Major oil leak, possibly from filter gasket

[9mmDeath]

This morning I experienced a major oil leak that appears to have come from the oil filter gasket. I'm curious to know if anyone has experienced this.

2004 Kawasaki ZZR600 with 3,800 miles

Signs and Symptoms:
- Last oil and filter change about 400 miles ago
- Cruising along about 65-70mph
- I see white smoke in my rearview mirrors
- It seemed to be coming from the mufflers
- Temperature gauge reading fine
- Engine running fine
- This goes on for about 2 miles, and then the oil light comes on
- An old man on the side of the road is waving his arms at me to stop (I believe in angels now, but that’s for another post)
- Immediate stop into a gas station off the highway
- When I stop oil is gushing out and is all over the lower parts of the engine, my feet, the mufflers

I noticed that the gasket on the oil filter about 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock is kind of bulging out. So I got my wife to shuttle a filter and oil to me where I did a filter change and refill of the oil on the spot.

I've ruled out the following:
- No holes or punctures in the actual casing of the filter
- No previous gasket on the engine preventing a good seal

The folks at the station let me use their pressure steamer to get most of the oil off the brakes and tires and cowlings. I ran the bike for about 5 minutes sitting still to let it burn off the residual oil, which there was a lot and at one point I thought it was going to catch fire and burn.

Anyway, after I got most of the oil off and let it idle, I ran it home about 4 miles down the road. I didn't see any obvious leaking, certainly not the gushing I saw before. Again, temp was fine on the return trip and the oil light remained off. Oh, and there is a tick that wasn't there before - but that's another story that I'm quite frankly scared to think about. Maybe it will just go away...

I use the following filter and oil:
- Purolator PureOne
- Rotella T Synthetic 5w-40

I'm wondering:
- If perhaps the gasket could've gone bad?
- Could I be using the wrong combo of oil and filter?
- Could something else in the engine forced the oil back out the filter and the gasket became the weak link?
- Could the crank case not be ventilating properly?

I searched to see if anyone else had this problem and didn't see anything obvious.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Doug

[RayOSV]

Filter didn't fit correctly (is it generic or made for your bike) or wasn't tightened at last oil change?

[BlueFazer05]

Did you overtighten the filter? or lubricate the gasket before installing.
If you did everything by SOP, then the filter itself was defective, which surprises me, as I always thought PureOne was one of the better filters. I'd be interested in having the filter examined by a pro.

[9mmDeath]

Ok, so I've done a bunch more research and reading and here is my current theory:

The oil leaked rapidly from the filter and the reason being that was (is) excess crankcase pressure.

The reason I think this is because I dropped the gas tank to install a coil bracket that was missing. While during that I noticed a small pooling of oil in the airbox. The drain tube and reservoir for the airbox was actually disconnected and resting next to the right side muffler, which means oil had leaked onto the swingarm since it connects to the airbox left of center.

Also, several other forums have similar 'all the oil left via the filter' posts. Some of the intelligent posts mentioned that excess pressure can cause oil to get into the airbox and even cause filters to fail.

I don't know how to check/fix the pressure, if that is indeed the root cause of the problem, but at least I don't appear to be alone in having seemingly fine filters go bad for no real obvious reason like a rogue gasket, a kinked gasket, etc.

If anyone can explain in terms a n00b can understand how to check the crankcase pressure, that would be great. I'm also willing to except the fact that I may need to pay someone who really knows what they are doing to fix this.

Thoughts? Comments? Jokes?

Doug

[RayOSV]

What oil filter did you use? OEM filters have pressure relief valves in them that are pre-set for that manufacturer plus they fit the mating crankcase surface correctly.

Also, it's very common to have a bit of oil in the airbox. It accumulates from the breather hose. Maybe up to a teaspoon will accumulate over several months to a year.

Don't make this more complicated than it needs to be just yet.

[Veefer97]

Had the same thing happen to my car. The oil filter O ring (yes O ring not a gasket) bunched up and started leaking as the car drove away. This after I pressure checked the filter for leaks. yTook filter off, filled oil and no more problems. If your comression check is OK then ou should not have any crankase pressure problems as long as the crankase hose is not pinched. Oil pressure is controlled by the oil pump pressure releif valve, not the filter bypass valve which only opens up if the filter becomes totaly blocked. pressure releif valve

[9mmDeath]

I used a PureOne filter and Rotella T synth oil (5w-40). Also, there's about 2 table (not tea) spoons of oil in the aircase that just showed up. So I don't think it's accumulated. The crankcase hose that connects to the airbox (right?) isn't pinched. Although I did try and and blow air from the airbox end through the hose with my mouth (hey, I'm a n00b) just for grins and no air would flow through. Prolly not the most scientific test but it seemed like a good idea at them time.

When I put on the filter I made sure to lube the o-ring so it wouldn't kink. One other thing to mention is that all this happened about 400 miles after I did the filter and oil change, which is why I'm leaning towards the filter not being the culprit, but something else that comprised the filter and made the o-ring fail.

I'm going back to Kawi filters and the spec'd oil. In the meantime I need to get the airbox hose and resevoir back on.

[9mmDeath]

My ZZR is in a safe place. Bee, of Tuning by Bee, in Afton, VA lives down the road from me agreed to listen to the bike today. As you can imagine the problem(s) is hard to pin down until the engine is exposed.

He asked a lot of questions about the type of oil and filter I was using, but I think he agreed that that wasn’t the problem. I think he’s onto the potential idea that the crankcase is where one problem may lie. He described some potential problems with rods, microns, and a bunch of other shite that was greek to me.

I’ll let ya’ll know what I find in case some other unfortunate n00b suffers the same fate as moi.

Doug

[Tuffguy #2]

Usually this happens when you change the oil filter and the gasket does not come off with the oil filter. When you place the next filter on, you are doubling up on the gaskets, which will fail at high rpm and pressure.