my truck has a slight oil leak coming form somewhere near the oil filter. my mechanic wants to charge me 3 hours to change out the " oil filter adapter" i guess its the piece that the oil filter screws onto which has some cheap gasket and then bolts to the engine. has anyone heard of this before and if so is 3 hours labor too much and is it easy to try and atempt myself w/o having any special tools and little motor skills.

thanks for the help

 

I have seen several 04' and up 5.4 3V's with this problem. I have not seen many posts here but I know it is quite common. 3 hours is not that bad if you are not equipped to do it yourself.

 

You did not post and info on the truck but that is not a bad price if it is the same issue as a 97 F150 with a 4.6. It cost me 400. Oil and engine collent passes threw it and it is a common issue from what I was told.

 

The filter has the gasket on it...

 

Common problem, not hard. Have to drain the coolant also, because the adapter incorporates the lower radiator hose. There are four, maybe five, ten mm bolts that hold the adapter to the engine block. Remove the filter, and drain coolant, replace gasket. 3 hours is about right. I charge 2.5.

 

I see that this an old thread but this is what happens when you use the search function. What the search function did not turn up was a tech article with pictures. Since you have done this before BigBronc, do I have to do anything special to get to it? From what little I could see, I was thinking I was going to have to lift the engine. I'm guessing from what you said you don't, any tips you can give me? When I get ready to do this I'm going to go ahead and document it for posterity and other amateur mechanics like me.

 

unfortunately Big Bronc hasn't been posting lately. Thats to bad because he's a knowledgeable Ford Tech.. I cant tell you from the memory I have of installing it on the engine swap I did the engine does NOT have to be lifted. The PS pump does need to come off and be out of the way and thats kind of a PITA. Seems to me the "gasket" is actually 3 o-rings.. My hoses sweat a little oil. always have but its never been so bad I've ever seen them drip any oil. once a year or so I wipe them down good..

 

Thanks for the reply Jethat, I'm not looking forward to it, but if I don't have to lift the engine, then I can just pop off the tire, which will make it easier to get to it. I want want want want your Mach I. It's the ONLY car from the 70's I like. Looking at the gasket, it does seem to be nothing more than three o-rings on some gasket material.

 

looking back I wasnt clear... You do not have to lift the engine to get it off. You DO have to remove the PS pump.

 

I just found the same problem on my '03 SCREW. Dealership wants 6 hours and $615 to fix a leak at the oil filter adapter. I would love to find someone to quote me 3 hours.

 

I think the power steering pump has to come off but still 6 hours is allot of time for that..

 

I just had my oil adapter change 2 days ago and it cost me 372 with the oil change.... In realty it only takes 3 hrs not 6...

 

My adaptor is leaking and my mechanic, tony, looked up the shop rate at 2 1/2 hours. The ford mechanic mentioned removing the inner wheel well (screws and clips) to get good access from the drivers side wheel well. I think doing it from the top might be the harder way to access this (power steering pump in the way). I might just hang out and see how he gets it done. I am getting it done on friday and will let you all know how it goes. I ordered a felpro gasket from Oreilly for $12.00.

 

My mechanic got the adapter gasket in today. He said the shop time was really 4 instead of 2 1/2 hours (probably the 4x4? front diff in the way?). He R&R the gasket and also installed the 2 rear bilsteins I brought with me in 4 hours time, so I got the 4 hour rate for the two projects, what a great guy. http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...s/thumbsup.gif

He accessed the gasket from both under vehicle and from drivers side wheel well, he said no problem, just tight working. I had both oil and coolant leaking across the OEM gasket surface he gave me back. He commented on poor design from ford engineering. http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...milies/eek.gif. He said the shocks were easy. Don't understand we folks here whine about it, http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...ilies/wink.gif

Just kidding, now I can go test drive it this weekend in the desert tomorrow, oh boy, some good dog time http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...ies/banana.gif

Not sure if it would show up, I could try and get a close up pic of the gasket failure and try to post it. I noticed there is not much info on the repair and failure of the adapter. How are the other folks doing with getting their trucks fixed?

Almost time for http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...lies/beers.gif and http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...ilies/lurk.gif

 

im in no way a mechanic but i also had this problem and i replaced my oil filter housing gasket in my driveway it took me some time bout 4 hrs and i wasnt hard at it either. and thankfully for this reason only! i was happy i didnt have a 4x4 .since i had just done an oil change 2 days before i didnt drain the oil either cause it was up on ramps and kept 90% in the pan i didnt haft to remove the power steering pump which made this a much easier repair . i did drain/ flush the radiator and i did remove the air filter and its housing to remove the hose from the oil filter housing from above it really wasnt bad doing it myself so in all it cost me $31 16 for radiator fluid 12 for the gasket and 3 for the new hose clamp and no more oil leak so if i can do it anybody can and it sure saved me alot of money