2005 Grand Caravan Oil Leak

I have a 05 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT with the towing package (not sure if this matters). I have the 3.8 engine and I'm experiencing an oil leak near the oil filter. When I take the filter off, I see that there is an Oil cooler between the filter and the block. I'm wondering if others have had problems with leaking gaskets on the oil cooler, or if it could be something else. I checked with the dealer and a gasket for the Oil Cooler is available, but they don't carry it. That makes me think that it might be something else. The dealer does carry complete Oil Cooler assemblies, but I don't think that's necessary.

So, I am curious if others have had this problem and how it was fixed. I can order the gasket set for around $30, but I'm wondering if that's what I need.

Yes they can leak , what i see quite often is that the oil filter is overtightened and when removing it the cooler tend to loosen with the filter. When this happens the cooler gasket can start to leak.

The best thing to do is to clean the area thourghly with a degreaser and run the engine and watch for leaks. its not a big deal to replace the cooler gasket anyways,just make sure you lubricate it when refitting (much like an oil filter gasket)

Good Luck

Thanks for the info. I'm sure I did overtighten the filter trying to get the leak to stop. I'll get a new gasket set and see it that helps. It does seem like a finicky setup as the oil cooler does turn when the filter is removed.

Thanks, I'll let you know how it turns out.

My new o-ring gasket for the top of the oil cooler came yesterday. I put it in this morning and the leak stopped. The old o-ring looked just fine. I think my problem was an over tightened filter all along. Too bad I had to purchase a $30 o-ring. Oh well, it's cheaper than a whole engine.

Thanks for your help.