Howdy all,
After JACook's excellent EATC fix which saved me over $700, I felt compelled to contribute. I am always reading through the posts here but haven't had much to contribute over the years as I've been pretty lucky so far with 82,000 miles on an 03 300B Silver Birch. Other than a total A/C system replacement around 60,000, I haven't had to do anything except replace tires (too often) and change fluids.
For anyone who's experiencing oil 'incontinence' seepage issues from the oil filter area, and after verifying that it's not the filter or filter gasket itself, it's quite possible that it could be the filter stand gasket, where the filter stand attaches to the block. I discovered a leak here around 80,000 miles and after verifying that the filter itself wasn't leaking, I proceeded to tighten the allen-head plug beneath the filter as this has helped a few people I hear. Still, I pinpointed the leak to the gasket.
This project looked like it was going to be a nightmare due to restricted access, but it turned out to be quite simple. All I needed was a 13mm socket with a few long extensions. Everything is accessible from underneath.
The oil filter stand shares a gasket with a coolant passageway, so beware before you swing a wrench at it that you will be draining the block, so take the necessary precautions to collect the coolant and keep it away from the critters. You'll also want to have some new coolant on hand, my particular Marauder used the "premium gold" coolant which I needed to get from the dealer.
The gasket itself is widely available, I used a Fel-Pro #70801 "Oil Filter Adapter". It should be noted that while you're in there, you may want to consider a remote oil filter setup, and there is quite a bit of information on here available for those. For those who decided to keep the stock location, Ford does make a "shield" that snaps into place to help direct the oil flow when changing the oil filter. The part number is available on here as well. I ordered one today and will report once it arrives.
Now the fun begins:
Lift the car and place jackstands in the proper places. Remove the oil filter and clean up the mess the best you can. The best access for this procedure is from beneath, so be sure you have a good amount of clearance, a flashlight, and something like a 5-gal bucket to collect the flood of coolant you'll have once you get to work.
Disconnect the oil pressure switch (the white harness beneath the oil filter).
There are 4 13mm bolts, the lower-most is the most obvious. If you look up, you'll see three more clustered around the coolant hose adapter. Work them one at a time and be ready for block's coolant to rain down. Collect that and dispose of it properly (or if you're so inclined, you may be able to reuse it, though I personally felt better replenishing it with new coolant).
Once the bolts are all removed, the adapter piece will fall out of place and you'll be able to remove the old gasket. You will probably notice seepage between the two oil passageways.
Be sure to clean the two mating surfaces. Mine weren't too bad, I used alcohol swabs to clean the area until I was satisfied. I then wiped it down with a lint-free cloth.
Positioning the new gasket can be troublesome. I positioned it atop the oil filter stand and ran one bolt through it to keep it in position. I then pressed the entire piece up against the block and began to run each bolt by hand to start. This may require further repositioning of the gasket, but eventually with two bolts through it, it will position properly.
Proceed to tighten the bolts in a cross-pattern, noting that cleaning the bolts first helped with the amount of torque required to tighten them.
I do not have the torque specification, so if anybody has access to that, please post. I was able to tighten to a torque that I felt comfortable with, but the with proper torque specification, I will get back beneath there and make sure all is good and proper.
Reinstall the oil filter (if it is reusable, in my case, I was able to reuse it because it had less than 100 miles on it). You'll want to change the oil soon after this procedure anyway, just in case a small amount of coolant may have cross-contaminated the oil as it drained.
Re-insert the oil pressure switch harness into the switch... or if you're so inclined, put a "real" oil pressure gauge in.
Open the filler cap on the cross coolant tube on the top of the engine. Add about 2 liters of diluted coolant, then start the car, then proceed to add an additional 2 liters while running the heater at 90 degrees (to purge air out of the heater core and block). The cooling system may bubble up, that's good. Once you're satisfied with the coolant level, replace the cap.
Be easy on her for the first while, check periodically to make sure all is well underneath and make sure she doesn't overheat.
Plan an oil change in the near future, and you should be good to go.
I plan to post some pictures of this procedure once I figure out how to do so.
If this helps one person save one oil drop on his or her driveway, I'll be happy. And by all means, correct me if I've understated or did something wrong.
I hope everybody's keeping it classy and stylish, just like our cars.
-Pete
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Originally Posted by PeteSzerszen
