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MG MGA - Spin-on oil filter adapter failure

Attached is a photo of the current condition of my spin-on oil filter adapter. This broke as I was on the highway at about 60 MPH. Made a horrible noise, looked in my mirror and saw the filter bouncing along the road. Needless to say, 4 quarts of Castrol gushed onto the road. Lucky the lack of oil pressure did not cause any damage as I was able to pull over and shut the car down very quickly.

This could have been a real disaster. I'm not sure if this is a common problem. I can't imagine what would cause the metal to just shear away as it did but it calls into question the quality of the part.

The adapter (235-940) was purchased from Moss Motors on 11/27/07. I plan to notify them but thought I would spread the word here as well.

Jeff


Jeff Bennett

Is a known problem with Moss' adapter. Usual cause is torquing it beyond the 11-12 ft lbs spec'd. This causes streess fractures in the inferior material. Glad u did no damage. I hope u still have the original cannister filter for urs. I prefer this type...it is almost as easy to change the filter and the originality never hurts.

Judd Irland

I bumped the thread from two weeks ago for your amusement.

FRM
FR Millmore

Jeff

Been there, done that. Mine went about ten years before it failed. Personally, I think it is a poor design as there is very little metal holding the unit together. Mine broke exactly like the one in AU, so there was no need to post a duplicate photo. I'll bet yours broke identical. MOSS will tell you that you overtightened it. I am replacing it with an upside down MGB filter. Good luck.

Bill
Bill Haglan

same thing with a Moss spin-on for my TR3---at least it happened in the garage----just broke and fell apart--properly torqued and all-----went back to the original-rather a messy oil change than a blown engine------
TCK Tom

This is all a bit scary! I fitted my spin-on only a few weeks ago so found myself today watching the oil guage more than the road!
I am interested in Jeff's question as to whether this is a common problem. For sure there have been several incidents but the impression I had was that most A's (and early Sprites/midgets) now have the adapter. Is it something we should all be worrying about or is it a rare, but very unfortunate occurance?
Graham V

Graham--

In light of the prevalence of these filter adapters on MGAs and the rarity with which such failures are posted here, I strongly suspect that we're not currently witnessing an epidemic. Call me an epidemiologist. . . .

Ken
Ken Korey

Ken -
Not good enough!
Until Bill posted his report, I hadn't heard of most of these documented events. How many more people have had it happen and just thrown the trash out? Note the percentage of people saying they put it back on the shelf after failure.
How many have reverted to MGB parts or the OE setup?
How many people are not on this board?
Note Kelvin's comment - "It probably won't fail immediately, but once cracking starts it will fail."
He works for Moss - they know about this.
How many low mileage cars or cars that haven't even been run yet have these things?
Further, Barney has listed this same piece of trash as a "faulty part" since at least 2006, for the problem of filters jamming on the stupid center adaptor, causing leaks and invariable overtightening as guys try to eliminate the leak.
http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/faulty/ft026.htm

Anybody want to send me one or more of these busted things for study to possibly invent a better piece?

Call me a picky-assed mechanic who believes that critical parts should NOT fail when manufactured to design spec and used in the real world. This is a fundamental design error(s) - make it right or make it gone.

FRM
FR Millmore

On mine, the threaded rod would not thread in all the way at the top - up inside the filter adapter body. This caused the filter to be loose when bottomed out, so you try harder! I discovered the problem and fixed it with a tap (and a bigger pair of pliers). If you have one of these - be sure to check on this!

No failure yet (fingers crossed). Guess I won't eBay my old filter canister just yet!

JIM in NH
AJ Mail

OMG!!! I had no idea this was even a problem. My car is not yet road worthy but the rebuilt engine is started and run often. I hope to be driving it by the end of the summer. So FRM, please come up with a better solution!!!
gerard hutchinson

This thread was discussed between 07/06/2011 and 09/06/2011

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