Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2015 19:56:06 -0700
Reply-To: OlRivrRat <OlRivrRat@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: OlRivrRat <OlRivrRat@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Dodged a bullet -- blowed the oil filter right off
In-Reply-To: <5681EF28.5090805@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Actually Wix has a Reputation as being PrettyMuch OneOfTheBest if not TheBest YouCanBuy,
So I would HighlyDoubt that the Filter was the Culprit ~ & unless your Eng' is Old&Tired&Loose you
might want to consider using 0W40 in the Winter ~ Ask 10Cent & Let Your OilPress'Gauge BeYourGuide ~
As for Tightening ~ 3/4 to 1Full Turn Past Gasket Contact is what I was taught & it HasAlways
WorkedForMe ~ & ~ BeSure You Oil The Gasket ~
ORR ~ DeanB
On 28 Dec , 2015, at 7:25 PM, Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
> If anything I tend to undertighten.
>
> --
> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
> Bend, Ore.
>
> On 12/28/2015 05:59 PM, Tom Hargrave wrote:
>> Did you over tighten the filter and damage the threads?
>>
>> I'm an old airhead guy and those engines have a oil pressure relief valve. I'm assuming the wasser bus engine also has one since it shares the same lineage? If so then your oil pressure could not have been too high unless the pressure relief valve stuck. You need to have the valve checked.
>>
>> Also, WIX is an excellent filter. The oil filter threads were probably damaged when it was blown off, or when/if you over tightened the filter.
>>
>> Thanks, Tom Hargrave
>> www.kegkits.com
>> www.stir-plate.com
>> www.towercooler.com
>> www.grow-sun.com
>> www.raspberryproject.com
>> http://goo.gl/niRzVw
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of Rocket J Squirrel
>> Sent: Monday, December 28, 2015 6:01 PM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Dodged a bullet -- blowed the oil filter right off
>>
>> Okay, so it's my fault, but I think I lucked out.
>>
>> As temperatures drop down the freezing, and below, I change my engine oil to 10-40, a thinner grade. But this winter I got lazy. I admit it, I got lazy.
>>
>> Well, one cold morning last week I started the van and trundled down the street to go downtown, and was about a 1/2 mile from home when I noticed that the idiot light for the oil pressure was lit. And the aftermarket oil pressure gauge I installed a few years ago was at zero. They don't share the same sender or anything so I knew it was serious.
>>
>> I pulled off the main road and got out and looked behind the van and sure enough, a trail of oil behind me leading up to a small puddle under the engine.
>>
>> Triple-A flatbedded the van to Gary's Ole Volks Home here in Bend, and after an hour he called me and said that the oil filter had plain blowed off.
>>
>> So here's what happened: at these low temperatures, I reckon that the thicker summer oil was as thick as pine sap -- maybe amber -- resulting in very high oil pressure.
>>
>> The oil filter was not the stock one that I use. I installed a tencentlife oil cooler kit a few years ago, and it uses a banjo fitting that goes between the filter and the engine for oil send and receive (thermostat in there, too). The stock filter is too long to fit and he recommends a Bosch 3300, which I have been using.
>>
>> But the last time I replaced the filter, when I switched from winter to summer oil, the auto parts store was out of stock on the Bosch, and they offered the Wix. I never heard of Wix, but the guy said it was a good brand, so hey.
>>
>> Well, the mechanic was consternated by the shorter filter, said it was the wrong one, and that the threads looked like pipe threads. I picked up a new Bosch on my way over and took at look at the Wix, comparing it to the Bosch, and the threads in the Wix looked pretty poor.
>>
>> So I think I lucked out here. That high oil pressure was gonna blow out something, I'm just glad that it was a $6 oil filter. Otherwise, $75 for the work, nothing (other than subscription to Triple-A) for the tow. It could have been a lot worse.
>>
>> Engine sounds fine, I hope no damage was done.
>>
>> And what's the lesson, kids? Don't skip maintenance. And distrust Wix filters.
>>
>> --
>> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
>> 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
>> Bend, Ore.
>> -----
>> No virus found in this message.
>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>> Version: 2016.0.7294 / Virus Database: 4489/11256 - Release Date: 12/25/15
>>
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