Anyone else had this happen? I came out this morning to find a puddle of oil under the front of the King. Much grumbling and cursing.

I had a Harley oil cooler put on in 2002 ( one of the first ones) and they used a Fueling adapter. down through the years I had a lot of problems with leaks. Finally, Fueling came out with a better internal gasket and i went to fuel injection clamps on new lines, and the problem seemed solved. This was about a year ago, so I wasn't pleased to find a new leak.

It's really hard to see in there to see where a leak might be coming from, and of course, if you go to take things apart, the first thing that comes off is the filter, dumping a cupful of oil everywhere.

So I go to take off the filter, and it turns with just a touch instead of the usual struggle. Turns out, it was about 1/2 a turn loose! I had changed oil about 1200 miles ago, no leaks since til this morning, so the filter wasn't loose when put on. Oil pressure was normal and stable during the last ride.

Anyone else have something like this happen?

The bike gets ridden almost every day, and on Saturday morning I do things like check the tires and cables and fasteners, I guess I'll add giving the filter a tweak to the routine.

 

I had one back off on my 2012 fatbob after I put on a new reusable filter. Engine light came on when I was on a road trip and voila loose filter. So now like you I do a filter check weekly.

 

After installing my oil filter I mark it with a white out pen. Just a dot at 6 o'clock. At a glance you can see if the filter has moved. I do the same thing with axle nuts after changing tires or adjusting the belt. I mark the nut & the shaft together so the 2 dots line up.

 

Did you wet the rubber gasket with a film of oil on the new one when you put it on? Helps it seal.
I've seen them come loose when the bike went on a long trip. Those HD coolers were notorious for leaking too. We got around that by using better hardware than the kit supplied.

 

When I used to work on my bike, I never had it happen. And now that I haven't done my own maintenance for years, it's hasn't happened yet. YET.

 

Changed countless oil filters on bikes and cars over the years. Never had one come loose.

 

Post # 3 nice idea.

Never had a filter loosen over time.

(Perhaps the filter may have been tightened finger tight and not leaking since that last oil change)

 

excellent tip!

 

Just out of curiosity, did the oil filter have the rubber gasket intact or was it missing? When I changed oil, I'd rub a little oil on the gasket and when I thought the filter felt snug, I'd usually give it a little extra turn, maybe a 1/4 or less and I never had a leak. Sometimes when a filter feels snug, they can usually take a little extra snug.

 

Always wipe some new oil on the gasket and hand tighten. I have never had one come loose.