I have a 98 Ram w/360 cid. Just changed oil and put on a Fram Tough Guard 16 their midgrade filter and found that there is a serious leak happening at the base of the filter or seal. Anyone had any problems w/these filters leaking? I normally use the basic Fram PH16 but was feeling rich that day at China-mart and dropped the extra two bucks. I had 2 oil changes going on at the same time, the Ram and a Taurus. I have done my own oil changes since Carter was President and never had this problem. Is it possible that I might have actually did a faux pas (mistake) and not rubbed oil on the new filter and this causing the leak? I know that I have lost a several oz's of Mobil 1 oil. I fired the truck up when it was cold this a.m. and it leaked immediately. Is there a problem w/the filter. Can the omission of the prelubrication of the filter cause such a leak? Or could it be a problem with the high faluten filter? I am ready to call and bitch out Fram and get $$ for a new filter and oil. But if there is a chance that I forgot to put oil on the seal and this happened then I cannot chew the company out. I hope it wasn't moi. Not a good sign of mental capacity if it is my fault.

The filter is tight, I tend to turn them a half rotation when it makes contact w/the engine.

Any insight would be great.

 

It's possible you've got 2 o-rings on there. Did you check the old filter to make sure the seal didn't stick to the block? The other thing to check is that the right filter went on the right vehicle. I'm not suggesting that you're a flaming idiot at all, just that mix-ups sometimes happen and a Ford filter will screw on to a Mopar, but the seals aren't the same and the dodge will leak. When my filter relocator line melted on the header I had to take the Ford filter (on the side of the road mind you) off the relocator kit and put it directly on the engine. It worked, it just dripped a bit of oil until I could get into the nearest town and take care of it.

 

Thanks for the input, good info. I rechecked the filter spec and it's the right one. I did the change a couple of weeks ago and just noticed the leak yesterday. So I don't have the old filter to look at. You could very well be right that the old seal didn't come off with filter. It's a pretty serious leak. I have semi retired the truck to a weekender, so I didn't catch it until I looked down where I had parked it yesterday to wash it.

The I, too, had a similar situation with an oil change on the Tuarus where the seal from one filter stayed on the housing.

I guess I will be heading over to Advanced Auto to get a PH16, not a fancy pants filter this time around.

I just barely warmed the engine on the oil change, maybe that was the factor and caused the old seal to stay on the housing. I change the oil from time, not use these days. I still change Mobil 1 every 3-4 months regardless of the mileage.

again, thanks for the info

Craig

 

You could have the 2 seals on there or you could have torn the seal a little by not oiling it. I would check to see if its tight and go get another filter and oil. Make sure you wipe the block good, dirt and grime can screw up the seal too.

 

It's something that happens quite regularly if you're not paying attention. It's not really the fault of the filter. Just something you have to watch for when you change your own oil. If anything it's from the seal working TOO good.

 

i use this filter every time and have never had an oil leak around the gasket surface. pull it off and look at it.

 

If you are using Mobil 1 Synthetic oil, you can leave that oil in as long as you want. Because it is synthetic (man made), it does not break down over time. I work at an oil change shop, and our house oil is Mobil. With the new Mobil 1 that goes 15,000, if you only drive 15,000 mi. per year, you would only have to change the oil once per year. Hope this saved money.

And as for the leak, it may very well be 2 o-rings. My suggestion, take it to a shop, and get it checked out. If it was a filter problem (not 2 o-rings), call Fram and start the bitching... get them to pay for the filter, oil, and oil change. If it is 2 o-rings, it is a lesson learned. Hope I helped with all the problems.

 

So you're saying that synthetic oil doesn't pick up the contaminants in the engine? That it doesn't have additives and detergents and such that get consumed?

 

I am not saying that, I am just saying that it doesn't get broken down over time like conventional oil. If some one comes in, and has synthetic oil in their car, and they haven't yet completed the 5,000 miles (now 15,000 miles with mobil 1), we tell them to continue driving until they have completed the miles.

 

No way in hell I'd go 15k miles without an oil change. It's ludicris that you're sending customers away - the engine is still wearing, the combustion process is still creating by-products, and there is still dirt and other contaminates that get carried by the oil - lots gets trapped by the filter, but some just stays floating around. Just because the oil itself isn't breaking down as a conventional oil would does not mean that you aren't doing damage by running extreme change intervals. The only situation where I'd let it go that far is if I was a long-haul trucker with a several gallons of oil and a ton of freeway cruising.