apintofmild
Members
Others members have got away with a variety of strap or chain one-size-fits-all filter tools, but my absolute first priority was not to damage the lid and have to go to Honda with my tail between my legs.
The correct Honda tool (thought to be part number 070AA-RL00300) is expensive and not easy to come by. Given it's something I plan to only use at most half a dozen times during my ownership I was less than enthusiastic about shelling out £60+ quid for one. There is a picture of the hallowed tool out there, but I don't have permission to use it here so you'll have to Google it ;-)
Some people have found an 89mm 15 flat filter tool fits the bill. I gambled a fiver on an eBay item. Although the right diameter the die-cast zinc tool which arrived didn't appear to have sufficient depth to clear the fuel pipe boss in the centre of the lid. Incidentally, the 89mm is from a flat to a point as there is an odd number of sides.
Using a piece of bent wire as a gauge over the top of the filter housing I reckoned I'd need a minimum of 28mm internal headroom. My eBay purchase was somewhat short. It might have worked, but I didn't want to risk it slipping, mashing up the top and me having to visit the dealer. A replacement lid can be had for about £25 quid (part no 16904-RL0-G01), but but I don't fancy the down time to order one, and the damaged one would still somehow have to be removed to fit it.
Having access to a small lathe I set to modifying the tool:
Stage 1 was to skim off the lip of the tool which served no purpose, and would cost me a couple of millimetres of purchase on the filter housing.
Stage 2 was to remove the entire centre section of the tool, leaving just the rim.
Stage 3 was turn up a piece of scrap aluminium bar into a hollow closed end spacer to give me the extra clearance I needed. This was to be drilled, tapped and screwed to the eBay tool.
Stage 4 was to make up a steel hex that I could get a socket on to operate the tool, then screw the whole thing together.
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee485/baconbap/8thFuelFilterTool/8th-Fuel-***embled_zpsns4o7bax.jpg
All told, a few hours work (but a pleasure -I like that sort of thing) and a lot cheaper than the genuine tool (I reckon change from a tenner all told). I realise not everyone has the facility, the time or the inclination to take my route but I thought I'd share my experience in case it triggers an idea for someone else. There's always more than one way to skin a cat ;-)
I'm pleased to report it works perfectly. (DIY to follow)
Postscript:
Had this tool not done the business, I had a plan B in mind:
Rather than using a socket to fit on the outside flats of the filter housing as above, I'd have made a tool that fit inside the lid. A piece of aluminium tube with an OD of 78mm, 2.5mm wall thickness will fit nicely
The lid has four slots cut in it with 90 degree spacing. Three are the same, one is longer. Anyhow, I'd have used two of these as drive points for the tool.
I'd have made up some drive lugs from 6mm thick aluminium, 19.5mm wide with corner radius 4.5mm. These drive lugs would need to overhang the bottom of the tube by about 3mm, as the profile of the top of the filter housing lid is wavy. This is what I had in mind, though obviously not made from a pot noodle tub and black foam!
The correct Honda tool (thought to be part number 070AA-RL00300) is expensive and not easy to come by. Given it's something I plan to only use at most half a dozen times during my ownership I was less than enthusiastic about shelling out £60+ quid for one. There is a picture of the hallowed tool out there, but I don't have permission to use it here so you'll have to Google it ;-)
Some people have found an 89mm 15 flat filter tool fits the bill. I gambled a fiver on an eBay item. Although the right diameter the die-cast zinc tool which arrived didn't appear to have sufficient depth to clear the fuel pipe boss in the centre of the lid. Incidentally, the 89mm is from a flat to a point as there is an odd number of sides.
Using a piece of bent wire as a gauge over the top of the filter housing I reckoned I'd need a minimum of 28mm internal headroom. My eBay purchase was somewhat short. It might have worked, but I didn't want to risk it slipping, mashing up the top and me having to visit the dealer. A replacement lid can be had for about £25 quid (part no 16904-RL0-G01), but but I don't fancy the down time to order one, and the damaged one would still somehow have to be removed to fit it.
Having access to a small lathe I set to modifying the tool:
Stage 1 was to skim off the lip of the tool which served no purpose, and would cost me a couple of millimetres of purchase on the filter housing.
Stage 2 was to remove the entire centre section of the tool, leaving just the rim.
Stage 3 was turn up a piece of scrap aluminium bar into a hollow closed end spacer to give me the extra clearance I needed. This was to be drilled, tapped and screwed to the eBay tool.
Stage 4 was to make up a steel hex that I could get a socket on to operate the tool, then screw the whole thing together.
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee485/baconbap/8thFuelFilterTool/8th-Fuel-***embled_zpsns4o7bax.jpg
All told, a few hours work (but a pleasure -I like that sort of thing) and a lot cheaper than the genuine tool (I reckon change from a tenner all told). I realise not everyone has the facility, the time or the inclination to take my route but I thought I'd share my experience in case it triggers an idea for someone else. There's always more than one way to skin a cat ;-)
I'm pleased to report it works perfectly. (DIY to follow)
Postscript:
Had this tool not done the business, I had a plan B in mind:
Rather than using a socket to fit on the outside flats of the filter housing as above, I'd have made a tool that fit inside the lid. A piece of aluminium tube with an OD of 78mm, 2.5mm wall thickness will fit nicely
The lid has four slots cut in it with 90 degree spacing. Three are the same, one is longer. Anyhow, I'd have used two of these as drive points for the tool.
I'd have made up some drive lugs from 6mm thick aluminium, 19.5mm wide with corner radius 4.5mm. These drive lugs would need to overhang the bottom of the tube by about 3mm, as the profile of the top of the filter housing lid is wavy. This is what I had in mind, though obviously not made from a pot noodle tub and black foam!
