Hello. I finally took all the plastic shields off that cover the 2.2L Ecotec. The main shield I threw in the recycling bin at my apartment building. I changed the oil. I had never seen a filter element outside of the std. metal can and installed it without the "O" ring. After driving a few days I noticed oil just to the right side of the filter housing on the flat metal area that is part of the engine or trans, not sure why it is there. There is a big metal seam in the engine block nearby.
In any case, I reinstalled the filter with the 'O' ring on the filter housing to make sure it Twas not leaking from the filter joint. I then reinstalled the filter a third time to make sure the 'O' ring was seated perfectly. The oil is not leaking from the filter assembly, I am quite sure. Also the oil leak has been going on for a long time before I owned the car as there is congealed and baked on oil in a trail down to the bottom of the Trans pan which I attempted to clean off with repeated sprays of engine cleaner/degreaser.
Could it be leaking from the seam in the engine block to the right of the filter housing? I cannot locate the leak but it has been going on for a long time. Otherwise the oil filter has been mounted without an 'O' ring many times before me leading to all the mess everywhere. But I still don't know where it is leaking from now. It is not from where the filter housing + gasket meets the threads below. Thank you.
In any case, I reinstalled the filter with the 'O' ring on the filter housing to make sure it Twas not leaking from the filter joint. I then reinstalled the filter a third time to make sure the 'O' ring was seated perfectly. The oil is not leaking from the filter assembly, I am quite sure. Also the oil leak has been going on for a long time before I owned the car as there is congealed and baked on oil in a trail down to the bottom of the Trans pan which I attempted to clean off with repeated sprays of engine cleaner/degreaser.
Could it be leaking from the seam in the engine block to the right of the filter housing? I cannot locate the leak but it has been going on for a long time. Otherwise the oil filter has been mounted without an 'O' ring many times before me leading to all the mess everywhere. But I still don't know where it is leaking from now. It is not from where the filter housing + gasket meets the threads below. Thank you.