleeder valve on the front caliper, this was the only thing that worked.  I had covered it with penetrating oil for 3 days, tried every wrench...

I poured this on there and it came off 20 minutes later with a vice grip.

Knucles saved.  

 

[2wheels]

Do you think the damage may have been done when the bolt was tighened.  Way back when it was last changed.
Not totally when you took it off.

[CycleRanger]

Man, that's rough.  Ouch.   


This came on an engine I bought:

[voxonda]

Still makes me wonder why in hell people tend to (over)tighten these bolts. No need for that, they will not come loose if you just use a normal 12 m/m wrench.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, that's why Honda put a 12mm hex on them in the first place, so people wouldn't over-tighten them. I've got some NOS chrome chopper acorn head oil filter bolts with 25mm heads on them, you can imagine the fun some ham-fisted mechanics would have had with them, back in the day!

Personally, I like the 17mm head bolts, I've never had a problem with one of them. Cheers, Terry.

[ekpent]

Hey jneuf just curious if you have removed the broken section from the bolt yet. After pushing in the filter is it basically just hand tight or really stuck on there.Usually the cause of the stuck is the head on the outside of the filter housing.Sorry about your problem there.  Eric

[Really?]

I bet it was on its way out when you got to it.  You were just unlucky in this instance.  So, I seriously doubt you did the damage.

[Kong]

I broke off one of those lugs on a 1970 k1 that I bought new.  The bike was probably 6 months old at the time.  A fellow welded it back on and did such a good job we didn't even have to chase the threads.  It can be fixed, fixed easily, and you can be on your way.  Oh, on mine the engine never came out of the bike.  Trust me, if they could fix it easily 40 years ago they can fix it easily today; inexpensively too.

[crazypj]

In second pic there looks like a flaw at 11:00 o'clock position?
 Also looks like you hit it at wrong angle.
 Damn unlucky to have both problems at the same time.

[jneuf]

Hey jneuf just curious if you have removed the broken section from the bolt yet. After pushing in the filter is it basically just hand tight or really stuck on there.Usually the cause of the stuck is the head on the outside of the filter housing.Sorry about your problem there.  Eric

No, haven't removed it yet. I was so mad after it happened I just left the parts on the garage floor after taking the pictures I came inside and decided to not touch it for a couple of days...If I have the courage I'll go back out there this afternoon.