I have a 2003 Cavalier 2.2l 4 door and I have been leaking quite a bit of oil. I hada mechanic look at (I don't know too mcuh about cars) and he could find a leak. He cleaned everything off and told me to pay attention to where it looks like it is coming from.
So I looked at it yesterday and it seems that it is leaking out from around the oil filter housing cap. I just recently got this car and havn't changed the oil myself, but is it common for the filter housing caps to leak as they degrade. It looks like the cap I have is the original one for the car, and I am sure the rubber seal on it is original also. Should I try replacing the cap, or is this a sign of something else wrong (too high of pressure in the oil system)?
some new filters come with new orings...
I'd try that first.
as far as the cap. Never heard of one going bad.
I've never done a oil change on one at work that didn't come with the new o-rings.
- Your not-so-local, untrained, uncertified, backyard mechanic. But my @!#$ runs
The O-Ring I am talking about is the green ring on the cap in this picture. Do those come with the filters and get replaced everytime. Or is that paired with the cap and it sticks around for the life of the cap?
One more question, when you change the oil on a 2003 Cavalier, do you have to remove the air intake body to get the filter into and out of the filter housing?
Oedwards wrote:I've never done a oil change on one at work that didn't come with the new o-rings.
To be more clear, The ones we use at work come with the new o-rings, everything you change it.
- Your not-so-local, untrained, uncertified, backyard mechanic. But my @!#$ runs
The better filters come with a new o-ring, like the purlator plus/gold..etc. The cheapies don't come with a new o-ring. I'd chage that first and then see if it still leaks. When you change the o-ring, look carefully at the sealing surface on both the cap and filter housing. There may be a speck of something that's allowing it to leak or you might see damage like a chunk missing or a nice scrape..etc.
Don
Don Austin wrote:The better filters come with a new o-ring, like the purlator plus/gold..etc. The cheapies don't come with a new o-ring. I'd chage that first and then see if it still leaks. When you change the o-ring, look carefully at the sealing surface on both the cap and filter housing. There may be a speck of something that's allowing it to leak or you might see damage like a chunk missing or a nice scrape..etc.
Don
I've bought filters from at least 5 different manufacturers over the life of my Cav and every one of them came with new O-rings.
OP, I'd change the o-ring first. A while back my o-ring was seated wrong and I had a bad oil leak from it.
Ended up replacing the whole thing before I realized it was just the o-ring. Good luck!
a/c delco doesnt come with a new oring when bought from the parts store, but when you buy it from the dealer (which is the cheapest place to buy our filters from btw) it does.
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id check to see if the old o ring came off if theres two that'll cause it to leak, happens quite often when ppl dont check during the oil change
I always change the O-rings at work when I do them.
SnapOn makes a $32 socket that fits in there to remove the oil filter hosuing very easily.
That with a 12 inch( my preference to use,) extention, and a 3/8 ratchet
Drain plug is 15mm. If your going to change it yourself
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
The Tusch wrote:One more question, when you change the oil on a 2003 Cavalier, do you have to remove the air intake body to get the filter into and out of the filter housing?
Makes it a lot easier, yes
Just use a screwdrive with a socket attachemtn and take off the peice between the throttle body box and the intake box
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gonna revive this instead of starting anew...
Ive been having a nasty leak from this for quite some time now.
Ive changed my own oil since Ive owned the car, and I get Mobil 1 synthetic (high mileage) with a filter every change (i buy it also whenever its on sale for $33.99 5qts/filter). Otherwise its $9.59 or something a qt!
So anyways. If I put the oring on with the cap, it leaks bad. Like enough to see it dripping as im backing up.
If i tighten it too much it starts to compress outside the cap and its even worse. But there is no happy medium, with an oring it simply leaks. So i have to remove the oring, and just tighter the piss out of the cap.
that works 98%, then it will just have a very small leak or none. Cause I also have also have a rear main seal thats very slow but has been haunting me over the course of ownership.
So my question is, are there different styles of orings? maybe a flatter one that can be tightened more than the cylindrical one?
I know for sure i cant use the oring period or it leaks no matter how loose or tight i make it.
I know for sure my oil filter housing has no imperfections that would cause the leak through the cap area, as it'll leak simply wherever the filter oring happens to start bulging out.
I have enough issues with this thing off and on to worry about and a basic oil leak is so silly of a thing to constantly be worrying about. but the weekends when i drive her hard for a few hours on the back roads, i notice my oil pressure gets low enough that i have to actually add oil :/
04 Cav. 2dr. 5spd. My DD. 'Nuff said.
You need a new cap!
Brother had this problem on his 2010 cobalt. Got a a new cap. Fixed the problem.
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lol that was my next step.
Im just going to order new caps for everything...my power steering cap has been leaking a lot, oil filter cap, oil fill cap, but this is expect. Im about to turn 200,000 in 4 miles
Ill order the new caps and report back. I think Rock Auto should have all that stuff cheap or maybe GMpartsdirect
04 Cav. 2dr. 5spd. My DD. 'Nuff said.
No need to order a cap online
Go to any decent parts store and order an ACDelco PF458G. It is the upgraded style cap and filter.
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well it looks i already have that oil filter cap...but i noticed something that makes me regret to say..the bone head of the year award has to go to me.....
the very first time i had my oil changed when i bought it back in 2011, they must have put the oring on wrong..as in on top of the other one, so it was at the very edge/top of the cap.
so Ive been putting the oring on so its up at the top of the filter cap ever since and it never seemed right. thats why the leak was minimal when i removed the oring and just tightened it down.
turns out, there is a flatter black one already on there that i never even saw..it was so flat it looked like it was part of the damn cap.
so i pulled that one off with a small flat head, and put the new thicker oring in its place. its much more snug and tightens perfectly...Ive been putting the oring on based on the one that was on there when i did my first oil change and never questioned it, thought it was a leaky cap.
in my defense, that was the only time ive ever paid someone to do maintenance on my own cars...i feel ashamed!
...does anyone wanna smack me now?
04 Cav. 2dr. 5spd. My DD. 'Nuff said.
