Probable cause of oil leak upper portion of oil filter

Check the oil filter and make sure there is only 1 gasket because these motors are known for the old gasket to stick to the engine.So when you put the new oil filter on it will leak badly.

The oil filter is located on the driver's side upper portion of the engine. It is a cartridge type oil filter.Here's the filter.

So there are obvious drips on the floor then?
Assuming those two which you mentioned are fine, then the other most probable and common oil leaks are from:
Rocker cover gasket(s)Front or rear crankshaft oil seals.

Hi there:


A clicking or tapping noise that gets louder when you rev the engine is probably "tappet" or upper valvetrain noise caused by one of several things: low oil pressure, excessive valve lash, or worn or damaged parts.

First, check the engine dipstick to see if the oil level is low. If low, add oil to bring it back up to the full mark. Is the engine still noisy? Check your oil pressure. A low gauge reading (or oil warning light) would indicate a serious internal engine problem that is preventing normal oil pressure from reaching the upper valvetrain components. The cause might be a worn or damaged oil pump, a clogged oil pump pickup screen or a plugged up oil filter. Using too thick a viscosity of motor oil during cold weather can also slow down the flow of oil to the upper valvetrain, causing noise and wear.






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I really doubt that the oil filter housing could be cracked by having a new filter put on. The spin on filter's sealing "O" Ring was probably pinched or left off or mis-aligned causing it to leak. With the proper "O" Ring, and seated correctly the spin on filter only has to be hand tight. If it is leaking, take it back and complain.

If you have the V-8 Engine, just totally disregard this post.

If you have the 3.8L V-6 engine, your oil consumption problem is most likely to be caused by the PCV Valve if you cannot find any external leaks. These are also known for the upper intake plenum leaking antifreeze. The ports in the manifold that go to the throttle body are made of very thin plastic. The EGR tube, with its hot exhaust gasses, goes right between them. This causes the plastic to heat up and crack, causing an antifreeze leak that goes directly into the intake and gets burned in the combustion chambers.

DORMAN makes a replacement upper plenum kit to fix this problem. The kit includes the upper plenum with thicker coolant passage walls, an intake manifold gasket set, a smaller-diameter EGR orifice, and a new PCV Valve. This kit will probably fix BOTH of your problems.

The DORMAN part number for your car is 615-180 Shop around...prices vary considerably.

When it is this bad you have to park it and look underneath the motor. It should show where it is leaking from all of the oil trail. A part called an oil pressure sender may be leaking. It is very simple to replace and inexpensive. It also will not hurt to replace your oil filter and hand tighten it. Make sure you have a clean surface when the old filter is removed.

By the time you remove your oil filter, you should have a good visual check of the oilpan and oilplug. The oilplug can be stripped if someone crossthreaded or overtightened the nut. There are oversized oilplugs and repair adapters available to work around the problem.

In the event you have a hole in the oilpan, with a good cleaning, a product called JB weld can permanently patch a hole. Your motor has 2 main openings where the crankshaft is attached. Each end has a seal and you have major disassembly to replace inexpensive seals. The upper portion of the engine has valve covers and they are easily replaced.

Do 1 thing at a time and go by the evidence. With luck this may be a simple thing to fix. I hope my solution has been helpful to you.

The loss of coolant, overheating and running bad could add up to coolant leaking into the engine. The Dexcool antifreeze used in the GM vehicles has caused gasket failures in the upper air plenum and the lower intake manifold. This could allow the antifreeze to be pulled into the combustion chamber and the oil. If there is no visible external leak, then this is probably what's happening. Sometimes the gasket leak will show up as a very small and difficult to detect puddle somewhere around the gasket/engine mating surfaces. Also look for signs of coolant in the oil. If it has gotten into the combustion chamber, then it has probably ruined the O2 sensors and catalytic converter. The only solution is to pull the upper and lower intakes and replace the gaskets. Change the oil and filter. DO NOT put Dexcool back in the radiator. Use a green antifreeze that is labeled compatible with aluminum engine parts and radiators. Replace the O2 sensor. The catalytic converter might have survived. Get it running first, then worry about the converter. Good luck to you, and try to have a Merry Christmas.

Probably the oil cooler seal. This large o-ring is located between the oil cooler and the block adapter. After removing the oil filter, you will see a single nut on the threaded portion of the pipe that the filter screws onto. Removing this nut will allow you to remove the oil cooler. You may want to disconnect the coolant lines from the oil cooler (makes the job a little easier), but be sure to plug the lines as you remove them so you don't loose coolant. The o-ring will be on the top side of the oil cooler. A new o-ring will cost you $3 to $9, depending on where you get it. For a VW repair . . . this one is cheap and pretty easy to do. The parts diagram below may help. The seal is part #19.

Check your oil sending unit sit next to oil filter.