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01 sport track oil filter adapter leak

thunder71173

Member
Joined
March 8, 2012
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City, State
Herrin, Illinois
Year, Model & Trim Level
2002 Explorer Sport Trac
I have an 01 rwd sport trac that has new valve cover gaskets, pan gasket all new gaskets in the oil filter adapter rear main seal etc. I also rtvd the pcv valve in place. It looks like the leak is still coming from the filter housing after replacing all three gaskets twice. My question is should I use rtv black over the top of the o ring on the housing to fill any inconsistency in the surface? The replacement o ring they sell is round and doesn't come much above the adapter. As a last resort I'm going to put UV in the oil and check for other leaks but this thing is about to drive me nuts!
 



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Feel your pain. had the same leak on the wife's 02 and fixed it with the replacement of all 3 O-rings. So far...so good.
My concern when doing ours was that the filter housing to block o-ring although round,fits into a groove it is square. I researched this situation and I think I found this oil leak problem mentioned on one of the Mustang Forums.

I "think" it was advised to "debur" the outer corners of the square o-ring groove. The thinking is that the o-ring, compressing while the thru bolt is being tightened CAN get cut by these sharp corners and the silver of rubber that CAN get cut off (or at least extrude) will not allow the housing to properly seat, worse in cold weather (aluminum housing...steel block.. With the corners rounded (debured) the o-ring MAY not get cut.

I lightly "debured" the corners prior to installing the housing. I did NOT use any type of sealent, just lubricant. I "think" I use Motorcraft o-rings.

Really a(nother) poor design. You could always install a remote filter system.
 






Yeah if it was bad enough a remote filter crossed my mind. I've got it sold and after putting UV die in the oil and it appears to be a rear main seal leak. I had a shade tree mechanic put the engine in and I think he may have screwed the seal up
 












Well with the UV die in it there are no visible signs of an oil leak anywhere but the bottom of the bell housing near the back of the pan an I installed anew pan gasket.
 






I doubt the mechanic messed up the seal it's a known problem in that engine
 






It was a repair sleeve seal and its leaking a lot of oil. He didn't put an o ring in the filter housing to block groove and didn't even tighten the egr tube. I'm going to pull the starter and shine the UV light up in the bell housing but I don't know what else I can do lol.
 






Dam
 






Hard to find "good" help today with almost anything that needs to be done.

While searching for the oil leak on the wife's S/T, I 1st saw it on the bottom of the bellhousing. After thoroughly cleaning not only that area but the entire engine/bay. I kept seeing oil....on the bottom of the bellhousing.

Hearing about the oil filter oil leakage problem and not being able to really see where the housing meets the block (using a mirror) I felt the top side of the mount and would get oily fingers. I think I posted here about the issue and was told that the valve cover gasket is the mostly likely source.

I pulled out the fender liner to get a better look at the housing to block joint. I did NOT see oil coming from above (valve cover) and after cleaning/recleaning the filter housing and driving the S/T a few days you could see the oil "weeping" out of the joint, more so when it was a cold day and puddling atop of the housing (where my finger had felt it). You could tell that this pooled oil eventually ran down the filet and then I assume would drip off the bottom of the filter and with the S/T in forward motion the oil would "fly" back onto the lower side of the bellhousing AND also the transmission pan and cross brace.

The BIG problem I found fixing this leak is that I had to put the exhaust manifold, pipe out in order to get the thru bolt out. Got me thinking of installing a remote filter.

Bad design.
 






Hard to find "good" help today with almost anything that needs to be done.

While searching for the oil leak on the wife's S/T, I 1st saw it on the bottom of the bellhousing. After thoroughly cleaning not only that area but the entire engine/bay. I kept seeing oil....on the bottom of the bellhousing.

Hearing about the oil filter oil leakage problem and not being able to really see where the housing meets the block (using a mirror) I felt the top side of the mount and would get oily fingers. I think I posted here about the issue and was told that the valve cover gasket is the mostly likely source.

I pulled out the fender liner to get a better look at the housing to block joint. I did NOT see oil coming from above (valve cover) and after cleaning/recleaning the filter housing and driving the S/T a few days you could see the oil "weeping" out of the joint, more so when it was a cold day and puddling atop of the housing (where my finger had felt it). You could tell that this pooled oil eventually ran down the filet and then I assume would drip off the bottom of the filter and with the S/T in forward motion the oil would "fly" back onto the lower side of the bellhousing AND also the transmission pan and cross brace.

The BIG problem I found fixing this leak is that I had to put the exhaust manifold, pipe out in order to get the thru bolt out. Got me thinking of installing a remote filter.

Bad design.
I've already replaced the filter adapter orings twice. I put UV in it and nothing shows up anywhere but at the bottom of the housing. Did you take the entire fender liner out?
 












Yes. Removed the entire liner . Made it much easier to see the housing to block joint (not perfectly but much). I could also be assured that there was NO oil coming from above (valve cover) AND it made the entire repair process easier. I know I was "concerned" when reinstalling the housing onto the block that the o-ring could "pop" out of its square groove. I think I used "Ultra-Chem" ( a "sticky" assembly fluid we use in aviation) to "help" hold the oring in place. Once the housing was secured AND properly torqued, I inspected the joint closely to see if it mated to the block flush (fearing that a sliver of rubber may have been cut off the o-ring OR that the o-ring had extruded out of its square groove). I also thoroughly lubed the thru-bolt orings so that would freely rotate on the bolt and within their bores (so they would not tear).
 






No that tsb wouldn't apply to mine the 4.0 I'm mine is out of an 05 mustang
 






Don't know if this dated TSB applies to your 2001 ST, but may be worth a read. GL
TSB and Wiring Diagrams Database Results - BBB Industries- Premium Alternators, Starters, Power Steering Products and Turbochargers

YUP. Used the info within. I "think" I wondererd if the o-ring groove in the replacement housing was "cut" for a "round" o-ring OR if the replacement housing to block o-ring was now being produced "square" as to allow it to PROPERLY fit into the square groove of the housing. I think I found that very early o-rings using a bolt on housing (back in the 90's) on other Ford autos used a square o-ring).

Researching that TB lead me to the Mustang forums and their related stories about this problem. Aerostar had this issue too...I think.

Bad design. Should have been a square 0-ring into a square groove OR a round o-ring in a round groove.
 






No that tsb wouldn't apply to mine the 4.0 I'm mine is out of an 05 mustang
Other Ford "products" had the same problem. Some of the other housing had other features ie, external cooler fitting, etc but the o-ring mess was the same.
 






Yes. Removed the entire liner . Made it much easier to see the housing to block joint (not perfectly but much). I could also be assured that there was NO oil coming from above (valve cover) AND it made the entire repair process easier. I know I was "concerned" when reinstalling the housing onto the block that the o-ring could "pop" out of its square groove. I think I used "Ultra-Chem" ( a "sticky" assembly fluid we use in aviation) to "help" hold the oring in place. Once the housing was secured AND properly torqued, I inspected the joint closely to see if it mated to the block flush (fearing that a sliver of rubber may have been cut off the o-ring OR that the o-ring had extruded out of its square groove). I also thoroughly lubed the thru-bolt orings so that would freely rotate on the bolt and within their bores (so they would not tear).
Yeah I did all that too although the felpro o ring fits really well and wont come out.I have fealty all of that I'm going to look again with the UV light when my wife gets home.
 






Good luck.... I feel your pain..... Just a bear area to work on
 






the passenger side tensioner is on the back side of the head in that area, if the tensioner is installed without a perfect seal it will leak lots of oil and it can look like a valve cover, oil filter adapter, or rear main seal
Just another thing to check
 






That cartridge had to be replaced but the only bolt removed was the one with the oring guess I will check up their with my bore scope but like I said before UV die test doesn't show any signs coming from either side of the block
 



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so it is the oil pan or rear main seal

How much is leaking? Like puddle on the ground or just seepage?

Over the years I have found with oil leaks to follow them up as high as they go and that is usually the source
Unless the fan is blowing it to other places
Rear main seals on these engines will always be "wet" with some seepage, dang near impossible to get rid of all of it
Many times when gaskets are replaced, leaks are just slowed down....meaning it is all about proper preparation and installation to get a 100% seal, if the surfaces are not clean enough (dry free from oils!) or have imperfections the gasket is not prepped or seated just right = more leaks. If the metal has imperfections then a sealant should be used like silicon to make up for the gaps the gasket cannot reach.
Follow the instructions on the tubes, let silicon setup before putting the pieces into service per the instructions that came with whatever gasket maker or sealant you are using.

On the rear main seals I learned long ago to use a light coat of aerobic sealant on the block to seal side of things, then lube the seal and crank (vaseline or assembly lube) and they will hold....for a while, when the engine gets higher miles as I said, seepage is normal
drips not normal
puddles need attention soon
Good luck!

If you have to do the O ring 2-3 times in the oil filter bracket you can coat both sides of the O ring with some RTV just a light skim coat is all it needs to finally have a dry bracket! Cologne, 4.0, 60 degree v6 engines are a PITA when it comes to oil leaks :) Hang in there
 






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