Finally got my 350 swapped over into my 3rd Gen Trans Am and I am having an issue. For some reason when I start the car it sprays oil from the oil filter housing. Originally this motor came with an oil cooler but I puled it off. When I took the cooler off I saw this:


The bolts however were sticking down too far so I went to the hardware store and picked up some that look like the picture. I bolted it all up and screwed the filter on. It seems like the filter is making contact with the block. Is there some reason I would be leaking oil so badly?

Thanks

 

That's not really quite good enough... IS it contacting the block, or NOT?

Is the filter's O-ring still in it? Is it the right filter?

Not much else can go wrong with that part of things.

 

The 350 I dropped into my '87 also had an oil cooler setup and I also had to switch this part over. I haven't had any issue with my filter spraying oil, but I have only primed the engine, and have not had it running yet.

 

Leaking oil filter causes:

1. OVER-TIGTENING the filter.

2. Old filter gasket (o-ring) still in place.

3. Installing the wrong oil filter.

4. Missing oil filter gasket (o-ring).

5. OVER-TIGTENING the filter.

 

Check for a cracked adapter fitting (the part pictured).
When a filter is overtightened, that part can crack, and the filter O-ring cannot seal against its mating surface.

 

I had one where the threads were stripped and the filter adapter wasn't staying tight to the block under pressure. It would move just enough to break the seal at the filter O-ring. Took me a LONG time to diagnose that one (on my back in the parking lot of a hospital 30 miles from home).