Oil flow direction through filter?

[gbranche]

I think I know the answer to this one, but I figured I'd better get some confirmation before doing any damage...

What direction is the normal oil flow through the oil filter? Does it flow from the outside in, or from the inside out?

I ask because my son low-sided the Vision a week ago on the right side (20 oz plastic soda bottle in the apex of a right hander.), and wiped out the oil filter housing. When I pulled it off last weekend, chunks of the filter housing fell into the drip pan. I'm hoping that the filter element prevented any of those chunks from getting into the engine proper.

Aside from some serious road rash on his right knee (jeans just don't protect as well as leather), Ryan came out of the incident without major injury. There are some fresh scuffs in the leather jacket and gloves, and some scratches on both sides of the helmet. I guess they did what they're supposed to.

The bike survived without much serious damage, too. The windshield didn't survive, but that's fairly easy to replace. There are some gouges in the fairing, but no cracks. The forks are tweaked in the clamps a little, but they appear to still be straight. The right muffler suffered some road rash at the tip, but no dents. (Now that I think of it, it's still in better shape than when I first bought it. :) )

Kudos to the Yamaha engineer that designed a bike that could be low-sided without major body or frame damage. (Try that with a modern sport bike...) Raspberries to the Yamaha engineer that decided that the oil filter should be placed at the lowest, farthest forward point on the engine, with no way to mount engine guards on the '83 (with the full fairing). Maybe I'll have to adapt some of the modern sport bike frame sliders somehow...

Greg

[h2olawyer]

Greg -

Sorry to hear of Ryan's spill.  The fines for littering should be increased & enforced!  Glad Ryan's injuries werent too serious & the V came out reasonably OK, too.

Looking at the diagram on Lucky's site (& probably in the factory manual as well), the oil appears to flow from the outside in.

http://www.xz550.com/Oil%20Cooler%20Construction.pdf

Hope you're enjoying the summer despite the recent mishap.   :)

H2O

[Superfly]

"borrowed" from Lucky's oil cooler design

[Superfly]

H20, you are fast!

[h2olawyer]

Naw, just half - fast!  ;D

H2O

[Lucky]

yup, ouside to inside.

[jasonm.]

ALL oil filters flow from the outside ....in

[MotorPlow]

Just curious, does the oil filter housing have a spring pressed against the filter and cover to press it against the engine? I, for the life of me, can not remember if I have a spring in there. I hate older age.

Chris F.

[h2olawyer]

No spring in the housing.? That's why the length of the filter is critical & many Frams tend to get squished a bit on installation.

H2O

[Lucky]

But there is a spring inside the filter itself.  if you look at the top of the filter you'll see a round plate you can press in, with a spring behind it.  this is a pressure relief valve.  if your filter happens to get so incredibly clogged that it won't pass oil, it'll push this valve open & bypass the filter.

i checked into all this stuff before i did the oil cooler...

--Lucky

[MotorPlow]

Whew, that makes me feel better.  I can remember that my old Suzuki had a spring, but didn't remember there being one on the Yammie.

Thanx,
Chris F.