MasterofDisaster
Senior Member
I noticed last year that my 08 GT had leaked oil onto my garage floor. The stains were near the front left corner of the engine.
During last fall's oil change I realized that the problem was the oil filter adapter gasket.
You may have an adapter gasket leak if your filter is correctly tight, but you still have oil on the outside.
The weather in Michigan warmed remarkably on 8 mar 21, so I was able to replace the gasket.
The Service Manual, 303-01B-1 & 2 has good instructions. I didn't need the silicone gasket remover as there was only a trace of gasket material on either the block or the adapter. There was a tiny bit of scale. A brass brush on the Dremel cleaned up both surfaces. I didn't use the surface prep wipes. Carb cleaner worked just fine. I finished up with some STP Cleaning & Engine Degreasing Wipes and paper towels. I had a little pitting, but the FelPro gasket had almost a millimeter of silicone on both sides. [The 2008 Model Year Scheduled Maintenance Guide says to change the coolant at 105,000 miles and then every 45,000 miles or three years thereafter. And DON'T use tap water in your radiator.]
Late Model Restoration has a good video at
.
The petcock for the 08 is on the bottom of the radiator, not the side like a New Edge.
Mr Durham uses fancy hose clamp pliers that I bought from Autozone for about $35.00. I was able to remove the clamp with channel locks, but I couldn't replace it without the fancy pliers.
I think my bolts were 13mm, not 10 like the New Edge. A swivel socket works, but a standard socket worked better on my car.
Only about a gallon came out of the radiator. A little spilled on the floor when I removed the hose from the adapter. When I refilled the radiator, I found I had lost only about a cup to a pint of coolant.
While I was at it, I changed the fuel filter. The guide says to change that every 30,000 miles.
The last thing I did was extend the air deflector with some .060 PlasTex sheet. Dino, Dino Bambino pointed out that there is substantial drag underneath the car. I believe the 2010 Mustang had a belly pan that with the air deflector smooths airflow under the car. https://www.allfordmustangs.com/threads/2010-belly-pan-easily-installed-on-2009-mustang-gt.232772/ indicates they cost about $60. The .060 PlasTex sheet cost way less than that. I drilled three holes at the front to fit on top of the air deflector. I drilled four holes at the back and zip tied it to the K-member.
I'll update to let you know how all this works.
You may have an adapter gasket leak if your filter is correctly tight, but you still have oil on the outside.
The weather in Michigan warmed remarkably on 8 mar 21, so I was able to replace the gasket.
The Service Manual, 303-01B-1 & 2 has good instructions. I didn't need the silicone gasket remover as there was only a trace of gasket material on either the block or the adapter. There was a tiny bit of scale. A brass brush on the Dremel cleaned up both surfaces. I didn't use the surface prep wipes. Carb cleaner worked just fine. I finished up with some STP Cleaning & Engine Degreasing Wipes and paper towels. I had a little pitting, but the FelPro gasket had almost a millimeter of silicone on both sides. [The 2008 Model Year Scheduled Maintenance Guide says to change the coolant at 105,000 miles and then every 45,000 miles or three years thereafter. And DON'T use tap water in your radiator.]
Late Model Restoration has a good video at
The petcock for the 08 is on the bottom of the radiator, not the side like a New Edge.
Mr Durham uses fancy hose clamp pliers that I bought from Autozone for about $35.00. I was able to remove the clamp with channel locks, but I couldn't replace it without the fancy pliers.
I think my bolts were 13mm, not 10 like the New Edge. A swivel socket works, but a standard socket worked better on my car.
Only about a gallon came out of the radiator. A little spilled on the floor when I removed the hose from the adapter. When I refilled the radiator, I found I had lost only about a cup to a pint of coolant.
While I was at it, I changed the fuel filter. The guide says to change that every 30,000 miles.
The last thing I did was extend the air deflector with some .060 PlasTex sheet. Dino, Dino Bambino pointed out that there is substantial drag underneath the car. I believe the 2010 Mustang had a belly pan that with the air deflector smooths airflow under the car. https://www.allfordmustangs.com/threads/2010-belly-pan-easily-installed-on-2009-mustang-gt.232772/ indicates they cost about $60. The .060 PlasTex sheet cost way less than that. I drilled three holes at the front to fit on top of the air deflector. I drilled four holes at the back and zip tied it to the K-member.
I'll update to let you know how all this works.
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