Oil Filter Seal Leak
 

Hi all, just done an oil change on my 97 base and it's leaking oil from the filter. Upon inspection the seal is being pushed away from it's ridge and leaking from there, but when I loosen the filter and tighten only by hand (as some have suggested is tight enough) it still leaks, as it does when it's tighter. Not sure what to do. If I remove the filter and replace the seal with the old one won't I lose all my precious new oil I've just poured in? Please advise... :confused:

I had this same problem before and it was caused by the rubber seal was getting pinched when I tightened the filter. If the seal is lubed up enough it shouldn't pinch unless you're tightening too hard. I would make sure that the seal is nice and lubed from now on :cheers:

p.s. sorry I don't have advice for what to do to not lose any of your current liquid gold you just poured in.

Hi there and thanks for the reply. Yes I lubed the seal... And yes it's getting pinched even by hand tightening - which is clearly not enough to prevent leakage. Frustrating but I'm reluctant to remove the filter casing and start again due to oil loss... mmm...:cheers:

You could always buy a new (clean) oil drain pan. Then, when you empty out your oil, you can pour it back in after you fix your filter problem. A $5-10 oil drain pan is a lot cheaper than another 9+ quarts of oil. :)

Taking off the filter will not drain the oil, you will lose a couple of ounces at most. I do this about every 1500 miles to check for metal in the filter. Take off the filter, inspect and then replace. Takes longer to jack the car up than to check the filter.

Hi all, thanks for the replies. I think I've fixed it, just been for a long sunset drive along PCH and come back and no leaks - all good. I think the mistake I made was when I fitted the new O ring onto the canister I made sure it was on the lip of the canister and, from what I've read, it should be three or four screw ridges down. Now the canister sits flush with the housing whereas before the O ring was bulging out at the top. I presume you're not supposed to see the O ring when the canister's fitted but that the canister should sit tight onto the engine? That's how mine looks now... Anyway another lesson learned. Good news is no metallic particles at all in the old filter and for a 90k '97 base that I bought without even seeing the engine, I'm pretty pleased. Cheers all - amazing forum!

It's not three or four ridges down...
 

... there's a distinct grove for the O-ring just over the canister's "lip" and not part of the threads.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro