Another oil filter failure

[2014ltdltz]

Oil filters and lubricants seem to be almost more polarizing than religion, politics, and sports teams. That being said, regardless of which brand/manufacturer of oil filter (including OEM), all of them are mass-produced by machines by the thousands. Due to the law of averages and variability in manufacturing materials and machine tolerances, there will always be the potential for one or more "bad" ones from every manufacturer, even the Honda OEM produced ones. Any filter can have a weak spot in the metal case, a poor crimp, a bad weld (like in this post) or a weak (poorly formed) gasket, among other things. A rhetorical thought: how many of us really take time to carefully SCRUTINIZE an oil filter (e.g., inspect the crimp/seam, gasket, etc.) before installing it new? Maybe we should? I am not defending HiFlo nor am I excusing any other brands. Vigilance is key. Kudos to the OP of this thread for being an observant rider, catching the problem early so as to minimize the potential for damage.

[the Ferret]

You should notice if there is any abnormalities in the gasket, or the mating surface of an oil filter when you smear a dollop of clean fresh oil on it prior to installation

An internal problem would be harder to see of course.

[SportsterDoc]

K&N, more expensive than Honda, (~$17 vs ~$13) had a batch with spot weld control issues on the 17 mm welded on "nut", resulting in oil leaks.

The below link is no longer valid, but K&N did own up to it and issue a recall.

https://www.knfilters.com/mobile/recallkn204

Hiflow also makes a filter with the 17 mm nut, apparently with the same spot weld control issues.

Best to use a cup wrench type spin on filter.

K&N had other quality control issues. For example the cartridge type on my Yamaha TW200 had issues with glue blockage of one or more of the 4 holes on the end of the filter, thereby reducing or completely blocking flow.

I used them, as I believe the pleat quality to be good, however, I carefully inspected before using.

They were a good price at O'Reilly's and I only had to send back one.

Polarizing? Yes, it can be.
I fully expect that Jambo was sincere in his belief that 2T oil would serve well in a 4T application, if there was no clutch slippage issue... and that may be true; if the motor is never run faster than a 2T application, perhaps 6,000 RPMs

But I also do not think that the potential problems are worth the minor cost savings in the short run.


Sports: Zero interest in professional sports

[whizzle_dizzler_imp]

So I was out in my garage, looking around at all the crap that I have accumulated, and I had a bit of a laugh when I found a history of what I had in reserve for my 17k mile CBR600RR. I know for sure that I had one of these KN-204 filters on the bike for 3-4k miles, and no issues. This batch was from around 3-4 years ago. I may just hang the K&Ns up on the wall and just keep them around as backups in case someone or I need a fresh filter for some reason.

[the Ferret]

lol Do ya feel lucky punk? Well, do ya? (Dirty Harry reference)

[whizzle_dizzler_imp]

lol Do ya feel lucky punk? Well, do ya? (Dirty Harry reference)

I do. Just stop pointing that .44 mag at me.

K thanks.

[dsan1964_imp]

I thought they were beautiful, but a little radical ergos for me too. I'm probably older than your dad lol.

My Dad just turned 75. He had 2 Ducati’s before this VFR. And before that Kawasaki Concours 14.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[the Ferret]

nope. he's got me by 5 years. Cool that you get to ride together.

[apex1_imp]

It always puzzles me why people do not use the OEM filter in the first place , they are very easy to get of and on ! I am glad that you are ok , it could have been a DISASTER .

Thought process is probably: Cheapness, availability. Instead of paying more at the "stealership", why not just get some cheaper ones with a name brand? Or, it's K&N, they make performance stuff! This must be a performance oil filter!


I've been using Mobil 1 filters for awhile on my WRX and CBR600RR since they shared the same filter. They've never had OEM filters on them besides from the factory. I've probably even used a K&N oil filter on one of my vehicles at one time or another. Never had a failure on the K&N, but you wouldn't think that K&N would have a design flaw like that happening on something as simple as an oil filter.

Thought process is probably: Cheapness, availability. Instead of paying more at the "stealership", why not just get some cheaper ones with a name brand? Or, it's K&N, they make performance stuff! This must be a performance oil filter!
I have a K&N filter on my Ducati now. First time ever for non-OEM. At my last oil change the Ducati dealer was out of OEM filters. After reading the recall info on the K&N website, I will change it to OEM the next time I swing by the dealer.