The new breather arrived, so I set about getting the old one off.
I have an old filter removing tool of the webbing strap kind. I used it for something I didn't oughta, some time ago, and ended up gluing the strap back together by flooding an overlap with superglue.....So now it has a big crusty clod in it!
It's a bit restricted in there round the breather, with the barrel and the frame tubes, but with patience and some dexterity, I managed to get the stap positioned nicely round the breather. Winding it up needs a ratchet, due to the limited swing available between the frame tubes, and I needed to adjust it a bit as I wound it up....You mustn't be in a rush!...I felt a bit like the Gynacologist who wallpapered his hall through his letterbox, but...Once it was really tight, it cracked off really easily. No damage whatsoever to the breather.
This looks like the way to get breathers off. But be carefull with the ratchet bar on the frame tubes....Best to wrap them up with tape or sumat before too much wrenching.
There was no sealer or loctite on the threads. Just an O-ring under the base...Must have just been racked up tight.
Looking at the breather, it is clear that a box spanner would not work, as the flats are over hung by the breather body. An open ender is the only tool that would engage, but the options of angle of attack are crippled by the frame tubes and barrel. The flats are quite small (and plastic), so as Dukedesmo suggested, I think they would round off fairly easily with only two in use.
So there you go...easy when you know how........And now we do...
