Oil filter spring and washer

Hi, I just changed the oil and filter on my bike and as a good boy read all posts here as well as from the workshop manual. Well in the manual it clearly states not to remove the spring and washer that presses the filter upwards in the cup. However this was already done by the previous owner. There is no spring and washer there but the bike runs as I can see it perfectly. Am I missing something or is the spring and washer not necessary at all?

The upside is that without that spring and washer you will never have to change your filter again.

The downside is that your filter is not going to filter the oil.

You should be able to get a new spring from Z1's for just a few bucks.

-Brian

Thanks, I will try to get a new one.

Upgrade: I found the spring in the box of "leftover parts" that followed the bike, now only the washer missing.

Post edited by: wilde, at: 2006/03/30 14:59

The washer will usually be missing because it sticks to the bottom of the filter and gets inadvertantly thrown away with the filter. The washer is really not needed. The spring is a question mark to me. Oil comes "in" to the filter though the center hollow mounting bolt and exits the filter through the filter material. The filter being 1/4" or even 1/2" higher on the bolt via the spring pressing on it should have very little effect if any on the oil filtration the way I see it, but sometimes I see stuff "a little different". I think really the spring is simply there to keep the filter tightly wedged in the engine.

I removed the filter yesterday and was actually thinking as You, I couldn´t see why it shouldnt work, also I looked at the old filter and it seemed as it had been working alright. But I may of course be wrong.