Oil leak from filter out of nowhere

[4thesporty]

Over the weekend I had my car in the garage idling while I was adjusting the electric choke and fast idle. I heard fluid and see oil pouring onto the ground so I immediately run over and turn off the car. It came from the oil filter where it screws onto the block.

I check the filter (WIX) and it was tight enough that I needed to grab my strap wrench to loosen it off. Once removed I noticed that the gasket/seal stayed on the block so I removed it and it seemed like it was oriented upside down from how it is supposed to be. It would not go back on the filter the way it was, but if I flipped it, it was able to fit in the groove on the filter like it is supposed to be.

Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary, so I went to the parts house and picked up a ford FL1A, lubed it and installed it; then topped up the oil (lost about a quart).

It just seems odd to me, as this oil/filter has been on since July or so when I started tinkering with the car again and has been run and driven many times. The only out of the ordinary thing is that the past week it has been very cold here in N Texas, getting down to 10F a couple of times and staying below freezing for a couple days.

I did drive it over the next day for an extended period of time, with one eye on the oil pressure gauge, and had no issue. Has this ever happened before to anyone? I am so glad that it happened idling in my garage rather than driving.

 

[Sheriff41]

That is odd.

 

[The Heff]

Is it a good brand of Oil filter, or could it be a Chinese copy. The Chinese rubber cannot cope with Ethanol petrol and some oils. I have had a Petrol tank sender unit rubber gasket fail on me last winter and I lost about 4 gallons of petrol over a period of 3 months on my carpeted garage floor. I have also had a chrome fuel pump from CJ Ponyparts and this weeped petrol out from the rubber gasket that went all spongy and swelled up.
Might be a good idea to replace the oil filter and seal for a new one just in case. Imagine you were driving and that went then, it could have cost you an engine rebuild.

A word of Warning.
A carpeted garage floor is NOT advisable. I do not recommend it. Yes its nice to lie on when working underneath your car, but when body repairs are required, and body filler or Bondo is needed, the sanded down filler powder will be present in a fine layer covering the floor. If you then go and carry out some welding, the molten metal spatter / sparks can ignite the filler powder on the carpet and catch light. I nearly lost my Mustang and workshop garage when this happened. I had completed some exhaust fabrication on the vehicle and was clearing stuff away, taking about 1/2 hr before I tuned out the lights and locked up. As I went to the house, I just had a hunch that something was wrong and I thought to my self, what if there is something smouldering, a rag or a bit of paper etc. When I unlocked the garage , I left the lights off and peered underneath the car, and to my horror I could see about 10 or so, small blue glowing strips of flame burning in the carpet that were spread out like long fingers, each about 3 foot long in length.
This was the filler powder acting like a catalyst and enabling the carpet to burn.
THAT WAS A NEAR MISS.
I have removed the carpet now for obvious reasons.

 

[4thesporty]

Thanks, I have used only Wix brand filters bought from O’Reilly for the last 20 years or so and never had an issue before this.

That day I bought a Ford FL1A and have been keeping one eye on the pressure gauge while driving with no issues since.

Maybe just a freak incident, but I am so thankful I decided to turn some screws on the carb prior to driving that day, indeed.

 

[Bentworker]

It has to be a freak occurrence, or maybe the regulator on your oil pump stuck.

It is hard to trust any parts these days.