Oil leak bottom of oil filter cover

I just did the initial 600 mile oil change on my WRX. I tightened the drain plug and snugged up the oil filter cover bolts. When I went to check for leaks I noticed oil seeping through the seam on the bottom of the oil filter cover. I ended up shutting the bike off and pulling the cover to double check the o-ring. The o-ring looked nice and smooth. I cleaned the oil filter compartment good and tried it again. Still seeping oil. Pulled the cover cleaned it out and then put a little coating of oil on the o-ring. It's still seeping.

Anyone have any suggestions? I was going to head to the Yamaha dealer tomorrow to pick up another o-ring, but I'm afraid it will continue to leak since the original o-ring looks perfect. Do the oil filter cover bolts need to be tightened in a specific order?

Just watch the torque: click here

Those oil cover bolts are weak, soft, and fragile.

I finger tighten. The use a wrench lightly. Then start. Then if there's any leaking start to tighten all three bolts about an 1/8th turn each and repeat procedure until no more leaking.

Are you confident you are getting the cover bolts tight enough?

Again...please don't over-torque those fragile bolts. Been there. Done that.

Thanks for the info. I am pretty confident they are tight enough. I used a 1/4 rachet and snugged them up pretty good. I'm afraid if I try and tighten them more they will snap.

Did you check the cover for any hairline cracks? Sometimes it can happen and just that slight crack will lend itself to an annoying leak.

I hear ya. You could try getting replacement bolts that are made of a more hearty metal.

Replacing the O-ring sounds like the best plan forward at the moment.

I didn't see anything abnormal with the oil filter cover. Everything seemed to be smooth. I am going to pull it off and check it again on Sunday. I think I am going to order the Zeta cover and pick up a new o-ring and go from there.

Is there a difference in the Zeta cover that might fix this issue?

Not that I can tell. It just looks cooler

I just ordered it from Wheeling along with some other stuff. We'll see how it goes.

I wonder how difficult it might be to find an o-ring with same ID and OD, but a slightly larger diameter cross-section?

Seems that would solve everything. I might have to look into this.

I have a new o-ring waiting for my next change.

I have 2 changes on mine now. Mine has seeped both times, but then it stops.

Don't forget that there's another, smaller o-ring up high that seals an oil passage.

I don't see why a new cover is needed unless you broke it. :)

Is it dripping out and leaving drops on the floor, or just having some oil come to the bottom of the cover and stay there?
The o-ring is a few milimeters inboard of the cover's outer edge and can't seal any traces of oil outboard of it, so unless you spotlessly cleaned all traces of oil from both the cover and engine crankcase, that's gonna' happen for a short period of time.

YZEtc,

It's not dripping it is just leaving some oil on the bottom of the cover. After I wipe it, you start to see more coming through. I will get a picture of it tomorrow.

I understand what you are saying about the traces of oil outboard the o-ring. There could possibly be some oil there that was not fully cleaned. When I get home tomorrow I'm going to run it for awhile and see if it goes away.

The smaller upper o-ring looked perfect as well. I am hoping its just the little extra oil that is bleeding through. We'll see tomorrow.

Thanks for all the help!

It seems to have stopped leaking now. I probably didn't give it enough time to drip the excess oil that was stuck on the other side of the o-ring. This morning I started it and let it warm up for a few mins. You can see the oil seeping through, so I wiped and continued to let it idle while I took a wrench and tightened up the bolts a little more. Rev'd it a few times and still seeping. Wiped it again and it seems to have stopped. I went for a ride down the block and it didn't seep. I'm going to go for a longer ride later and will periodically check it. Hopefully that's all it was.

I have just had the exact same thing happen to me, and after 3 times of thaking it back apart and checking and reassembling, i over tightened and broke a bolt. O-rings and metal all looked fine, but i kept leaking. Im starting to think I over filled the oil....added the exact amount, but maybe there was still some left inside, and that it was just too much oil. im ordering replacemen bolts and O-rings and hopefully the 4th times the charm.

Mikechicago wrote:

I have just had the exact same thing happen to me, and after 3 times of thaking it back apart and checking and reassembling, i over tightened and broke a bolt. O-rings and metal all looked fine, but i kept leaking. Im starting to think I over filled the oil....added the exact amount, but maybe there was still some left inside, and that it was just too much oil. im ordering replacemen bolts and O-rings and hopefully the 4th times the charm.

How was the oil level after you added the oil? (after test start, warm up, settle a few minutes...)

I add oil incrementally until it's at the top level line in the oil sight window, then start the bike and run it a minute or so.
Then I check it again after a few minutes, and I usually have to add a little to bring it up to the top line.

Does anyone know the part# for the small o-ring? I must have lost it during the oil change.

blewwrx wrote:

I just did the initial 600 mile oil change on my WRX. I tightened the drain plug and snugged up the oil filter cover bolts. When I went to check for leaks I noticed oil seeping through the seam on the bottom of the oil filter cover. I ended up shutting the bike off and pulling the cover to double check the o-ring. The o-ring looked nice and smooth. I cleaned the oil filter compartment good and tried it again. Still seeping oil. Pulled the cover cleaned it out and then put a little coating of oil on the o-ring. It's still seeping.

Anyone have any suggestions? I was going to head to the Yamaha dealer tomorrow to pick up another o-ring, but I'm afraid it will continue to leak since the original o-ring looks perfect. Do the oil filter cover bolts need to be tightened in a specific order?

I thought I was the only one experiencing this problem. Mine's happening on my 4000 mile oil change. I understand your concern was in 2010, but I've done internet searches, taken my cover off many times, replaced the o rings and filter, and brought it to the dealership - this is the only post I can find that matches my problem directly. Did you ever install the zeta cover? Did you confirm it was just residual oil around the seal?

WRXR wrote:

Does anyone know the part# for the small o-ring? I must have lost it during the oil change.

93210-47675-00 Larger o-ring
93210-07135-00 Smaller o-ring

Every time I've changed my oil there's always what looks like a very slow "leak" of oil that appears along the bottom edge of the filter cover.

I wipe it away. Ride it. Check. Wipe it away. Ride it. Check...nothing.

I think it takes a small amount of time for the o-rings to seat properly.

If you are actually dripping oil you might have a problem.

If it's just a small trace of oil that appears, but doesn't really drip....you are probably good to go.
Don't keep pulling cover and checking. Just wipe away oil and take for short ride. Check again. Repeat a few times.
Mine had never leaked enough to drip off bike and onto floor.

I think what YZEtc described is perfect for what most of us find.

motokid wrote:

Every time I've changed my oil there's always what looks like a very slow "leak" of oil that appears along the bottom edge of the filter cover.

I wipe it away. Ride it. Check. Wipe it away. Ride it. Check...nothing.

I think it takes a small amount of time for the o-rings to seat properly.

If you are actually dripping oil you might have a problem.

If it's just a small trace of oil that appears, but doesn't really drip....you are probably good to go.
Don't keep pulling cover and checking. Just wipe away oil and take for short ride. Check again. Repeat a few times.
Mine had never leaked enough to drip off bike and onto floor.

I think what YZEtc described is perfect for what most of us find.

Awesome. Thanks for the quick reply. I haven't ridden in over a week because of this "leak," and it's obviously been troubling me. I'll take your advise and wipe it off after each of my next couple of short rides.

I'd say as long as you're not getting actual drips on the garage floor if the bike has been sitting for a while, you're good to go for at least a few short runs to see if the "leaks" disappear shortly.


Please report back what you find. Might help the next guy who comes along.

Hey all, I think there should be a sticky on this topic .. Im glad I had read this (and I think another related post) because after my recent oil changed I noticed a little bit of oil leaking out and did exactly what everyones first thought would be is to tighten up the bolts a little .. I did know they are fragile and to be careful but it was still my first thought .. then I decided to replace the o-ring .. and then after it still leaked I remembered reading some comments on this and decided to give it time and it stopped. My next oil change I will make sure all oil is cleaned off the cover and then maybe the only oil that would seep is if the o-ring does not seat right away.