Oil Filter Adapter Leak

[Robr651]

I’ve been noticing a tiny leak at the base of my oil filter (one small drip occasionally) I thought it was due to the 041 filter I installed. I took the plastic shroud off of the filter adapter and it revealed a tiny leak where the cooler section of the adapter mates to the rest of the adapter housing (that’s where the tiny drip was emanating from) I know there’s been a few leaks on these adapters on a few rigs now. Just FYI check yours if you notice any drips on your filter (it’s possibly not the filter). I’ll be making an appointment next week.

 

[Fast-n-Furious]

I’ve only noticed one or two tiny accumulations by the edge of the lowest point of the oil filter after each change. I monitored couple of days and my guess is when the oil filter gets hot, the oil that I fingered around the rubber seal when I prefilled the filter. And the tiny oil was gone ever since that.

Is the oil dripping or just a tiny accumulation but not enough to drip? Did you wipe out and monitor how long it took for the next drip? I’d really hope it’s not any leak near the adapter.

 

[Robr651]

I’ve only noticed one or two tiny accumulations by the edge of the lowest point of the oil filter after each change. I monitored couple of days and my guess is when the oil filter gets hot, the oil that I fingered around the rubber seal when I prefilled the filter. And the tiny oil was gone ever since that.

Is the oil dripping or just a tiny accumulation but not enough to drip? Did you wipe out and monitor how long it took for the next drip? I’d really hope it’s not any leak near the adapter.

That’s what I thought was happening on mine. I sprayed the entire thing off with brake clean and took it for a quick drive to get everything up to temp. I sat there underneath the Jeep and looked up when it idled. It takes a bit to accumulate on the back edge of the adapter and work its way down. It’s occurring further up the adapter where the cooler section is and with surface tension and gravity it works its way down to the filter and settles on the filter. It’s a tiny bit of seepage but the adapter is the issue.

 

[Fast-n-Furious]

How did it go with your dealer check? Interesting enough, I noticed another tiny bit accumulation today at the filter edge. It’s the 3rd one since my last oil change from 20 days ago. Nothing on the floor yet. I checked after my rig parked almost 10 hours from a 30 mile trip today. Haven’t looked further up at the adapter since it’s late.

 

[Robr651]

How did it go with your dealer check? Interesting enough, I noticed another tiny bit accumulation today at the filter edge. It’s the 3rd one since my last oil change from 20 days ago. Nothing on the floor yet. I checked after my rig parked almost 10 hours from a 30 mile trip today. Haven’t looked further up at the adapter since it’s late.

I decided to not deal with a visit for diagnosis and another visit for the replacement. The part is on national backorder. I found one at a dealer in Michigan. I ordered it and I plan to replace it myself. I’d put money your adapter is leaking like mine.

 

[Fast-n-Furious]

I decided to not deal with a visit for diagnosis and another visit for the replacement. The part is on national backorder. I found one at a dealer in Michigan. I ordered it and I plan to replace it myself. I’d put money your adapter is leaking like mine.

Don’t mess with the dealer: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/392-not-burning-oil-its-leaking.97454/

You can see mine from the pic. Is yours showing leaking on the adapter/cooler above the filter connection?

I still tend to think because I prefilled the filter and fingered some on the rubber ring, some spilled in the groove between the rubber ring and outer edge. Over time the oil would work its way down either due to getting hot or vibration until there’s nothing?

 

[Robr651]

Yes, but it collects on the filter. That adapter is actually multiple pieces so there’s a few potential leak points. Mine is seeping at the top of the cooler section where it mates to the upper part of the adapter. The stupid plastic shroud they have on there masked the area where it’s coming from, so it took me a bit to locate it. I initially thought like you that it was the filter itself. I also think the threaded part (that attaches to the filter) may have some kind of a seal on the top of it and it holds the cooler section against the upper part of the adapter. You can see on a blown up pic of the adapter that it’s multiple pieces.

Long story short, I decided to just order the adapter and install it myself. There’s three bolts that hold it to the block in addition to the two cooler lines attached to the cooling system. I’ll keep you in the loop on the replacement. Mine is literally just like yours where it’s seeping as opposed to actively leaking.

 

[Fast-n-Furious]

I just took a closer look, no sign of leaking around the housing. I checked inside the plastic drain guard too.

Did checked the 3 small bolts and they are tight. That oil spot seems to be there for a long time and it’s not wet. I also tightened the oil filter a bit more with the oil filter wrench, I don’t think any more turn I could go without breaking the thread.

Definitely keep me in the loop and good luck with the fix. May wait for longer if it’s just a tiny accumulation but never drips. It might be gone after a few more weeks?

I’ll keep monitoring mine.

 

[Robr651]

I just took a closer look, no sign of leaking around the housing. I checked inside the plastic drain guard too.

Did checked the 3 small bolts and they are tight. That oil spot seems to be there for a long time and it’s not wet. I also tightened the oil filter a bit more with the oil filter wrench, I don’t think any more turn I could go without breaking the thread.

Definitely keep me in the loop and good luck with the fix. May wait for longer if it’s just a tiny accumulation but never drips. It might be gone after a few more weeks?

I’ll keep monitoring mine.

Sounds good. Keep watching it for sure

 

[Robr651]

Got it swapped. Most annoying part is the lack of room to remove the pinch clamps on the coolant lines. I bought some cheap hose clamping pliers off Amazon to keep tension on the cooling lines while I removed the old adapter.All in all about a 1.5 hour job taking my time. FYI the three small bolts holding the adapter to the block were barely tight. I found a similar thread on a Ram forum where it showed torquing them down to 108 inch lbs.

 

[Robr651]

FYI for guys / gals experiencing leaks at your oil filter. There’s a chance it’s your adapter leaking and if you over tighten the filter thinking that’s the problem there’s a seal / failure point on the adapter that you can potentially screw up. I took mine apart and you can see that there is a seal between the oil cooler part and the upper half of the adapter.

 

[Robr651]

Well thanks to @justinB and his post here: https://www.jeep392.com/threads/problems-with-the-392-rubicon.149/page-16
I was able to determine that I had a secondary leak just above the oil filter adapter. Lucky me!!!!

I was able to get the two plugs out (barely a trace of thread sealant on either one) and apply some Teflon tape and reinstall them. If anyone else has this issue they’re a pain in the ass to get to. I found Mayhew Dual Drive 10pc SAE Hex bit set on Amazon was key to getting the plugs out in that confined space.

 

[Fast-n-Furious]

Well thanks to @justinB and his post here: https://www.jeep392.com/threads/problems-with-the-392-rubicon.149/page-16
I was able to determine that I had a secondary leak just above the oil filter adapter. Lucky me!!!!

I was able to get the two plugs out (barely a trace of thread sealant on either one) and apply some Teflon tape and reinstall them. If anyone else has this issue they’re a pain in the ass to get to. I found Mayhew Dual Drive 10pc SAE Hex bit set on Amazon was key to getting the plugs out in that confined space.

Is the oil leaking issue totally solved? Today I checked mine and another small drop by the tip of the oil filter, yes it came back again after several weeks of drop-free. I check that every week and it was totally dry in the past month or so. I just sprayed the oil stain on the bottom of the upper part with break cleaner just to monitor.

I really start thinking it could be one of the two plugs on the side. Do you know what are the purposes of these plugs? If I unscrew one off and apply teflon tape, would lots oil drain from that hole badly during the fix?

 

[Robr651]

Is the oil leaking issue totally solved? Today I checked mine and another small drop by the tip of the oil filter, yes it came back again after several weeks of drop-free. I check that every week and it was totally dry in the past month or so. I just sprayed the oil stain on the bottom of the upper part with break cleaner just to monitor.

View attachment 17972
I really start thinking it could be one of the two plugs on the side. Do you know what are the purposes of these plugs? If I unscrew one off and apply teflon tape, would lots oil drain from that hole badly during the fix?

Yes mine is solved! The only way to get them to stop leaking is to pull off the filter to drain oil out of the entire adapter assembly. When you remove them YOU HAVE to clean the female threads in the plug holes very well (I used a firearm bore brush). I found that Teflon tape wasn’t adequate and used some high temp thread sealant from permatex. You MUST let the sealant cure for at least 24 hours before you can pressurize the crankcase. So don’t drive it for an entire day.

I believe the plugs block off the holes for various oil filter adapter options on the 6.4 platform. They all don’t have the same setup as the Wrangler. If you need any help DM me and I can walk you through the repair.

You definitely need those tight clearance hex bits to get access that I posted above in the thread.

 

[Fast-n-Furious]

Yes mine is solved! The only way to get them to stop leaking is to pull off the filter to drain oil out of the entire adapter assembly. When you remove them YOU HAVE to clean the female threads in the plug holes very well (I used a firearm bore brush). I found that Teflon tape wasn’t adequate and used some high temp thread sealant from permatex. You MUST let the sealant cure for at least 24 hours before you can pressurize the crankcase. So don’t drive it for an entire day.

I believe the plugs block off the holes for various oil filter adapter options on the 6.4 platform. They all don’t have the same setup as the Wrangler. If you need any help DM me and I can walk you through the repair.

You definitely need those tight clearance hex bits to get access that I posted above in the thread.

Oh man sounds like a lot frustrations...phew... Thanks for the information/tips, I'll definitely ask for help when needed.

 

[Robr651]

Oh man sounds like a lot frustrations...phew... Thanks for the information/tips, I'll definitely ask for help when needed.

To be honest with hindsight being 20/20 I’d wait until your next oil change. Hit me up when you decide to do it. I’ll save you some frustration. It’s overall an easy repair if you have the right tools.

 

[stumblinhorse]

To be honest with hindsight being 20/20 I’d wait until your next oil change. Hit me up when you decide to do it. I’ll save you some frustration. It’s overall an easy repair if you have the right tools.

This is a huge help. Thanks!!! I did bunch of searching and didn’t find this thread. This should be a sticky thread. 90% of 392s have this…

 

[Fast-n-Furious]

I still noticed tiny oil leak prior to my 3rd change last week. I simply wiped it off every once a while. Strange enough since the 3rd change I have not noticed any sign of leaking. This time I did not tighten the oil filter as hard as previously. I started thinking it’s really the oil filter seal issue in my case. Maybe I’m just lucky yo have a good filter this time. It still got oil leak very tiny though from last two changes when I didn’t tighten hard enough.

 

[noideawiam]

This is the same issue I put on the JLwrangler forum. I have not had any issues since the housing was replaced. I am thankful for it. I have done 2 oil changes since and I am fixin to do my 3rd. I have 21k on this jeep and this was the only issue that I had that I didn't want to dig into myself. I could have done this one myself but having both shoulders replaced and no lift, I wouldn't have been able to physically remedy the issue. As a side note, I have only been using the SRT filters. These are the high flow and better filtration. I have learned how to change the oil without getting it all over the steering too, haha.

 

[guruman]

... I have learned how to change the oil without getting it all over the steering too, haha.

Do tell....