What make my oil filter leak, should I tell the ..

[MetalSlug]

What make my oil filter leak, should I tell the dealer

My Silverado get free oil change at dealer, as part of our agreement , this is third time I bring in for an oil change, and dont blame me for being BITOG, I alway craw down and look at the oil filter and drain plug, see any leak. And this is the third time I note my oil filter having 1 drop of oil stuck bottom of the oil filter. if just wipe it and look again in couple day, it will have another drop of oil stuck at the bottem, and I have to tight the oil filter myself and it will stop leak.

My question is, are they not tight the oil filter enough or they over tight.. should I mention this to the dealer next time I come for an oil change ?

 

[SilverSnake]

I would take the truck back to the dealer now. If it is leaking, it is their responsibility. It could be leaking because the filter is too loose or too tight. Although unlikely, it might also be leaking because they left the old seal on the block (However, if this were the case, it should be pouring out). Take it back and have them fix it.

 

[MetalSlug]

I alway have to give it a half turn before it stop leak, I will mention this to them next time. My main thing is, will over tight make it leak more or under tight make it leak more ?

Beside I dont have time to get to the dealer, I work 10 hours a day. I barely have time to go in for an oil change lol, Was thinking do it myself on sunday, mobil 1 5w30 + ac delco oil filter and save a receipt.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Sound like they not tight enough a dealer.

I over tight a flat gasket filter one day (WIX51356) on a subaru EJ and it leaked too. The Nippon P- gasket are ok usually nomatter what you do. The metal lip hits the adapter face first and limits tight to just that.

I feel you for the working all the time; 6:30 - 5:00 6-days a week here too.

 

[Donald]

Unless you are super strong, you really cannot over tighten it using your bare/gloved hands.

Or maybe its just a 61 yr old guy cannot over tighten an oil filter.

 

[147_Grain]

The answer is likely a slightly loose oil filter. Tightening it an extra 1/2 turn will stop the leak (unless the gasket has come loose).

You can always have GM replace the filter under warranty with a new one and top-off all fluids again. During the next LOF change, tell the service writer to include in the work order your observation of prior leaks and to be sure and tighten the oil filter more than normal.

 

[tig1]

Two things usually cause an oil filter to leak. Over tightening or under tightening.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Unless you are super strong, you really cannot over tighten it using your bare/gloved hands.

Or maybe its just a 61 yr old guy cannot over tighten an oil filter.


Where I have to reach in to grab the filter, I can not over tighten it either!

 

[SilverSnake]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: Donald
Unless you are super strong, you really cannot over tighten it using your bare/gloved hands.

Or maybe its just a 61 yr old guy cannot over tighten an oil filter.


Where I have to reach in to grab the filter, I can not over tighten it either!


Depends entirely on the car or truck you drive. The filter could be a number of different places on the engine. Post your year, make and model and someone on this forum will tell you where it is.

 

[JerryBob]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Unless you are super strong, you really cannot over tighten it using your bare/gloved hands.

Or maybe its just a 61 yr old guy cannot over tighten an oil filter.


I'm close to 61. Do you want to arm-wrestle?

 

[01rangerxl]

First, are you sure their techs are not just messy? In nearly any shop enviornment a mainstream vehicle will encounter, there is extreme time pressure to get oil changes out the door as quickly as possible. A lot of techs skip wiping things down, and oil will drip from where it splashes. This is the cause of most drips that show up a short time after an oil change. I haven't changed the oil on a new body Silverado myself, but some of the last generation were messy due to GM moving the plug to the side of the pan which allowed the oil stream to go all over the suspension.

Usually a filter with a sealing problem will leak in a major way. Like oil spraying all over the place. I would expect that from a double gasketed or very loose filter. I suppose it is possible for the tech to tighten the filter just enough to leak an occasional drip, but that would be a really unusual situation that I haven't seen over thousands of oil filters I have changed. Generally they either don't leak at all, or it's a huge mess.

Your truck should take a PF63 filter and about 9 qts of 0W20 Dexos. Did they put an AC Delco PF63 on the truck?

 

[MetalSlug]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
First, are you sure their techs are not just messy? In nearly any shop enviornment a mainstream vehicle will encounter, there is extreme time pressure to get oil changes out the door as quickly as possible. A lot of techs skip wiping things down, and oil will drip from where it splashes. This is the cause of most drips that show up a short time after an oil change. I haven't changed the oil on a new body Silverado myself, but some of the last generation were messy due to GM moving the plug to the side of the pan which allowed the oil stream to go all over the suspension.

Usually a filter with a sealing problem will leak in a major way. Like oil spraying all over the place. I would expect that from a double gasketed or very loose filter. I suppose it is possible for the tech to tighten the filter just enough to leak an occasional drip, but that would be a really unusual situation that I haven't seen over thousands of oil filters I have changed. Generally they either don't leak at all, or it's a huge mess.

Your truck should take a PF63 filter and about 9 qts of 0W20 Dexos. Did they put an AC Delco PF63 on the truck?


yes they using long skinny looking type pf63

 

[01rangerxl]

Well, they are at least using the right filter then.

It's not impossible that the tech tightened it just enough to leak a drip, it's just weird. The vast majority of the time in the quick oil change setting you will encounter an overtightened filter, not an undertightened one. If it were double gasketed and leaking, it would be spraying oil everywhere.

Whether or not to bring it up is your call. They did make a mistake. Luckily, not a major one. Honestly, I don't know if I would let it ride this time or say something in this situation...tough call. It will ultimately come down on the tech. Maybe it's a tech who is sloppy and deserves to hear about it, or maybe it was a good, honest tech who was told to knock out a bunch of oil changes right now and made an error they wish they hadn't. If the oil level was spot on, the tire pressure was right, etc. I'd probably let it go as an honest mistake, but as you have been doing, continue to check their work.

 

[fdcg27]

Clever mockery Arco, although not very nice.
Oil filters typically don't need to be gorilla-grip tight but it would also be pretty hard to overtighten a filter enough by hand that it would leak.
I personally try to leave a filter tight enough not to leak but not so tight that I need to use a tool to remove it.
I usually have to use a tool to remove them.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Sound like they not tight enough a dealer.

I over tight a flat gasket filter one day (WIX51356) on a subaru EJ and it leaked too. The Nippon P- gasket are ok usually nomatter what you do. The metal lip hits the adapter face first and limits tight to just that.

I feel you for the working all the time; 6:30 - 5:00 6-days a week here too.
I also like the torque limiting feature of Denso oil filters. Besides that, they are very well made with an excellent seal design.. I don't concern myself with their filtering efficiency. If they are good enough for Toyota Motor Corporation , they are good enough for me.

 

[MetalSlug]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Clever mockery Arco, although not very nice.
Oil filters typically don't need to be gorilla-grip tight but it would also be pretty hard to overtighten a filter enough by hand that it would leak.
I personally try to leave a filter tight enough not to leak but not so tight that I need to use a tool to remove it.
I usually have to use a tool to remove them.


same here, tight with hand, remove with tool.

 

[fdcg27]

Yeah, I went through a streak where I was sensitive enough to put oil filters on just tight enough that I could remove them with no tool at all.
I haven't been that lucky in some time.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Two things usually cause an oil filter to leak. Over tightening or under tightening.


My Chevy leaked oil at the oil filter too after a change,i just dont know if it was too tight or not. I had to really strain to get it 1/2 a turn after gasket touching....filter box said 3/4-1 full turn. Im used to my old Saturn where you can nimbly (with two fingers) tighten it to half a turn, have it not leak, and easily removed during the next OC.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Clever mockery Arco, although not very nice.

Yes. I apologize to MetalSlug and all.. I really like Metal - a good contributor to the forums.
Maybe it all stems from listening to Harry Connick, JR. on AM Idol?


Now is that an Hg amalgam slug, metal?