Hitchcocks Forum

After an oil change on my 2005 Bullet, I noticed oil leaking from the filter housing end cap. I tightened it a bit more, and the result can be seen in the picture, a typical brittle fracture. I didn't think I had overtightened it, but these end caps are obviously a bit fragile.

Been there, done that !
I now keep a spare and always fit new sealing gasket at oil change.

I've got one just the same.

The o-ring type seem best, new o-ring each time and I swapped out the outer copper washer in favour of a dowty. Then they just need to be nipped up, further tightening wouldn't fix a leak anyway.

Polished stainless steel replacements, Mr. H?

A.

Stainless into alloy is not a good combination, it would gall the edge of the filter housing. Making one out of actual aluminium instead of melted down coke cans and rupees mixed with elephant dung would probably be enough.

Point taken. Machined from aircraft-spec alloy will do nicely. I'm sure there are suppliers in India who have them in brass if you like that sort of thing.

A.

Actually, when you look at the grain structure of the fractures there. Re-annealing then heat treating/ageing the metal of a new one would probably work wonders. A couple of cycles of a few hours in a hot over then being allowed to air cool would probably give it a lot more strength and flexability (depending on the zinc content).

Our hosts provided a replacement end cap promptly. I tightened it very carefully, just till the domed nut was nipped up. I was wary of that nut vibrating loose, however an 80 mile trip yesterday proved to be no problem. I did keep a close eye on it every time I got a chance ! A bit like a car oil filter, just needs to be moderately tight, I think 10 ft/lbs is the figure in the manual.

I always worried about things loosening with vibrations, so I tightened them from time to time with a spanner.
Of course, if they weren't loose, I ended up overtightening and breaking them.
So, now I put a small blob of black paint on both sides of the joint so I can look and see if it still lines up.
I haven't broken anything recently.

Shouldn't have written that... I'll probably break everything I touch now.... sigh

When I was a Crusader Sports owner in the 60s (ah happy days ) I decided it would be a good idea to wire up all those sorts of things. But a blob of paint is far easier! And you have to go through the process of stripping threads and snapping studs to get the feel of just how tight is tight enough (in the absence of torque settings which aren't necessarily infallible!)