I just got home from work today and spotted an oil stain on the concrete. Looked under the Jeep and saw an oil leak at the bottom of the filter.

The filter was loose!! I was able to turn the filter a good half turn......... Question?? Has this happened to others or should I chalk it up to the tech not putting the filter on tight enough?

I am using a NAPA filter made by Wix. The Jeep is new (little over a month old) with 4400 miles on it. I changed the oil at 3100 and had to switch out the filter at 3500 due to start up knock. First filter was a Valvoline..... The rubber gasket was still on the old Valvoline oil filter so I know it is not a two gasket issue.

Thanks for your responses in advance.

 

Are you using an oil filter wrench to tighten your oil filter? Or are you doing it by hand?

I always start the filter off by hand, and turn it until it's snug, and then I switch over to my oil filter wrench and snug it down the rest of the way. I've never experienced this type of problem before.

EDIT:

Oh... I just saw the comment about the tech... you paid someone to change your oil.... my bad.

I would take your Jeep back to them (after tighten the filter, of course) and let them have a what for. I would then proceed to never do business with them again.

 

I bet the tech just didn’t tighten it enough.

I always tighten my by hand as far as it will go and have never had a leak in any of my vehicles.

 

When you say tech. is it a Chrysler dealer or a quick oil change type place. I think I would avoid a quick oil change place. If it's a Chrysler tech. I would chalk it up. Any time I changed a filter I hand tightened and then an additional 1/4 turn and never had a problem installing or removing filters for over 35 years. If for some reason I can't do it myself I pay a little extra and go to the dealer. Try getting a quick oil change place to take care of a situation; good luck. It's all about quick in and quick out. Plus, you also have to worry about your drain plug being stripped by an inexperienced individual.

 

Thanks for the replies. I am chalking it up to a bad tech. I just wanted to make sure that this was not an issue with the JK in the past. I usually change my own oil, but was not able to this time. Will have a talk with the tech that did the work. Good kid, he just did not check his work. There may be more to this happening as well. I felt like that they might have over filled the oil in the first place, so when they dropped the Vavoline filter and replaced it with the NAPA we checked the oil level to see if the amount the came out with the swap was enough to get it to the correct level. That said I think he may have just snugged it up so that if it was still a little over filled in my opinon he could just take the filter off again instead of the drain plug. Thanks again........... one of the best forums that I have ever been on.

 

I know someone who had their motor replaced for “free” because a failure due to the technician. Here are some of the issues he ran into as the replaced his engine: Will you just get a short block? What kind of replacement engine will you get - his was from a junk yard I bet (they didn’t tell him). How well was the “new” engine maintained - who knows. How about all of the electronics on the “new” engine - good luck on their condition. Was it the exact same year engine, or one that’s close? What about the installation, same as stock? Maybe if you’re lucky you can convince them to buy you a certified rebuilt engine from Chrysler, and have someone that knows what they’re doing do the install. In any case it’s a major hassle and takes time.

In the end he would have rather found the issue and corrected it rather than getting a “free” engine from the shop - especially since his original engine was good.

 

I really do not want to get into that issue either. I would rather just take good care of the engine I have. It pays to look around your vehicle and pop the hood from time to time to check on things.

 

I once paid for an oil change and they didn't tighten the drain plug. I was on the highway and noticed a black hot trail behind me. It completely drained as I was driving. Dumbasses. Now I do my own oil.