oil issue Options

[CAcelica29]

heyy guys, my situation isnt dire its annoying. my car leaks oil from the filter. drips down the block onto the exhaust and smells awful. this is the 2nd filter in 2 oil changes that has done this. ive checked the area where it goes and havent found anything that shouldnt be there. no old seals or gaskets from other filters or anything. any ideas on the matter would be appreciated. thanks.

[RavenAegis45]

heyy guys, my situation isnt dire its annoying. my car leaks oil from the filter. drips down the block onto the exhaust and smells awful. this is the 2nd filter in 2 oil changes that has done this. ive checked the area where it goes and havent found anything that shouldnt be there. no old seals or gaskets from other filters or anything. any ideas on the matter would be appreciated. thanks.

well is it coming out from where the Filter seals itself to the oil cooler or is it coming from the oil cooler itself? generally if its from the filter its probably not tightened enough or in worse case scenario there's a scratch that's allowing oil to seep through, if its coming from the oil cooler then most likely its a seal that needs replacing. those are the only things I can think of from what you described

heyy guys, my situation isnt dire its annoying. my car leaks oil from the filter. drips down the block onto the exhaust and smells awful. this is the 2nd filter in 2 oil changes that has done this. ive checked the area where it goes and havent found anything that shouldnt be there. no old seals or gaskets from other filters or anything. any ideas on the matter would be appreciated. thanks.

well is it coming out from where the Filter seals itself to the oil cooler or is it coming from the oil cooler itself? generally if its from the filter its probably not tightened enough or in worse case scenario there's a scratch that's allowing oil to seep through, if its coming from the oil cooler then most likely its a seal that needs replacing. those are the only things I can think of from what you described

Sorry I didn't see you had an ST and not a GT, i dunno if ST's come with oil coolers or not

[CAcelica29]

its 5 speed and i dont believe there is an oil cooler. it appears to come from the bottom of the filter where it attaches. at least thats where the oil is if i reach in to touch.

[trdproven]

check if its between the filter and where it mates or behind the mounting plate (closer to the engine block)

This post has been edited by trdproven: Jul 9, 2012 - 3:09 AM

[SwissFerdi]

Did you lube the filter gasket before you put it on?

[CAcelica29]

i did lube it first and i will check the mating surface by the block later today and let you guys know my findings. first and only car this has happened to.

[trdproven]

Cool....hows Ventura weather these days? Haven't been there for over a year.

[CAcelica29]

not bad pretty warm and clear today.

[krom8]

Like trdproven said it's probably some foreign material on the mating surface. What brand oil filter did you use? Sometimes with cheaper oil filters the gasket on the filter will either have a kink in it or not be fully attached to the filter itself. If the gasket isn't attached to the filter completely, which would be a manufacturing defect, it could buckle as you tighten the filter. I've seen a lot of bad lower end Fram filters that should have never made it past quality control.

[CAcelica29]

the old one was STP from autozone and the new one is a K&N

[krom8]

I personally use K&N on all of my vehicles and have never had a bad filter from them. It really looks like you need to clean the mating surface really good before putting another filter on it. There could be a chance that the surface has a scratch in it.

This post has been edited by krom8: Jul 10, 2012 - 1:06 AM

[trdproven]

its either leaking where the oil filter mates or where it mates to the block. why its leaking may or might not be too obvious. i've seen people put on filters and it leaks, because the gasket just breaks off loose, twice at least seen that, best way is to lube it around the rubber gasket good and put it on so its slides. if thats not the case, really try to pinpoint where its leaking.

[SwissFerdi]

^ Do all of that. Did you take out the gasket to lube or did you just lube the mating surface as it was sitting in the filter?

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Jul 10, 2012 - 7:53 AM

[Followtheornghat]

If your willing to take a trek up to Santa Maria ill take an extra look for you and see what i can help you with. like stated above though it can be many things. let the motor cool then wipe the area clean, start your motor up let the oil cycle then turn it off before it gets hot (will give you a better idea of where the oil is leaking from since the area around it will be clean. I had this happen on my GT but it just turned out that when i oiled the new filter i had a small piece of a napkin stuck on my hand and it cause the seal to bind and rip off the filter a little allowing the oil to leak, didnt find it until i pulled the filter off and inspected it closer after cleaning.

Edit: pics would be nice


This post has been edited by Followtheornghat: Jul 10, 2012 - 8:03 AM

[CAcelica29]

^ Do all of that. Did you take out the gasket to lube or did you just lube the mating surface as it was sitting in the filter?

ive never taken the gasket out on any oil filter on any of the cars ive worked on

[SwissFerdi]

ive never taken the gasket out on any oil filter on any of the cars ive worked on

The way I see it, the unlubed side of the gasket (the side sitting in the filter) could bunch up a little and cause a point of leakage.

[Special_Edy]

You should only ever use the OEM toyota filter($5) or the K&N because of the location of the filter. Since its almost upside down you must have an anti-drainback valve or the engine will run without oil for a few moments upon startup.

On the GTs(yes even the manuals) we have an oil cooler that is sandwiched between the block and the filter. Its actually what the filter screws into. Its maybe an inch or two thick and has two metal lines going to it under the exhaust manifold. The oil cooler leaked on my 94 GT and I had to replace the gasket between it and the block.