Problem with k&n oil filter

My gen 6 developed a small oil leak. It seemed to be only when the motor was running. I thought the filter might be loose so I tightened. When I took it out on my test ride after there was smoke trailing. Pulled over and the rear tire was covered in oil. I nursed it home trying not to lean the bike and reduced speed. By te time I pulled back into the garage the oil level was getting toward the bottom of the sight glass. I left the bike running and took a look underneath and then it became obvious.

The leak was actually coming from the nut that is welded to the end of the filter.

I have used k&n filters for the last few years on numerous model of motorcycle and cars and have never had an issue. I did a like internet searching and it appears I am not the only person to experience this problem.

I had an extra k&n filter (it's the same filter on my zx10r). Put it on and no more leaks. I didn't install the orIginal filter but I didn't over tighten when I made my adjustment. I'm going to contact k&n tomorrow to see what they have to say.

 

:chaingun::tyrannosaurus:

 

I did an oil change last week with a K&N and it was dripping a little on the garage floor. I tightened it a little in hopes that it would stop but all that did was cause it to leak like crazy, coated my rear tire. I wrote them and are waiting on a reply. I have used them on my CBR 1K tack bike for a long time as they are easy to safety wire and have had no problems until now.

 

Thanks for the heads up, my 6th gen has one on it now and I just bought a new one, so I will be very careful. Maybe people are over tightening them because the have a nut?

 

People might be over tightening them because of the nut. I tighten all my filters by hand and have never had a problem in hundreds of oil changes. I have read on other forums about the K&N's leak problem. I'll let you know what their response is.

 

There are times when any given manufacturer/entity can experience a QC issue. Maybe its not even their "fault" at K&N; perhaps the facility that manufactures their metal case and the nut that gets welded on didn't have the correct material, or didn't heat it to the right temp before pouring the mold, etc. (Understood that the end result comes back to K&N). Sometimes shit happens. It doesn't mean that's a bad product.

If my AC compressor failed in my Ferrari, does that make it a piece of shit? I guess the option is to move up to Lamborghini and just not buy that product anymore.

Not that anyone here is doing it, but if someone is tightening an oil filter with a wrench, maybe they deserve to have it leak.

 

Yeah they may be having a quality problem from a vendor, that is possible. I have used them for many years with no issues. In fact I have never had a problem with any filter ever until now. After owning more than a dozen bikes and many trucks and sport cars with hundreds of oil changes with no problems then this... I think they may have a problem. Several threads on different forums have caught my eye in the past few months on this issue.

 

I have used the k&n nut to saftey wire them in the past, would spin on and use a strap to give it a CH of a turn. Otherwise, you need to use a large hose clamp with the safety wire. I use Honda earl filters on my honda and Kawasaki ones on my Kawasaki, even though they share a garage, they dont share oil filters...Cheers, btw be careful of oiling down your tyres, its the fastest way to get familar with the tarmac!

 

Make sure to keep the filter that leaked and any pictures you may have taken. When I spoke to the CS rep she asked that I send in the filter for them to take a look at. I had already recycled mine before I ever called K&N. The Rep was nice enough to send me some replacement filter without me having the filter or pictures. It almost covered the cost of the oil I had to replace doing a complete oil change again. Since I don't think any damage was caused to the bike I thought that was a pretty good solution. But if this bike doesn't go at least 100K I will blame K&N :smile-new:

I too use hand tight after adding using a little of old oil on the gasket. Also, I understand it could be vendor problem or maybe even a bad batch. I can tell you the K&N filter I used to replace it has not leaked a bit. I was not trying to bash the company just wanted to share in case anyone else experienced a similar issue. No one wants to blow up a bike or cause an accident because of an oil leak.

Interested to hear the outcome of your contact with K&N.

 

Thanks for the heads up, I am going to change the filter asap and will save the old one. K&N called me and I missed their call. I'll post an update.

 

Why use a K&N oil filter when they have been independently tested & proven to be sub standard, when compared with Honda & many mainstream replacements !

 

I check my VFR manual and the recommend torque value for the oil filter is 20 foot pounds, which is pretty healthy. I emailed K & N Tech and explained that we are seeing a lot of chatter about this here and on other forums. I asked if their nut was designed to withstand 20 ft/lbs of torque. I will keep you posted on their reply. Their warranty also states that K&N will pay for certain damage due to failure of their products.

 

Like I said above They are easy to safety wire on my track bike was the main reason and on the VFR I used this one because it was on sale while I was getting supplies for my track bike. I change my oil extremely early on all my bikes so it I don't worry about filter manufacturer. Well until now. lol

 

Made in China, no doubt. :crushed: As long as riders choose low price over Made in USA reliability, shit's gonna happen.:livid:

 

20 flbs :hss:

 

I will never buy K&N filters because this issue has been documented many times in the past by many riders including those who only hand tighten their filters so this is attributed to defect in the manufacturing. It's true many users are completely satisfied with K&N and never had any problems with them but I'm not willing to take a chance and end up with oil all over my rear wheel while at speed. Use Google and you'll see it's been going on for years and make sure to communicate with K&N so they can use the info you provide to determine if it is limited to a certain batch of filters.


Rollin

 

Wow, you have a Ferrari?? That's cool!

I have K&N filters on everything in my garage except the DR350; it's internal filter, not a screw-on. Never had a problem, and I love the bolt on the end to get the filter off. But I guess I'll watch them more closely.

 

My bad, I was using the expression most people use verbally, actually it is reversed:

"torque is the product of the magnitude of the force and the perpendicular distance from the force to the axis of rotation (i.e. the pivot point)."

Expressed as: Newton-meter , Kg-meter or Lb-ft (Lb-inch for smaller values) Get two torque wrenches, one with 3/8 drive for Lb-in and one with 1/2 drive for Lb-ft.