I will be replacing the gasket along with the oil cooler hoses over the long weekend. Does the gasket between the oil filter housing and the block need some kind of sealant on it or do you just place it on the flange dry?

__________________
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel - 4x4, auto, 3.54 gears, long bed
-------------------------------------
'92 300D 2.5 Turbodiesel - sold
'83 300D Turbodiesel - 4 speed manual/2.88 diff - sold
'87 300D Turbodiesel - sold
'82 300D Turbodiesel - sold

Good luck. It sounds a hard job to me. Let me know how you are doing.

Happy holiday.

David

I've ben putting them on for years dry with no problems,for sure do not use any kind of silicone sealer. Quick answer.

be459 and Shooter, thanks for your responses. I am happy to report that I completed the job. It took me close to 12 hours over two days. It took a while for all that oil to drain. Snaking the new cooler hoses through the engine compartment was a bit of a challenge. I put the gasket on dry and there are no apparent leaks between the housing and the block.

Just an FYI in case any fellow M-shop members run into this problem: Some of you might remember one of my posts about a month ago asking if the oil filter housing from an '83 240D would work in my car. The answer from a senior tech was "no" because the housing does not have a provision for the turbo oil line. However, because one of the studs at the top of my filter housing was stripped, I decided to replace my housing with the one from the 240D and switch the plates at the bottom so that I could get oil to the turbo. Both housings do have the same part number, but the plates at the bottom are different. The plate from my car is 617 184 03 08 while the one from the 240D is 615 184 02 08 (or something like that). The plates are interchangeable and they bolt on without modification. When I drove on my 55 mile highway commute to work at 70 mph this morning, my boost gauge was constantly showing pressure so I know the turbo had to be getting oil. Else, it would have locked up and the gauge should show no pressure. Therefore, I know the oil filter housings are interchangeable, just not the plates between turbo and non turbo engines.

Unfortunately, when I switched the plates, I did not have a new gasket to put on and there is still a bit of oil leaking from the bottom of the housing. The plate is accessible without having to take the housing out, so I am not too worried. Once I get the new gasket in, the leaks should stop on the left side of the engine. Thanks again for the responses.

__________________
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel - 4x4, auto, 3.54 gears, long bed
-------------------------------------
'92 300D 2.5 Turbodiesel - sold
'83 300D Turbodiesel - 4 speed manual/2.88 diff - sold
'87 300D Turbodiesel - sold
'82 300D Turbodiesel - sold

Hmmm. 12 hours? I've been getting ready to do the exact same job on my 84 300SD, as the oil cooler lines are weeping a bit of oil. I also plan on replacing the oil filter housing gasket.

Did the threads on your oil cooler strip when you removed the lines? I hear that is a typical problem. I don't want to replace the oil cooler (they ain't cheap) and don't want to mess with brazing on new threaded fittings.

How was the access on the hex bolts that are used to mount the filter housing gasket. I have heard that it may be necessary to cut down a hex key to get it to fit in there. Did you encounter this?

Chris Blanchard
1984 300SD 137k

The 12 hours also included beer and food breaks. Actual time was probably close to 8 hours. I'm the slow methodical type, never in a hurry. My oil cooler lines did not strip. I could not find a wrench that was thin enough to provide a back up, so I wedged the handle of a set of channel locks in between the oil cooler and the body of the car. That way, the cooler would not move to the left while I loosened the connection. Lucky for me, nothing happened. Access to the hex bolts was tight because of the steering box. Like you said, I did have to cut a 6mm allen key down so that I had room. The long center bolt is the toughest of the 5 bolts. I stripped the center bolt, but was able to get it loosened with a small pipe wrench. The other 4 can be accessed relatively easy. I also used a U-joint extension on my ratchet wrench to loosen the 2 top bolts. You'll need a cheater pipe too, those bolts are tight. Getting the hoses through was the toughest part. My father helped me do that. Without his help, I would have towed the car to the local independant. One thing that I did to prepare myself for this job was practice doing the job on the junkyard 240D that I got the oil filter housing from. I spent about 1 hour getting the filter housing off and another 30 minutes loosening the hose connections. I did not strip the hose connections to the oil cooler/filter housing on that car either. This is a job that a competant DIY'er can do. Be patient and don't let the possible consequnces scare you from making a great improvement to the quality of your car.

__________________
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel - 4x4, auto, 3.54 gears, long bed
-------------------------------------
'92 300D 2.5 Turbodiesel - sold
'83 300D Turbodiesel - 4 speed manual/2.88 diff - sold
'87 300D Turbodiesel - sold
'82 300D Turbodiesel - sold

Only 8 hours sounds much better. I work slowly as well and do tend to swill a bunch of icy cold beer when wrenching on the diesel. Sounds like a full weekend to me!

Didn't realize that snaking the oil cooler lines in there was so tough! I have a 300SD so perhaps there is a bit more room under there than your 300D.

At the same time I do this job, I am also replacing the turbo oil return line seals and the oil pan and gasket (oil pan was dented somehow by the previous owner and the gasket is seeping). The turbo oil return seals aren't leaking (yet) but if I have the pan off to replace its gasket, I might as well replace the other seals, as they will leak eventually.

I also have some oil seepage from under the air filter housing where the separator drains back to the pan. I think that rubber gasket under there is shot.

Now that I think about it, I also have some leakage from the front crank seal, but won't attend to that anytime soon.

My oil leakage has decreased dramatically since I switched back to Delvac 1300 from Delvac 1.

Just a quick note on installing the gaskets inbetween the filter housing and the block:

You can install them dry, but I always use a thin coating of Wurth Sensor Safe on the gaskets. It's just extra protection.

__________________
Regards,
Aaron

SW,

It is nice to hear your successful story. Did you have to lift the left side of the engine up to install the oil hoses? I always have to lift the engine up a little to snake in the hoses, but I never try to remove the oil filter housing at the same time.

David

David,

I thought removing the filter housing would make it easier to get the hoses out, but I was wrong. The first day I worked on the car, we got the lower hose out easy but the upper one was being stubborn. I then decided to raise the engine, but stripped the bolt on the driver side that bolts through the motor mount and into the aluminum arm that connects to the block. Fortunately, my father figured out how to snake the upper hose in. He pushed the hose from the top and I gently pulled the hose from the bottom. It was smooth sailing from there. I'm glad I replaced my mounts earlier this year, I should not have to worry about that stripped bolt until I have to replace the mounts again, probably in another 8 to 10 years.

__________________
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel - 4x4, auto, 3.54 gears, long bed
-------------------------------------
'92 300D 2.5 Turbodiesel - sold
'83 300D Turbodiesel - 4 speed manual/2.88 diff - sold
'87 300D Turbodiesel - sold
'82 300D Turbodiesel - sold