Oil leak

So I have a 1984 Rabbit. Motor was converted to a late 90's Cabrio 2.0L ABA. Bought it a few months ago. No issues with the car. Was going on a road trip to the mountains and wanted to change my oil. There was 6 inches of snow on the ground and I don't have a garage. Took it to a local oil change shop. Watched them do the oil change and was done correctly. Drove it roughly 120 miles and parked it for a couple days. Right before I was going to leave, I started the car to warm up. Said my goodbyes. Came back to my car leaking oil on the ground. Shut it down. Popped the hood. Started it again and found oil leaking from the oil filter attachment housing. Don't know if that's the correct term. Photo included. Check torque on the two bolts that hold this piece and they were tight. Wondering if anyone has an idea of what could be the issue. Thanks. 

If you have a water stabilized oil cooler which is usual for that year there is a O-ring, between the oil filter flange and the oil cooler, it leaks and usually pours out between the cooler and the filter flange. number 19.




o-ring: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi-engine-oil-cooler-gasket-vag-038117070a?ads_cmpid=1586103033&ads_adid=62588326769&ads_matchtype=&ads_network=g&ads_creative=298122218785&utm_term=&ads_targetid=pla-338677243666&utm_campaign=&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&ttv=2&gclid=CjwKCAiAy9jyBRA6EiwAeclQhM7-JhhOXeK_y3acH_CTkHNvpjoTOWyQAZuu2O_8boT1wUtUj5hdhhoCq8UQAvD_BwE

I could be that they loosened the pipe that holds the cooler to the flange, when changing the oil filter as they can get herky…..and you need to re-tighten it, but the bigger thing is that that o-ring failed…

Clean the parts up prior to loosening the filter from the cooler…
Remove the filter, Loosen the nut that holds the cooler to the filter rod, run the nut down to the very end of the threaded rod/pipe but leave it on and that the threaded pipes threads are inclosed in the nut.  Using a pair of Vice grips grip the nuts outer hex side to the inner part of the threaded pipe.  You can then use the Vice grip to remove the threaded pipe from the filter flange, to make replacement easier and you don't have to worry about breaking the hoses.

I would clean it up a wee bit prior to mucking with it as you don't need the oily bits to plug anything up.

IIRC the nut is either 27 or 28 MM. Below is a oil filter flange with the water stabilized oil cooler below it off a 89 1.8

I wasn't using it, and I wanted to show what damage a Jubilee Worm gear hose clamp could do….

This was a motor swap with a 1997 VW Cabrio 2.0 motor. Part looks a little different. Do you think the repair would be the same. Need to have a good idea of parts to bring up. Car is sitting at a ranch in the mountains. Thanks for the response. 

Yep, they used the same cooler up well in to the 2000's

You don't think it could have been anything they did?  Issues with the new oil filter they put on causing the seal to start leaking?  

It could be that the original filter was overtightened, or the rubber gasket of the filter was not oiled before fitting-or they failed to oil the new filter gasket or overtightened and either way they caused the oil cooler o ring to fail by letting the oil cooler above twist  and damage the o ring between it and the housing. Alternatively the nut that attaches the oil cooler to the housing has come undone…, or been tightened to much (its a very low torgue)
You need to (while holding the housing above) to unscrew the filter and look at it and check the nut in the housing is not loose. Then you would need to get another o ring joint-always buy the best which is a circle with a small extension/s that catch in spigots on the oil cooler and this resists it turning and leaking.
I would buy a new oil cooler anyway , I suggest Topran part 101448/C306  (replaces 068117021B,038117070A) B&B components

 

You can buy just the seal, it's fitted to loads of VW cars over the years.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OIL-COOLER-SEAL-FOR-VW-GOLF-MK1-2-3-4-5-TRANSPORTER-T25-T4-BORA-BEETLE-CADDY-SCI/264644146476?hash=item3d9e05352c:g:8l8AAOSwmrNcVLDR


 They just go hard over time as they are rubber and it’s heated and cooled many times over they years.
I had one go on me while driving and as the oil is under pressure it did not take long to use oil, I used 1l of oil in 1/2 mile, good job I had some spare oil in boot to get me home as I was only about a mile from home…

I was finally able to work on the Rabbit.  Bought the seal from a local parts distributor.  Removed the oil filter.  The tube was so loose I didn't need to loosen the nut to remove it.  Guessing when they did the oil change the tube came loose.  The o-ring was so brittle it  broke apart when I removed it.  I got lucky with the way everything worked out.  Thanks for all the info and help.

Really pleased it has all worked out for you .
Marcus.