1G 1G 2.0 oil filter adapter leak

[SnP9000]

Hello DSM experts! If you've seen any of my other threads from this spring through summer, you may recall I was working on my mom's 92 GS. Well I got the car back on the road about a month ago and have put almost 350miles on it. I did find something I touched is now seeping oil slowly (not enough to show up on the dipstick after 350mi) and making a small mess of my garage and the bottom of the engine.

Yesterday I cleaned up thoroughly and laid under the car while it idled with some UV dye in the oil and located the leak to the oil filter adapter. So I come with questions... the Mitsubishi documentation for this front cover/oil filter adapter gives a single number for bolt torque of 14ftlbs which I verified they are still tight to that number but it's still seeping oil. In the same thread I found that Mitsubishi document an earlier poster gave 14-16ftlbs as the spec. Now I can imagine if I target the low end of the spec and some other risks stack up (dry threads, wrench not exactly calibrated on the low end) then I could come up with less than the required clamp load.

So with that in mind...
1) what torque do I need to put on these bolts?
2) would you just tighten them up, or would you replace the new paper gasket behind it as well?
3) have I overlooked something here?

See photos/video below

Oil leak - Google Drive

drive.google.com

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[pauleyman]

You likely have more than one leak. Oil leaking under that bolt head is the oil filter housing gasket. If you're going to go in do a full timing belt job and seal replacement. If they've never been changed most certainly all 5 seals are likely leaking and the mess under that cover is likely substantial.

 

[SnP9000]

I did the whole timing belt job, resealed every shaft, the front cover and the oil pan all at the same time.

 

[pauleyman]

I did the whole timing belt job, resealed every shaft, the front cover and the oil pan all at the same time.

I'd be inclined to redo that housing gasket. If memory serves you do not need to remove anything except the cover. Might be hard to spot but maybe a crack in the housing. I'd clean everything up and look again.

 

[19Eclipse90]

I, too, would recommend trying that gasket again.

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[pauleyman]

There is an oring/gasket behind the oil cooler adapter as well. If you take out that center bolt follow the torque specs or you will crush the cooler and mix oil and coolant.

 

[SnP9000]

Yeah I definitely need to remove the timing cover to get to the 4th bolt on the housing. Interesting the diagram for the turbo says 11-16ftlbs. I think I will go to the 16 end of that range this time.

There is an oring/gasket behind the oil cooler adapter as well. If you take out that center bolt follow the torque specs or you will crush the cooler and mix oil and coolant.

With my non turbo engine I don't have the cooler. I can't recall an O ring being there but I completed this work almost 2 months ago I may be forgetting already...

 

[pauleyman]

no cooler. no oring

 

[SnP9000]

Sweet. So I should be okay to turn them to 16 ftlbs right?

 

[19Eclipse90]

Yes, 16 ft.-lbs. would be okay.

For the record, the manuals show both the turbo and non-turbo housings to illustrate that different versions of the oil filter housing / adapter exist. The torque values for the mounting bolts would be the same for either version.

 

[SnP9000]

Excellent. Thanks for weighing in. I'm consistently impressed/pleased with the level of activity on this forum. People need to keep these cars going!

 

[DSMPT]

Just another possibility.
If all the seals/parts are in good condition and installed properly but you still see multiple leaks from the OFH/front case bolts and gasket, in this case you may have the oil pressure way too high for some reason. This sometimes occur when the oil pressure relief valve is stuck closed. Should check it just for in case.

 

[SnP9000]

Just another possibility.
If all the seals/parts are in good condition and installed properly but you still see multiple leaks from the OFH/front case bolts and gasket, in this case you may have the oil pressure way too high for some reason. This sometimes occur when the oil pressure relief valve is stuck closed. Should check it just for in case.

I do see normal oil pressure on the gauge so I hope that isn't the issue. Can the sender and gauge be trusted? It fluctuates in ways that I consider normal. Higher at higher rpm, lower at idle, higher when the oil is cold, lower when it warms up.

 

[pauleyman]

I do see normal oil pressure on the gauge so I hope that isn't the issue. Can the sender and gauge be trusted? It fluctuates in ways that I consider normal. Higher at higher rpm, lower at idle, higher when the oil is cold, lower when it warms up.

Sounds normal. Only thing left is gaskets and the housings themselves.

 

[luv2rallye]

Couple tidbits I remember:
1) There was a post on here I no longer can find, about the inner oil adapter piece (that the filter screws onto) being slightly too long such that when you torque the filter down, either the cooler or filter itself doesn't mate tightly against its adjacent piece, even though the torque is correct on the filter (so you think it's good). [Similar to a bolt that is just barely too long so it bottoms out when you torque it correctly but it now doesn't hold the object it goes through tight enough.]

2) You also might want to read this: http://vfaq.com/mods/oilcool.html