03 kat leaking oil around oil filter area.

[Kat03runner]

Bought this Kat a few months ago and at first sight couldnt tell there was any problems with it. Previous owner left the bike pretty much stock and it had 40k kms on it. When i did the oil change, i got a fram filter from my local Canadian tire shop and used regular 10w-40 oil. When the bike sits for a day, with the bottom fairing off, i noticed a small oil puddle directly below the headers slightly in front of the oil pan. After cleaning it up and checking the bolts for tightness, the next day there was a larger oil puddle between the 2 bolts mounted right under the oil filter sits. I'm guessing those are the oil cooler bolts or smth cuz when i unscrewed them oil started coming out. one of the bolts when i unscrewed it a piece of rock or metal broke off(smaller than my pinky). I re-tightened both 14mm bolts and hand-tightened the oil filter again. left paper towels directly under there and next morning I found that the paper towels are completely soaked with oil. It doesnt drip very fast so its hard to find the source after cleaning the oil drips. I ran the motor for 15mins before and couldnt find the oil drip which i thought was from those 2 bolts mentioned. I checked above and dont see any oil dripping down above the headers, only seem to be dripping under the oil filter... Anyone faced the same issue?

[Kat03runner]

[wfrpalm]

I haven't changed my filter in awhile but I think Suzuki says a full turn after it is hand tight, I would replace the gaskets on the oil connections if it still leaks. Use only oil that does not have additives to reduce friction, your clutch won't work as it should. Be careful tightening those bolts, you don't want to strip the holes.

[Kat03runner]

I checked this morning again and there's oil slowly dripping from the 2 bolts with orange gaskets as shown in picture. It's been dropping before I touched the bolts and have gotten progressively worse after I unscrewed them and retighten, I think I might have lost about half a liter of oil over the past few mths?

[Kat03runner]

I bought a Fram ph6018 filter, and I saw on one of the threads that it's the cheapest and lowest quality filter. Could that be the problem then? I made sure the old hilfro filter gasket was not on when I replaced it so there shouldn't be 2 oil filter gaskets there.

[Kat03runner]

update:
i put some paper towels on top of the oil connections and right below the oil filter, when i checked the next day, theres no oil dripping from the oil connections, which leads me to suspect the FRAM oil filter that i changed is not sealing well. Anyone faced the same issue with FRAM ph6018 filter? i think i'll get a different brand next season.

[wfrpalm]

Use the OEM Suzuki filter, it has an O ring instead of a gasket I also use a Suzuki cap wrench.

[Kat03runner]

I don't have the oem oil filter when I bought it off the guy, he had a hiflo filtro filter instead. Where can I order one of those oem filters then?

[AR-15]

Yes, last I changed my oil I made the mistake of using Fram. Oil leaked and I had tighten it down more that I normally like.

[Kat03runner]

Yes, last I changed my oil I made the mistake of using Fram. Oil leaked and I had tighten it down more that I normally like.

How tight did u do it? I'm trying to stop the oil leak until next season comes. The metal housing on Fram is pretty flimsy also, bends easily with the oil filter pliers

[Marko116]

Triple check that the old gasket didn't get left behind when you changed the filter. Easy to overlook when changing in that tight space.. I've been using the fram filters for 10 years, all I can easily get my hands on