Quote:
Originally Posted by MidniteTRD
my first thought was that i screwed up the o-ring installation, which is easy to do since there's a big gap between the end of the threads and the actual channel where the o-ring sits...so its easy at first glance to get it in the wrong place.
when i took it back off the o-ring was right where it should be. there appeared to be nothing wrong with the installation and i really checked over everything carefully because so many people had no issue with this so i was sure i had done something wrong.
there was zero resistance when it was getting tightened down. the ring was in the right place so i wonder if it did manage to catch and shift out of position due to a lack of lube on the inside of the housing. what i don't understand is that the polymer housing had no issue seeing resistance and seating properly when i cleaned up the housing the exact same way. maybe it was a bum o-ring, but i feel like the odds of that are pretty low for an OEM product.
i may give it another shot on another oil change but its been a real PITA so far for a mod that the truck doesn't necessarily need, provided the stock unit isn't overtightened.
|
I ran into the same issue that you did. But I’ve reached a different conclusion. I’ve done three oil changes after installing the metal filter housing and have had no perceived leakage until this time.
Unlike the plastic housing that snugs up tightly to the engine, when you spin the metal one on until it stops, the rubber o-ring provides the tension to hold it in place as well as seal the oil. You don’t get a real good feeling of snugness with the torque wrench. This time when I started to remove the filter drain plug, which I previously torqued to the proper 10 ft-lbs, it wouldn’t break free but the whole housing turned. I could have held the housing in place with a large wrench while unscrewing the drain plug , but instead I performed the gallon-ziplock-bag-as-a-condom method to catch all the contained oil while unscrewing it by hand. The whole filter and housing was oiled up in the process.
Then I cleaned it up, put it in a vise, removed the drain plug, installed a new small o-ring, installed drain plug, new large o-ring, new filter element, oiled up the o-ring really well, and installed it. After wiping everything down I started the 4R and checked for leaks. After adjusting the oil level I went on a test ride and ran some errands. When I got back I checked the filter for leaks and saw an area of the filter was oily and seepage around the rim. I wiped it all clean and especially around the rim. After a few minutes it still seemed to continue to seep out a little so I kept cleaning it repeatedly for several more minutes. I found my old plastic housing and was going to replace the next day, but when I checked the next morning it wasn’t leaking any more. I took another test drive and checked it again. It stayed pretty clean, except if I ran a paper towel around the perimeter at the engine interface with a fingernail I would detect a little smear of oil. I left the skids off for a few more days and continued to check it this way each time after driving around. I can still detect a little smear of oil if I press in with a fingernail.
So, I believe the housing sealed properly but since I had a lot of oil on the threads it looked like a leak until it all gradually seeped out at the open end of the thread. And took several days to work it all out. Maybe that’s what happened in your case.
Next oil change:
-Hold housing steady with channel lock pliers, remove plug and drain.
-Oil the o-ring but clean all oil off filter threads and engine threads. before re-installing.
-Keep skids off for a day or two to verify for no leaks.