ridicidonk
XS400 Member
Hello,
I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure out why oil is leaking from around the filter plate on my 1982 Yamaha maxim 400 (dohc). Before I put the bike up for the winter there was no issue with oil leaking and it was still fine when I ran it for the first time this season. I must've done something wrong when switching out the filter however, as now I cannot get it to stop dumping oil when I run it (video attached). At first I simply thought i installed the filter upside down like an idiot but flipping around didn't solve it. Next I thought it was because I was missing a crush washer (#7 on diagram). That couldn't be the issue though because it would've been leaking before as the old filter didn't seem to be installed with one either. Anyway it doesn't matter because when I added the crush washer it still leaked. At this point I started to get frustrated and looked for answers online. I've read elsewhere on this forum that it may because the plate is not aligned (there is a little tab which should line up between fins on the underside engine block?) or because the filter is not installed correctly (something about 'front' being stamped on the filter, old had it but new filter doesn't). No matter how I orientated the plate and filter I couldn't get it to seal properly. I've also read that the filter plate can warp or crack and cause it to not seal. I actually had to replace the old filter bolt because it was tightened down so hard by the previous owner and stripped bad. Only got it off after vigorous effort with the ole chisel method. I thought maybe I could've cracked the plate doing that but on closer inspection I cannot find any cracks and the plate doesn't appear to be warped. Also replaced the gasket of course. Really starting to run out of ideas so requesting help or advice on what I could be doing wrong how to proceed. Maybe my filter is wrong? Idk...
I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure out why oil is leaking from around the filter plate on my 1982 Yamaha maxim 400 (dohc). Before I put the bike up for the winter there was no issue with oil leaking and it was still fine when I ran it for the first time this season. I must've done something wrong when switching out the filter however, as now I cannot get it to stop dumping oil when I run it (video attached). At first I simply thought i installed the filter upside down like an idiot but flipping around didn't solve it. Next I thought it was because I was missing a crush washer (#7 on diagram). That couldn't be the issue though because it would've been leaking before as the old filter didn't seem to be installed with one either. Anyway it doesn't matter because when I added the crush washer it still leaked. At this point I started to get frustrated and looked for answers online. I've read elsewhere on this forum that it may because the plate is not aligned (there is a little tab which should line up between fins on the underside engine block?) or because the filter is not installed correctly (something about 'front' being stamped on the filter, old had it but new filter doesn't). No matter how I orientated the plate and filter I couldn't get it to seal properly. I've also read that the filter plate can warp or crack and cause it to not seal. I actually had to replace the old filter bolt because it was tightened down so hard by the previous owner and stripped bad. Only got it off after vigorous effort with the ole chisel method. I thought maybe I could've cracked the plate doing that but on closer inspection I cannot find any cracks and the plate doesn't appear to be warped. Also replaced the gasket of course. Really starting to run out of ideas so requesting help or advice on what I could be doing wrong how to proceed. Maybe my filter is wrong? Idk...
