Hi all,
Just attempted my first oil/filter change on my Vitesse 6 and have problems similar to midgeman's.
Firstly, it seemed very difficult to line up the new filter element between the spring/valve and the engine block. (I now see there is a part number 509883: Centraliser for filter, which didn't seem present when I removed the old filter.) I tightened carefully, keeping the canister aligned with the groove and new rubber seal. It was tight before the rim had even reached the groove, and as I reached the 15-18 lbft specified, the wear marks on the outside of the canister showed it was still a couple of mm shy of its previous location. So I added a little more torque, put the new oil in, and cranked the engine over a couple of times. The oil gushed out from around the canister.
Taking it apart, I compared my new Classic Gold GFE131 filter with the old one (I don't know the brand/type), fitted by a specialist 10 months and 1,000 miles ago. Their filter was overall approx. 5mm shorter than my new one, and crushed a couple of mm more on one side. The new one had just started to crush a little too.
To investigate further, I put it in a press and made it the same length as the one I'd removed, rupturing the filter a little. Now it fits snuggly and the canister tightened up with the right feel to the correct torque (though I don't know if the filter element remained centralised). Engine idles with no leak.
So was GFE131 the wrong filter? Seemingly not: the cannister is stamped E730 requiring element AC73 which appears to be equivalent to the GFE131. Did I have something out of line? Maybe: it's tight down there beneath the crankcase breather pipe, and I decided to remove the engine side panel for my second attempt. But why was the filter I removed both damaged and so much smaller than the new one?
Would love to know what's gone wrong here and how best to proceed. Need to get an effective filter in asap. Maybe time for a spin-on adapter?
Cheers, Baxter