P38a oil filter leaking

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BAZZ

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Some time ago I posted on here about the trials and endeavours of stopping the above. I have now had 2x services and there's NO oil leaking from the oil filter housing. The cure was to go back to basics, it's a BMW engine, so we used BMW parts. Upto now it's worked ok ( touching back of head as no wood around ). I just can't believe the luck, this as been a thorn in mine and my garages side for absolutely ages, i'am glad it seems to be over. So if you have the same issue then do try the BMW parts, cost wise there's not a great deal in it. Bazz.:D:amen: p.s. Forgot to say it's a diesel. Lol
 
A constant weep eventually makes a right mess, it's satisfying to fix something and know it's better. I found that it was the O ring on the body. The leaker I removed was fat at one side and thin (undersize) at the other. It was visually obvious without measuring. I've now got some spare O rings. This is wat I put on a previous thread;

I tempted fate too much saying my oil filter cap didn't leak. After the last oil and filter change it started to weep. I lifted the cap and fitted a new filter and seals. I found, as said further up the thread, that the O ring was distorted, there was also a couple of scratches in the groove where I or my predecesors had been clumsey getting the old O ring out with a sharp screwdriver. One side of the O ring was thicker and the opposite side visibly thinner. As threatened I measured everything up. The filter housing has a 100mm bore, the groove in the cap seems to be 92mm (verniers wouldn't quite go over the diameter) and the new O ring was 92mm ID and 4mm cord diameter. The old O ring was down to 3.5mm on the thin side and squashed to an oval shape on the thick side. The new O ring has done the trick. For information the smaller O rings on the stalk are 6mm ID by 2mm chord diameter and 10mm ID by 2mm chord diameter.

I've never looked closely at the replacement O rings before fitting, I will now. I'm also getting some spare ones, they're available for pennies on the Bay of E.

So the moral is; the O rings in the filter boxes may not be fantastic, look closely before fitting and keep your old one till you know the new one is leak tight. They don't age very quickly and could be used again if you get a poor one.

This is all related to the 99MY later type, I don't know if the earlier filter had the same seals.

Welcome to the short term world of no oil leaks, it won't last!
 
It is a bit of a given tho that we just get a new filter and O ring and just use them I guess we take it for granted they will be ok.
 
Thanks everybody for the response, have been present whilst all this controversy was unfolding I can say with all honesty that all the filters prior to the BMW items were either Land Rover or branded Britpart ones. The use of the BMW items as worked for me. Part numbers for the later type of filter from BMW are the Cap :-
B11.42.2.246.171 and the filter is B11.42.2.246.131.
At a cost of 49:64 cw the vat. Really glad this as been of use to some of us on this forum, Bazz.
 
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