The Ford Barn - View Single Post - 272 Y-block oil leak- need help quick- show time

Tom in TN · 05-22-2021, 05:48 PM

Hey y’all. I have a show in Granville, TN next Saturday and I just had an ugly gremlin rear it’s head by way of an oil leak that is from the pressurized side.

A little background. It’s on my 1955 Fairlane and it’s a 272 y-block with a spin-on oil filter adapter that I installed when I overhauled the engine in 2009. There has never been a leak until a month ago and I noticed a puddle in the drip pan and a pulsating trail of oil as I backed it out of the shop. “Pulsating’ just means that the trail was a blob, then a stream, then a blob and more stream and so on as far as I backed it up. Naturally, back into the shop it went. I got to looking and found a trail down the underside of the oil filter. Just to be sure, I had my wife crank the car, while I watched for the leak. Sure enough, oil started seeping out from around the base of the filter and running down the filter and making the puddle. Ah-HA- got you, you little creep. Says I.

So I took the Motorcraft filter off and if you have never noticed, they have some very huge dimples that are there to hold the filter gasket in place as it is installed...but they also distort the gasket, so I thought that was the problem. I got a Fram filter, and their dimples were very small and do not distort the gasket. I put the Fram filter on in textbook manor and there was no more leak! We even took it on a 120-mile cruise a couple of weeks ago and all was well…until about 2 hours ago.

I cranked the car up to go top off the gas tank, backed it out of the shop…and dang if there wasn’t a new puddle and a stream on the floor coming out of the shop. Well, right back in it went and I had my wife come out and crank it while I eyeballed the filter (I had already found a new trail of oil running down the filter)..and yep, it is doing the same thing as the stinking Motorcraft filter. Oil is seeping out from around the base of the filter.

I need some help figuring this one out, but let me run this by you…
The kit has a double end-threaded fitting that screws into the block and holds the adapter plate on. That fitting has a nut right in the middle of it. What if that fittings ‘nut’ is too thick and is letting the metal center of the filter contact that instead of fully tightening on the gasket, Like maybe when I first install it, the new gasket is touching the adapter plate with enough force to prevent a leak, but after a few hot/cold cycles, the gasket tension is so light that oil starts being able to squirm by? Does that make any sense?

I’m all ears for anyone who has ever run into this…and I have a deadline if I’m gonna make the show…so I not only need help, I need it very fast.

Thank you in advance!

05-22-2021, 05:48 PM	#1
Tom in TN Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Murfreesboro, TN Posts: 270	272 Y-block oil leak- need help quick- show time Hey y’all. I have a show in Granville, TN next Saturday and I just had an ugly gremlin rear it’s head by way of an oil leak that is from the pressurized side. A little background. It’s on my 1955 Fairlane and it’s a 272 y-block with a spin-on oil filter adapter that I installed when I overhauled the engine in 2009. There has never been a leak until a month ago and I noticed a puddle in the drip pan and a pulsating trail of oil as I backed it out of the shop. “Pulsating’ just means that the trail was a blob, then a stream, then a blob and more stream and so on as far as I backed it up. Naturally, back into the shop it went. I got to looking and found a trail down the underside of the oil filter. Just to be sure, I had my wife crank the car, while I watched for the leak. Sure enough, oil started seeping out from around the base of the filter and running down the filter and making the puddle. Ah-HA- got you, you little creep. Says I. So I took the Motorcraft filter off and if you have never noticed, they have some very huge dimples that are there to hold the filter gasket in place as it is installed...but they also distort the gasket, so I thought that was the problem. I got a Fram filter, and their dimples were very small and do not distort the gasket. I put the Fram filter on in textbook manor and there was no more leak! We even took it on a 120-mile cruise a couple of weeks ago and all was well…until about 2 hours ago. I cranked the car up to go top off the gas tank, backed it out of the shop…and dang if there wasn’t a new puddle and a stream on the floor coming out of the shop. Well, right back in it went and I had my wife come out and crank it while I eyeballed the filter (I had already found a new trail of oil running down the filter)..and yep, it is doing the same thing as the stinking Motorcraft filter. Oil is seeping out from around the base of the filter. I need some help figuring this one out, but let me run this by you… The kit has a double end-threaded fitting that screws into the block and holds the adapter plate on. That fitting has a nut right in the middle of it. What if that fittings ‘nut’ is too thick and is letting the metal center of the filter contact that instead of fully tightening on the gasket, Like maybe when I first install it, the new gasket is touching the adapter plate with enough force to prevent a leak, but after a few hot/cold cycles, the gasket tension is so light that oil starts being able to squirm by? Does that make any sense? I’m all ears for anyone who has ever run into this…and I have a deadline if I’m gonna make the show…so I not only need help, I need it very fast. Thank you in advance!