Is that oil on the floorboard ?!!

[DadofThree]

I forgot to share with you about an experience I had last month.

On the way back home to Georgia after meeting some friends in Florida, I was cruising North along Hwy 301 heading to I-10 when I saw it!

"What the heck is that on the floor? Is that OIL??!!



I checked my Oil Pressure gauge, and it showed that I still had pressure. Knowing that I had to be close to the interstate, I decided not to stop the car until I got to I-10 where I would find a truck stop. The next 5 minutes or so I was racking my brain trying to figure out where that much oil could have come from! What's going on under that Hood??!!
Rear Seal? The entire seal would have had to come out. Not Likely.
Dip Stick Tube? Did i lose the dip stick? That would be a source of a lot of oil.
Valve Cover? Surely I would have smelled oil before seeing this on the floor.

I was stumped, but I still had oil pressure so I pressed on.

I pulled into the Pilot station up to a gas pump and slowly opened the hood. The engine bay looks clean, the dip stick is in its tube, and there isn't any oil on the underside of the hood.
I get on my hands and knees to look under the car and see drips of oil the ENTIRE length on the DS of the 4" Tube.
I try to trace the source back to towards the motor, and I find that the Oil Filter is the culprit! Is it loose?! Reaching down to the oil filter, I do my best to tighten it. Back in June, I removed the remote oil filter system and am now using the 90* filter adapter to mount my oil filter.



I went inside to purchase 3 quarts of oil, and head back to the car. The dipstick is dry so I put a quart in the motor. It just barely shows on the dipstick, so I put in another.

Again, I try to tighten the filter, But it's Tight! How am I losing oil, if the oil filter is tight? While reaching down to the filter and using my flashlight, I noticed that the oil filter was in contact with the motor mount! The oil filter has been rubbing against the motor mount, for who knows how long. The motor mount has scored a cut into the side of my oil filter, and I was losing a lot of it while driving.



I found the nearest auto parts store (10 miles away), and drove over there to purchase another filter. When I arrived at the Advanced Auto, I pulled one side of my car up onto the top of the curb to act as my jack. Went inside and purchased shop towels, an oil catch container and an oil filter.



Some how, over thousands of miles the 90* adapter had slowly rotated the oil filter into this troublesome position unless I installed it that way back in May. If it hadn't been for that oil on my floor, I would have never known. If I would have had carpet in the cabin, I wouldn't have known until too late. If I would have sealed up the cabin aluminum perfectly, I wouldn't have known until too late. I was VERY fortunate to have that symptom show up in plain view.

I slid under the car and was able to remove the filter. I took my 3/4" wrench (glad I brought my tools) and loosened the 90* adapter so that I could rotate it away from the motor mount. BTW, the adapter was tight when trying to loosen the mounting bolt. I re-positioned the 90* adapter and re-tightened. Threaded on the new oil filter and she was back together. After adding new oil and disposing of the old oil in the catch can of the auto parts store, I was on the road.

Crazy!! Those of you that have the 90* adapter, check to be sure that your oil filter isn't in contact with the motor mount. I now have a nice embedded oil mist on my back lid and rear of the car. Gives it that authentic look, right?