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MG TD TF 1500 - TF oil filter sealing

Gentlemen,
Did my first oil filter change today and had a minor disaster. Obviously I hadn't seated the new rubber O ring correctly because on start up 2 litres of fresh oil gushed out of the filter body before I saw the problem and killed the engine. After much fiddling with a mirror and a short bladed screw driver, I managed to seat a new O ring and solved the problem. Questions: What techniques do you find work best to prevent the problem I went through? The new filter came with 3 different O rings of different thicknesses. The old O ring that I removed from the oil filter base was the smallest width of the three, and I replaced it with a new O ring also of the smallest width. Was I correct? Or was the old O ring the incorrect size? I'm assuming that the other O rings that come with the filter are for other applications when used in different engines?
Many thanks,
Gene
Gene Burgess

Gene;
Many times I have found that the DPO had left a second ring buried in the groove. Take an L shaped sharp pointed tool and dig out the old one. Then you can offer up the new one. I like that OFFER-UP term.
Sandy Sanders
conrad sanders

Once you get the old one out (and all the little bits) and the new one in, i would think it would be good for a few oil filter changes...I got the old one out with a thin wood carving tool...basically pushed it in and cut it in two, then got the tool under the one end and pulled... came out in one piece.
gordon.b.lawson '53TD

Gene - The correct size is normally the mid thickness ring (it should measure close to 0.083" thick). Once you get the old gasket out (look closely as it is sometimes as hard as a rock and looks like the bottom of the grove), install the new one, making sure that it is correctly seated all the way down in the grove. Failure to do this can cause you to loose all the oil at the most inopportune time, such as going onto the Tacoma Narrows bridge and hammering a couple of rod bearings (don't ask how I know all these intimate details, like having traffic backed up for about 5 miles on a Saturday morning).

Gordon suggests that a properly installed gasket should be good for a few oil changes - actually they will last much longer than that. When we first got our TD, the gasket was so hard, I didn't think there was one in the grove, but the filter housing didn't leak so I never bothered with it. Seven years later when I restored the car and rebuilt the engine, I found that there was, in fact a hard gasket in there. Since the fiasco on the Tacoma Narrows bridge, I installed the proper gasket in the grove and it has been there for the past three or four years. I just check periodically for leaks. Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

Gentlemen,
Getting the old O ring out was a snap. Surplus dental picks are great for this endeavour, and cheaply purchased at flea markets for a less than a dollar each. I keep several different sizes and shapes in the old tool box.
Gene
Gene Burgess

Gene - Those are just about the best kept secret in the medical world unless, perhaps the scalpel. Both are indispensable. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

David - and hypodermic syringes.
John James

Dental hand instruments can only be re-sharpened so many times. They are not really worth re-tipping so most Dental offices have a box of old instruments sitting in the cupboard. Just ask at your next visit and I am sure you will be presented with such a box. These are high quality SS (much better than the auto supply copies) so you can grind and modify them to suit your purpose.

Another great dental tool is the "Monoject 412" irrigation syringe. Instead of a needle it had a 3cm tapered plastic tip that narrows to a 1mm opening. Great for getting fluids to those hard to reach places without spillage. Ideal for flushing out oil galleries just as an example. They cost about thirty dollrs for a bag of fifty.

Tony
Tony Cove

Gene....buy a modern adaptor to use a spin on filter. Advantage, no leaks, easy to change and better filtering. It is the only concession of modernity that I have made to my TF.
I hate cleaning up oil.
colin stafford

Am I the only one that "lived through the 60's" here? ...In a word hemostats...don't use 'em for what we did back then anymore...but they sure come in handie in the garage!.........Maybe I'm the only one that kept mine?
I just know somebody will do it ...so I'm gonna beat you to it:
The 60's ..what was it about?
If you have to ask, you weren't there...if you can remember, you didn't "partcipate"!
Cheers,
David
David Sheward

Gentlemen,
Did you notice how quickly the thread topic got answered and went off on an entirely different tangent? That happens a lot on this forum. Is it an MG thing, or are most of us just getting too along in years? (The 60's.....what were the 60's?)
Gene
Gene Burgess

Gee... i remember the '60's... its the darn '70's i'm not sure about.....

http://www.niagarabritishcarclub.org/nostalgia/woodstock.jpg
gordon.b.lawson '53TD

Gord
They that short term memory loss. Watch out, senile dementure is just around he corner!
John James

Just remember that MEMORY LOSS is the SECOND sign of old age.I think????????????????????????
conrad sanders

Which corner?
G.E. Love

This thread was discussed between 22/10/2004 and 23/10/2004

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