My Toaster has sprung a leak! (oil dripping off filter)

[Hex Kitten]

My wagon has an oil leak that has persisted after an oil change.

Skip to post 2 for pics :D

Here's the back story:
Before I bought the car, the seller got an oil change done at a hokey car dealership that was offering free oil changes if you test drove one of the cars on their lot. He did this to save money and so it would be done before I came and bought the car. Within a couple weeks, I arrived in Denver to pick up the car, and drove it home to Chicago without incident (except a numb butt, but that's another story). A few weeks later when my friends were installing a new uppipe and downpipe, one noticed there was oil EVERYWHERE on the bottom of my car and investigated. Turns out, he was able to turn the oil filter by hand more than one revolution and it was still loose. WOW! Someone really dropped the ball at that place in Denver! :eek: We tightened the filter, wiped up what we could, and hoped for the best.

A couple weeks later, I had some friends help me with an oil change (I know how, but don't have the place to do it, and boys tend to take over :rolleyes:) and we noticed there was still a drop of oil on the filter that had been previously wiped clean. Unsure whether it was from the other oil getting rinsed off by water splashing up off the road or if it was still leaking from somewhere, we went ahead with the oil change. The filter didn't seem defective, and the drain plug wasn't loose, and everything was tightened the way it should be when we performed the service.

Now, 2300 miles later, I just had my car at a place to get an alignment done on the winter wheel setup and they found a leak during a "courtesy check" and also had to add 1.5-2 quarts of oil :eek:

They thought maybe it was a little hose near the oil filter, but it turns out, that's actually part of the oil cooler so engine coolant runs through it. I did a little digging and found that some people have had slow oil leaks caused by the oil cooler gasket being faulty.

I found a thread about it on wrxfanatics that sounds a lot like my problem (here (http://www.wrxfanatics.com/index.php?showtopic=19517))

[Hex Kitten]

Pics!

This was taken during my oil change at 70000 miles while the oil filter was draining, just for reference of what the general area looks like and where there was already oil.

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy96/hex_kitten/Oil%20leak/51356c9d.jpg

Here's what it looks like as of yesterday, at approximately 72300 miles. Front of the car is toward the bottom of each of these pics

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy96/hex_kitten/Oil%20leak/0b96271c-1.jpg

The tube I think the shop claimed might be the culprit is in the center of this pic
http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy96/hex_kitten/Oil%20leak/1afdb128.jpg

And one last pic to show the general area:
http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy96/hex_kitten/Oil%20leak/f2ce144e.jpg

So begins my oil leak journal. I will update this as I find out more, and then I'll document the fix when it gets done :) Has anyone else seen or heard of anything like that? All input is appreciated. So far, I'm going to see about picking up an oil cooler gasket (the other thread says his was about $2, so it hopefully hasn't gone up much in the couple of years since that was posted), but I have also heard it might be a good idea to get the gasket that goes where the oil filter itself is mounted.

Anyway, stay tuned and wish me luck! (And yes, lesson learned. I'll check my oil level more often now)

[Hex Kitten]

Update: We think it was the tube that the oil filter screws onto. We checked to see if it was torqued to spec, and it wasn't. Managed to get an easy quarter- to half-turn on it, so we're hoping that's what it was. Here's to not having to pull the oil cooler :dance:

Here's a pic of the part in question, from the wrxfanatics thread:
http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy96/hex_kitten/Oil%20leak/7211e5c1.jpg

I'm going to keep watching and checking to see if this does indeed stop the leak. So far, everything is oil-free after a couple hours of driving. :banana:

[Hex Kitten]

Reserved #2

[xxthat girlxx]

Wowza!! I haven't seen that before. Good luck!

[StripesRX]

Two questions that might be an easy fix:

When you did the oil change, did you lube up the new oil filters seal with oil? If you didn't it might be the problem since it probably didn't seal properly.

And, you didn't over tighten the filter when you put it on, did you? Once the seal hits home, its only 3/4 - a full turn after that and its good.


It looks like its the filter, if it was the tube going in to the oil cooler than the oil would be centered around the tube opening, not all over the filter. The problem may be as simple as a new filter. I hope so.

Just my 0.02 cents. Good luck!

[Hex Kitten]

Two questions that might be an easy fix:

When you did the oil change, did you lube up the new oil filters seal with oil? If you didn't it might be the problem since it probably didn't seal properly.

And, you didn't over tighten the filter when you put it on, did you? Once the seal hits home, its only 3/4 - a full turn after that and its good.


It looks like its the filter, if it was the tube going in to the oil cooler than the oil would be centered around the tube opening, not all over the filter. The problem may be as simple as a new filter. I hope so.

Just my 0.02 cents. Good luck!
Yes on the seal, and I'm pretty sure no on the over-tightening. I did a lot of the oil changes on my previous car over the 4 years I had it, and never had an issue with the filter. This was also happening before the oil change with the orange filter, so something seems wrong in that general area. Thanks :) Hopefully I'll be able to swing by a shop and find out more in the next few days.

[turbo_turtle]

I would say its either the oil cooler gasket (not likely) or the oil pan gasket. That little tube carries coolant, as mentioned, so that's not it. I've seen oil pan gaskets let oil out on high mileage cars.

Check out the oil cooler gasket first because it very easy to remove. And if that's not the problem, replace the oil pan gasket... only thing is that the oil pan gasket is a PITA with the engine still in the car.

~Dan

[StripesRX]

^^^^IIRC Most EJ motors that came from the factory without an actual gasket, but a large amount of the fujibond gunk to seal it on. Yes there is a OEM cork seal that Subaru sells, but(if I remember correctly) the guys that did my motor build just used the high temp silicone since it seals and works better than the cork thing.

[Hex Kitten]

I would say its either the oil cooler gasket (not likely) or the oil pan gasket. That little tube carries coolant, as mentioned, so that's not it. I've seen oil pan gaskets let oil out on high mileage cars.

Check out the oil cooler gasket first because it very easy to remove. And if that's not the problem, replace the oil pan gasket... only thing is that the oil pan gasket is a PITA with the engine still in the car.

~Dan
Thanks for verifying the bolded part. :)

I had a little breakthrough last night...

While digging through the paperwork the seller included with the car to check if there was anything saying when the transmission fluid was last changed, I ran across this gem:

http://i47.tinypic.com/2ufavbr.jpg

This is one of two maintenance records from 2009 that warn of an oil cooler leak (Side note: Seller replaced air filter and the cracked belts before I bought the car). Well, now I know it's been noticed before...

[Hex Kitten]

^^^^IIRC Most EJ motors that came from the factory without an actual gasket, but a large amount of the fujibond gunk to seal it on. Yes there is a OEM cork seal that Subaru sells, but(if I remember correctly) the guys that did my motor build just used the high temp silicone since it seals and works better than the cork thing.

Well, here's hoping I don't have to look at that particular gasket. ;)

[xxthat girlxx]

This is one of two maintenance records from 2009 that warn of an oil cooler leak (Side note: Seller replaced air filter and the cracked belts before I bought the car). Well, now I know it's been noticed before...

Well good find and good thing Dan said that piece is easy to replace.

[bannerd]

Thanks for verifying the bolded part. :)

I had a little breakthrough last night...

While digging through the paperwork the seller included with the car to check if there was anything saying when the transmission fluid was last changed, I ran across this gem:

http://i47.tinypic.com/2ufavbr.jpg

This is one of two maintenance records from 2009 that warn of an oil cooler leak (Side note: Seller replaced air filter and the cracked belts before I bought the car). Well, now I know it's been noticed before...

Might want to replace the drive belts and other things as mention. Easy fixes so you don't have a headache later.

[Hex Kitten]

Might want to replace the drive belts and other things as mention. Easy fixes so you don't have a headache later.
Already taken care of...thanks

This is one of two maintenance records from 2009 that warn of an oil cooler leak (Side note: Seller replaced air filter and the cracked belts before I bought the car). Well, now I know it's been noticed before...

[turbo_turtle]

FYI, the oil pan gasket is RTV from the factory. Don't use any cork or soild type gaskets there, use Ultra Grey. RTV is a type of gasket too, just the liquid type.

And when replacing the oil cooler gasket, you should be able to pinch off the coolant lines so you don't have to drain the coolant.

~Dan

[Hex Kitten]

Thanks Dan. I'm pretty much just going to order the oil cooler gasket and hope to not have to deal with the other, but I'll keep your note in mind. I'll probably be doing an oil change and hopefully fixing this in a couple weeks, so I'll post up what happens :)

[bannerd]

Thanks Dan. I'm pretty much just going to order the oil cooler gasket and hope to not have to deal with the other, but I'll keep your note in mind. I'll probably be doing an oil change and hopefully fixing this in a couple weeks, so I'll post up what happens :)

Use permatex, you can find it at autozone or walmart is cheaper. I use the red on the oil pans and it works great. The subaru gasket (forget what liquid they use) is really hard to get off and the solvent remover doesn't clean it. I usually use a wire brush and lots of solvent remover. The Permatex stuff has it's own remover that is really nice, remove the entire gasket in one piece then discard.

Other than that.. like turtle said it's a PITA to do any kind of gasket sealent under the car. You can just make a mess of things (silicon all over!) :cool:

[Hex Kitten]

I meant the round rubber o-ring for the oil cooler. I'm trying that first because it's not a mess like the oil pan gasket. Plus I snagged it off a friend who was gracious enough to give me a spare he had around ;)

Oil change and first attempt at fixing oil cooler leak is scheduled for Saturday. I'll snag some pics and update the thread soon.

[Hex Kitten]

Update in post 3 ;)

[xxthat girlxx]

Nice update. Hopefully it was that easy to fix the leak!

[Hex Kitten]

Update: I still have a slight leak in the same place. Next time I change the oil, I'll change that o-ring as previously planned and see if that works. I'll be back in ~2900 miles with another update :unamused:

[xxthat girlxx]

^Sorry to hear. :(