Major Oil Leak from Filter Housing - Really Need Help
09-16-2011, 04:55 PM
#1
Major Oil Leak from Filter Housing - Really Need Help My daily driver aka 95 Camaro is having a major oiling issue. It is a 3.4 / A4 combo that has 178k ish miles on it. I changed the oil and filter about on August 2nd, the day before I went out of town for two weeks. I've driven the car for about a month since then. Around 10 days ago I noticed that I was leaving a large oil stain on my driveway and that my car was very low on oil.
I jacked the car up a few times to try and figure out what the issue is. After a couple attempts I found that the housing the filter screws into was leaking right where the filter O ring seals to it. I thought I had a bad filter so I got a new one, put it on, but still had the same issue.
This oil pool developed in about 30 seconds of letting the car run while warm.
Filter housing:
The car is leaking so much oil while running at operating temperature that it is blowing out the back of my car. The rear bumper, plate, and even hatch have oil mist on them.
At this point in time I am unsure if the housing itself is what is the issue or if there is something else going on here that I am not aware of. Any help would be greatly appreciated as it is getting expensive to keep the car filled with oil. I'm almost at the point where I am going to take it some where, but if I can get some idea of what the issue is with a degree of certainty I'll go ahead and fix it myself.
I jacked the car up a few times to try and figure out what the issue is. After a couple attempts I found that the housing the filter screws into was leaking right where the filter O ring seals to it. I thought I had a bad filter so I got a new one, put it on, but still had the same issue.
This oil pool developed in about 30 seconds of letting the car run while warm.
Filter housing:
The car is leaking so much oil while running at operating temperature that it is blowing out the back of my car. The rear bumper, plate, and even hatch have oil mist on them.
At this point in time I am unsure if the housing itself is what is the issue or if there is something else going on here that I am not aware of. Any help would be greatly appreciated as it is getting expensive to keep the car filled with oil. I'm almost at the point where I am going to take it some where, but if I can get some idea of what the issue is with a degree of certainty I'll go ahead and fix it myself.
09-16-2011, 08:12 PM
#2
TECH Fanatic
have you tried getting the place where the old oring was clean? sometimes the oring off the old filter gets stuck and when you put the new filter it doesn seal right because the old oring is still there in the housing.
09-16-2011, 08:20 PM
#3
Thank you for the response. I have cleaned the filter housing off. That was my first thought when I pulled the filter off to put a new one on. I checked the housing and made sure there wasn't any extra material that had been left behind.
I'm starting to wonder if it has something to do with oil circulation throughout the block? As in the oil gets pumped there, can't continue on it's normal path, and backs up until it starts leaking?
I'm starting to wonder if it has something to do with oil circulation throughout the block? As in the oil gets pumped there, can't continue on it's normal path, and backs up until it starts leaking?
09-16-2011, 08:45 PM
#7
^ I think you got it right. I think this may be what the issue is: http://www.camaroz28.com/forums/showthread.php?t=386561
"If you knocked the oil pressure sensor loose, like my nephew did, it will gush oil out , its about $25 at autozone, they do sell a socket for it it is a really deep socket . it is a 1-1/16 size. if you have an automatic trans , you should be able to get a wrench on it, but if your a manual trans, you should look for the socket. best $12 i ever spent!"
EDIT: The low oil level sensor is on the oil pan kind of near the filter. I think the sending unit is on the filter housing.
"If you knocked the oil pressure sensor loose, like my nephew did, it will gush oil out , its about $25 at autozone, they do sell a socket for it it is a really deep socket . it is a 1-1/16 size. if you have an automatic trans , you should be able to get a wrench on it, but if your a manual trans, you should look for the socket. best $12 i ever spent!"
EDIT: The low oil level sensor is on the oil pan kind of near the filter. I think the sending unit is on the filter housing.
Trending Topics
09-16-2011, 08:59 PM
#10
TECH Fanatic
sweet. when i bought the car the guy said it was a new trans but the plug for the oil pressure gauge wasnt plugged in. i was like BS but whatever. this sounds like its my cause.
09-21-2011, 02:49 PM
#11
I bought a new oil pressure sending unit Tuesday afternoon and replaced it yesterday. When I went to unplug the old sensor it broke in my hand. I'm pretty sure it already had a massive crack all the way around the circumference near the metal fitting. I used a relatively large crescent wrench to get the old one out and put the new one in. I fired the car up, had instant oil pressure, and no leak.
Here is a picture of the old broken sensor next to the new one:
It is the sensor that is right above and to the left of the oil filter. If I was smart I would have purchased a new oil level sending unit as well as mine isn't working correctly. I just don't want to waste another $25 in oil.
Here is a picture of the old broken sensor next to the new one:
It is the sensor that is right above and to the left of the oil filter. If I was smart I would have purchased a new oil level sending unit as well as mine isn't working correctly. I just don't want to waste another $25 in oil.
