Boneheaddoctor will tell you that if a is present you will WISH your only problem was a little fuel seeping out...atleast you get a sign that way

He had a pretty bad issue with air getting into his system.

Talk to Whunter...he has seen a few cracked due to overtightening...and its not unheard of to crack them when you overtourque them...if you have crush washers get new ones....they do not last forever...and are the cause of many air leaks....trust me there....

Loss of power...briefly

read that thread....even experienced wrenchers like myself can get caught up by leaks caused by crush washers....and complicate what should be a simple problem...

If you are breaking out a cheaterpipe to tourque down to stop a leak take a step back and think about WHY its leaking.......you should NEVER have to overtourque anything to stop a leak.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I gave it a few more snugs and I think the leak has stopped. I guess I was being very conservative in how tight I was going yesterday -- there was plenty of turn left.

Also, for anyone in the Seattle area, I can also recommend MBMW parts on Aurora Ave (found on this forum as well). Abe is a very nice guy, and knows his stuff. He sold me more copper washers for the spin on for a buck a piece. He also offered advice or help anytime I needed it. "Just call". So great.

I also got a new primer pump from him and a cigar hose (mine's showing wear) all at good prices.

Thanks again everyone.

Steve.

A buck a piece of crush washers?!

Wow...What kind of bag did they come in

Hehe...

Plastic -- why?

The price seemed reasonable to me. Is that a rip off?

I guess for buying an individual part, if the seller still wants to make a profit, a dollar is reasonable.

Seems like a 20cent piece to me...its like pushrod tubes for a aircooled VW, buck or so a piece.

It would shock me if someone said they were a dollar a piece though...

Our stealer gave me some free, they were volvo ones however, and did not remotely work....(fuel was pouring down the spin on ) Stupid stealership.... They had no MB ones in stock. Typical.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

For the situation, I was happy to pay a dollar. He had them, I had the money, no poking around on the web trying to find them cheaper etc.

Anyhow, now I know a dollar is too much in Oregon for a crush washer.

I get a good deal on parts from a german place here since my dad has a buisness account with them. I guess I am just not used to being nickeled and dimed.

But for a buck a piece, and needing them, after my odd look I would probably be dropping the 2 bucks on the counter heh.

That would be nice -- to have an account somewhere.

I'm stuck paying straight retail.

Oh well. Happy new year!

REplaced my filter today, used the old crush washer (its aluminium) and tightenend it with no extreme force.

No leaks.

I wouldn't recommend overtightening the spin-on...thats just asking for problems.

Fix the real problem and tighten less

I mentioned this on the other thread and there were some good photos of it as well:

The copper sealing washers typically have a grooved face and the washer is prone to pressing itself into the aluminum, especially when the torque is excessive.

These grooves in the aluminum of the housing make it very difficult to get a good seal the next time the filter is removed, even if a brand new crush washer is utilized.

IMHO, the grooves need to be carefully removed with a stone. Then a new crush washer can do the job it was designed to do, without a massive application of torque.

I don't have that engine, but it seems there is an overlooked problem if you have to over-torque that has already been addressed by the several Pro's postings: The bolt under-surface and the surface on the aluminum housing need to be machine fit integrity; I think there are very sharp limits on what a copper crush washer can handle. If one has to torque many times factory specs then there has to be a problem with bolt under-surface and the aluminum housing. It would seem hand-filing and stone finishing is a hit or miss solution; take housing off and mill housing flat and smooth; jury rig a system to remove micro-pitting on underside of bolt; something like 400 grit followed by water sanding. In my inexperienced guess there has to be a problem with the machine fits if one needs to tighten to over-torque specs. The experienced guys also tell us about the proper use and placement of o-rings and crush washers. In my '69 220D the oil filter housing uses a single long bolt. The underside of the filter housing where it mates with the bolt that holds the whole assembly of the oil filter to the large o-ring at top where cannister mates with bolt under-surface uses a single copper crush water between underside of bolt and filter housing. Mine doesn't leak a drop of oil when tightening to factory specs. I even cross-threaded the bolt once: then re-tapped hole in the aluminum housing and still have no oil leaks. Given, diesel is a bit better at finding ways around sealing elements, but I believe the principle holds. If heating the crush washers to return it to relative new integrity works, that is good, but you also end up with deeper oxidation to the crush washer; so my over-opinionated guess is to always use new crush washers, once they've seen high torque they will never be the same, though they may be serviceable. Obviously using a sealant can work around the problem, but the problem still exists: that problem is that the whole system of o-rings and crush washers are not tightening with integrity at the same torque, so one had to over-torque to seal the weakest element. The solution of using wheel bearing grease, which the IP can handle since the fuel can put wheel bearing greaseinto solution seems a lot less risky than using a silicone or similar sealant, no matter how thin the film. A too long response I made: the solution with factor system integrity is achieved by milling the relevant surfaces so that the copper crush washer can handle the micro-mistakes in milling. This approximates a new system which has seen no abuse. If the FSM says 20 newton-meters will do it, then 20Nm will seal it with no leaks. Milling is the only way to treat an abused system so that it approximates a new system. I think. lol