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Do the two oil filter adapter bolts require thread sealant to keep them from leaking? Once again I have an oil leak and it is the forward oil filter adapter bolt....back bolt appears to not be leaking, just the front one.
I put new gaskets on when I did the front cover a few months back...and yes I cleaned and scraped and cleaned and scraped the old gaskets off and put new gaskets on....but I only put thread locker on the threads.
Both bolts are nice and tight, so that is not the cause of the leak.
Last edited by LannyL81; Jun 26, 2013 at 09:37 AM.
Do the two oil filter adapter bolts require thread sealant to keep them from leaking? Once again I have an oil leak and it is the forward oil filter adapter bolt....back one is good (?).
I put new gaskets on when I did the front cover a few months back...and yes I cleaned and scraped and cleaned and scraped the old gaskets off and put new gaskets on....but I only put thread locker on the threads.
Both bolts are nice and tight, so that is not the cause of the leak.
You mention oil filter adapter and a "leaking" bolt. The oil filter adapter has both a paper gasket and an o-ring seal to the engine block if we're talking about your C4. It doesn't seem you're talking about the same thing here. You have to remove the filter to gain access to the adapter bolts. If you removed the adapter for any reason it would be customary to replace both the gasket and the seal. They're serviced as a single part number for convenience. Your ? mark adds a bit to the confusion maybe. Look at 406 - 408 in this image:
Sorry for the confusion, although I do not see the confusion.
Yes on my '96 LT4. There are two bolts that hold the oil filter adapter on...#410 + #409 in the above diagram. Yes there are two gaskets, O ring and a paper, both were replaced as stated.
Access to the front oil filter adapter bolts is possible with the oil filter in place, although not the best. I was able to get a hex bit into the bolts to see if they were loose...which they were not.
And yes if I remove the adapter, I will have to replace the gaskets.
But the oil leak is coming from around the bolt, not the edge of the adapter...so the O ring is doing its job.
The 95 did the same thing. I replaced the gaskets with the Rockauto gaskets. I even put silicone on the threads and around the holes on the gaskets. Those kept things sealed for about a month and it started leaking again.
Frustrated because I did everything right, I went into shade tree mechanic mode. I had some gasket material that is about 1/16" thick and built my own gasket. I have a set of punches for the holes so I didn't have to use a blade to cut the holes. I made the holes one size smaller than the bolt itself. I had to screw the bolts THRU the holes so it is snug. I then used a little silicone around the bolts on both sides of the gasket. This is the gasket between the block and the adapter, not the "O" ring. Since the gasket material was thicker than the "stock" gasket I changed the torque from 18 pounds up to 25 on the two bolts. I figured the extra torque would help squash the gasket material around the bolts.
I had a problem with the adapter in my 95 leaking at the bolts. I figured out the bolts were a little too long with the new gasket. I guess the new gasket was not as thick. I added a washer to each bolt and no leaks.
Lanny, gsdave could be onto something. My gasket that came from Rockauto was very thin. I thought it might be steel with a coating. But once the oil got to it it softened up. So perhaps the bolts are bottoming out. Adding a washer is a quick and easy test.
Autocrossed your 95 over the weekend and did very well. You will have to give this a try with your 96. Perhaps there is a quick learning curve with siblings.
If it were the bolts being too long, would not the oil leak from the sides of the oil filter adapter??
I will try adding a thick washer to the bolts at my next oil change....which is due in 1000 miles....and at my present rate it would be Dec!
Think I will just take the oil filter off and take one bolt out at a time and add a thicker washer.
Very good to hear the ole '95 did good at the autocross. I was just thinking about the ole '95 when I was under my '96 yesterday.....sure miss that car!
I don't recall the OE/GM package being what I'd call "paper thin". It might be wise maybe to just check out the OE/GM package at a dealer. I also believe there was a couple different part numbers used for similar appearing gaskets.