[trentr98]

Hey everyone, hoping I can get some basic guidance on an oil leak I've got. About 5k miles ago I had my oil changed by Valvoline (I know, my first mistake). Today, while looking under the hood, I noticed that the filter is leaking from the top (circled in the picture). Should changing the filter (and oil while I'm at it) solve the issue, or could there be an underlying issue?

Also, the oil has leaked onto the serpentine belt, so I'm going to go ahead and change that. I see a lot of kits come with a tensioner as well, so is it necessary to change that too? Going off that, there's some surface rust on one of the pulleys (second picture). Is this something to worry about? Thanks in advance!

Edit: I'm at 80k miles just about

[Billfitz]

I can pretty much guarantee you that the Valvoline numbskulls used an el-cheapo filter that came with an equally el-cheapo O-ring and that's the source of the leak. Replace it with a Mahle or Mann filter, which come with the correct O-ring, and that should fix it. That oil on the outside of the belt shouldn't bother it. At 80k it's probably due, though. You might as well go with the full kit. That rust won't bother anything.

[trentr98]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

I can pretty much guarantee you that the Valvoline numbskulls used an el-cheapo filter that came with an equally el-cheapo O-ring and that's the source of the leak. Replace it with a Mahle or Mann filter, which come with the correct O-ring, and that should fix it. That oil on the outside of the belt shouldn't bother it. At 80k it's probably due, though. You might as well go with the full kit. That rust won't bother anything.

You're probably right, thanks for the advice. Just ordered all oil change and serpentine belt supplies off FCP Euro

[canman111]

And make sure you torque the cap to spec.