Aw fudge. Looks like this problem won't go quietly into the night. If you look back on post #19, Ardwrkntrk mentions his '87 has a flat rubber gasket like an oil filter. So maybe the good folks at Ford made a change between '82 and '83 to a different gasket. Wouldn't be the first time - if you look back even further, the adapter from the "70's had a flat metal gasket. Maybe you can use a gasket from an oil filter?

 

I have a 1987 Ford Econoline chassis on a Class C motorhome. The engine is a 460. The oil adapter leaked no matter what O ring I used along with a fiber washer. So I took it off and purchased an insert from Ford. Part #FIAZ-6890-B. I screwed this into the block then screwed on an oil filter (PH8A). I also tried a PH16 and a PH43. All of them leak !! The gasket on the oil filter contacts the oil filter mounting base on the block, but they all still leak ! I thought this to be a great solution by eliminating the adapter and just screwing the filter up to the block but I was wrong. Can anybody out there help me out. I have spent hours and hours trying to get this oil leak stopped and I am running out of time as I need to use the motor home. If possible please respond to my email: explorer1803@gmail.com

 

Perhaps a remote oil filter mount kit might work? Sounds like a last resort, but if it gets you on the road.......is your filter seal area flat? Does it have a burr or something that tears the seal on the filter?

 

Maybe the boss in the block isn't machined deep enough?
Are the threads bottoming out before there is enough pressure on the gasket?

 

Thank you but the seal area is flat and free of any burrs. This is what confuses me. There is no reason why the filter should be leaking. It contacts the base just fine, no problem.

 

Thank you. Good idea. How do I tell. The insert came from
Ford and was the specified part #. It screwed down with no problem. When I screw the new filters on, they appear to contact the base of the block just fine. I have tightened the filters to proper specs and have also snugged them up a bit more. Still I have the leak.
If by chance the oil pan gasket is leaking right next to the oil fiter, what can I do about this without lifting the engine and replacing the pan gasket.
Thank you.

 

If the gasket has enough pressure against the sealing face of the block there's no reason it shouldn't be oil tight.

I'm going to make a suggestion...
Wipe the area down and spray it off with brake cleaner.
It should be absolutely dry.
Then take a can of spray foot powder (like Desenex) and apply a light film so the area is white.
Have someone else start the engine while you watch to see where the leak is coming from.

It should show up right away.

 

I'm not trying to say the insert is the wrong part.
If the insert cannot be screwed in deep enough (relative to the sealing surface of the block) I was thinking that the filter threads may be bottoming on the adapter before enough pressure is applied to the gasket.
With a new filter try putting layout dye or black permanent marker all around the threaded hole and then tighten it up as you have been.
Remove it (without starting the engine) and see if the mark has been rubbed off the metal.
Then you would know that the canister is bottoming out.

 

Thank you! I will try it. I watched it for several hours today but couldn't get it to leak unless I drove the vehicle down the road. When it idles, it won't leak! But just as soon as I drive it down the road a few miles, pull over and look underneath, it's leaking? Must be the extra pressure from the oil pump?
Thank you for any and all suggestions.

 

If it only shows after driving have you considered it may be blowing back there from the front main seal or somewhere else like the timing case?

The powder trick will make it appear but it also will quickly get saturated, obscuring the indication.

Please let us know what you find.
It may help someone else.

 

The front main seal area and timing case is all very dry. No oil coming from the valve cover gaskets either. The black mark from the permanent marker was basically rubbed off the metal so this tells me the filter must be contacting the block surface. I tried the Desenex powder but nothing happend with the engine idling. After driving, the powder in fact did get saturated and I could not tell again where the leak was coming from.
Not sure what to do from here?

 

The black mark was rubbed off the block, or the mounting boss in the block?

The only thing that should contact the block is the rubber gasket on the filter.

 

I put some "White Out" on the filter gasket in several places and tightened it down. I then removed the filter. The white out was smeared on the filter gasket so I think the gasket is contacting the block. Today I am using a another Motorcraft FL-1A which is suppose to be the OEM filter per Ford. I have tightened all of the oil pan bolts that are very close to the base of the filter. I'll do another test drive and see what happens.

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I gathered from Ardwrkn's comment about the bottoming out of the bolt holding the adapter in rather than the filter itself bottoming out. The hollow bolt used to hold the adapter in place might be running into the end of the threads before it properly seats the o-ring against the block. I torqued the bolt on my 460 to 52 ft-lbs, but if the threads were bottomed out, it wouldn't matter how hard I cranked; the o-ring needs some compression to work.

I'm too lazy to read the old posts - do you have a new 2.75" o-ring on the adapter?

 

For the adapter, the oil ring appears to fit just fine and has compression against the block. The adapter then began to leak at the bolt head. I put a fiber washer underneath the bolt head and it still leaked and had a tendancy to work loose even after being torqued to 52 lbs. So, I have removed the adapter and installed an OEM insert from Ford, part #FIAZ-6890-B so that I can screw the filter on. I tried a PH16, PH43, and PH8A oil filters and they all leak where the gasket meets the block. I have made sure that the filter gasket is contacting the flat block surface where it is suppose to. Today, I am trying a OEM Ford Motorcraft filter FL-1A. I will respond back as soon as I know the results.
Thank you.