MEP 003A oil filter housing leak

[North Maine]

After the latest wind storm my MEP003A got a good 28 hours of continuous use... and during that time discovered that what seems like a "slight" oil leak during test runs can make a God-awful mess over a long period.

I've cleaned it and watched the leak enough to know that its not coming from the filter canister (that would have been too easy) rather it seems to be originating from either the mating surface from the where the entire oil filter assembly bolts to the block or possibly from an area/component of the assembly not visible until I remove the fan shroud. Looking at the exploded views of the oil filter set-up it looks like there are two gaskets, one for the oil thermostat and one for the assembly to block mating surfaces that could be my trouble makers, otherwise there are some fittings inside the shroud that could also be the source of the leak?

Are there any "common" oil leak issues with this component I should specifically look for? Is there anything I need to be careful with before I start tearing down to try to stop this leak?

I can post pictures if it'd be helpful... but it kinda just looks like an oil leak.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Guyfang]

Oil cooler could be a spot you want to look at. Kinda hard to get at. But they rarely leak. Often it was a small crack, or loose line.

 

[North Maine]

I’ll take a look at the oil cooler... I believe it’s up towards the top of the shroud correct? I feel like I got a good view of one side of it when I had the exhaust side sheet metal off to replace a bad overheat sensor...

 

[North Maine]

I figure I'll share what I found in case anyone has a similar problem;

There was no "smoking gun" leak source- the oil cooler was dry and tight at the top end and just a little slime on the fittings going to the oil filter housing. Upon removing the oil filter housing the gasket was not broken or any other obvious issues. The oil thermostat access had gunk around it but no liquid leak. I cleaned everything, wire-wheeled the block surface and the filter housing surface and coated both sides of the old gasket in Molykote O-Ring Lubricant (not my first choice to reuse a gasket, but I can't find that particular gasket online anywhere) and carefully reassembled being careful to slowly torque the housing in place since only three small bolts are all that fasten it to the block.

Upon restarting and getting up to temp it hasn't leaked any more drips or noticeable sources of oil, so I'm happy!

I do have some "dampness" coming from the head mating surface/head gasket area so I may have a head gasket replacement job coming up.