Hi Guido,
You bet your *** it should be changed
. The Spica injection runs on something like thousands of an inch tolerances. A rebuild costs over $750 - the filter costs 10 bucks - whadda think
. I change mine once a year at seasons end tied into the end of season oil change - which I did this weekend
. I'll be doing another oil change around July of next year and the car will probably only have about 750 miles on it but I won't then change the Spica filter. I don't think the gaskets are available
but it shouldn't be too difficult to make your own from gasket materia. FWIW, I'm using the same gasket that's been on there when I got the car last year - just be careful. And don't go crazy and tighten the 3 little nuts too much. I finger tight and just snug a "smidge" more with a 1/8" ratchet wrench. There is a spring in there which goes between the filter and the end plate - it may just spring out on the ground when you start taking everything off. The filter is more accessable (to me anyway) from underneath.
Oh, 1 other thing. The Spica filter section should be purged of air. This is achomplished by loosening the plate ever so much, so that after the car starts oil drips out. After the section fills with oil, tighten again the nuts. I think you're better off by disconnecting the coil wire and just crank the engine until this is done instead of starting the car. At 50+ psi, it doesn;t take much to have a floor full of oil by the time you start the car and get underneath to tighten the nuts if you have the plate cracked too much
.
