Leaking oil filter housing / RDX gen 1 2007
 

Are you certain the housing is the problem? I assumed you tried using different filter?
I never had this issue, the only thing if you dont tighten oil filter good enough it will leak a bit.

Are you sure it's the oil filter housing and not something higher up that's leaking down FROM it..? Could be valve cover gasket, oil pump gasket, VTEC solenoid, etc..

Leaking 10 drops of oil every day.
 

I replaced the oil filter housing gaskets
 

Interesting, I'm having a massive oil leak and will be having it checked very soon...

After removed
 

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...e07953465.jpeg
I used each of the wrenches to get the 2 small bolts off the top
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...f6572834e.jpeg
New honda gaskets
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...f52d89066.jpeg
Old seals Thin and very hard

Hey Boxster - as luck would have it, I did this same job on my 07 today. Agreed, it's a PITA to get at the top two bolts. I removed the lower motor mount bracket to gain access to the top outer oil filter housing bolt. (Remove two 17mm bolts from motor mount circled in green, four 17mm bolts from bracket that goes in the red box).

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...0f7853f76f.jpg

I cut a 10mm combination wrench in half and used the box end to loosen/tighten the top inner bolt.

Too soon to tell if it took care of my oil leak, but my old gaskets looked exactly like yours. Thanks for the thread!

Pita of a job
 

Thanks for posting about this. I think I have a leak from the same housing. Not looking forward to what looks like a tedious repair.

Probably a dumb question, but I'll ask: do you have to support that mount at all if you remove the bolts/bracket to improve access? I've only dealt with upper motor mounts where you have to jack up the engine from removal/replacement.

Lower mount
 

Here is the link to thread i wrote when i replaced the lower mount. Might be helpful

I have an 08 Acura RDX that started exhibiting this issue a few weeks ago (140k mi). I noticed it while doing my routine oil/filter service. At first glance I thought it was the oil pan seal or possibly the oil filter itself didn't seal properly. I'm glad I found this thread! I created this account simply to thank those that took the pictures and wrote about this! I almost took the RDX into a shop (thinking it was the oil pan) and would have paid hundreds of dollars doing so. To find out it was simply $10 worth of seals was a huge relief.

Removing the lower torque brace mount is a must! It's easy to remove and re-install, just use a block of wood and a jack against the transmission/engine and everything will be good!
Somehow I managed to get the upper 10mm bolts out using only two different 10mm wrenches. DO NOT even attempt this with an open end wrench. Space is very tight, but once the bolts are broken loose, I was lucky enough to be able to spin them out using my finger tips. This is not a hard repair to accomplish, however it is tedious and time consuming if working on your back. Making small 1/8 turns with a 10mm box wrench makes each bolt removed feel like a major milestone. Before re-installing the bolts for both the filter housing and the torque brace, apply a small amount of oil to the threads and clean out the bolt holes with some brake clean and/or compressed air. Steel bolts threading into aluminum dry can easily gall threads. In my case, I discovered one of the brace bolts was rammed in using an impact by someone before me. This made it very difficult to remove. It was obvious they didn't take the time to line up the engine with the mount. Half the threads in the aluminum mount plate were chowdered. I was able to clean up the threads using a thread chaser kit, but still annoying all the same.

I hope others find this thread as helpful as I did! Thanks again!
-Icer

This happened to me too about a year ago... At the dealer while having another oil leak repaired... They covered it because they "assumed" the may have caused it! Funny how this weird seal is leaking on everyone's RDX all of a sudden!

Hello, Thanks for the great Info, Quick and stupid question did you had to drain the oil?

How much of a mess do you want to make :shrug: Granted a majority of the oil SHOULD go back into the oil pan , but there certainly will be some oil in the oil filter /housing. I'd do this at the same time as an oil change to minimize the mess

Our RDX had a massive oil filter housing leak but it happened while at the dealer so they fixed it for free!

My Accord has a very small oil filter housing leak but it will be getting fixed soon.

No I didn't change the oil. In my case I had just done an oil/filter change a week prior, so it would have been a waste to change the oil again. You just need to be careful while handling the filter/housing. Tipping it will make a mess. I lost a little bit of oil during the removal and cleaning process, but nothing to worry about (maybe a few oz). I did come back and check the dipstick after driving the car and letting it sit overnight. The fill level didn't change in any noticeable way.

Extra care should be taken though to prevent dirt from getting into the filter port holes. I'm not sure which channel is inlet (unfiltered) and which is outlet (filtered). Either way, sandy bits getting in your valve train or rod bearings is never a good thing! Cut of some old cotton t-shirt or something and plug those holes while you work to clean around the gasket and mating surfaces.

Same leakage I guess
 

I removed the filter housing as well and not so tough removing it and returning it back except I had to replace one of the bolts to a shorter one.
I didn't change the rings in my case though they've dried out and extremely strong. All I did was to use a gasket gum $1.31., made gasket on the existing ring and returned. No more leakage.

Thank you for the details and photos. I hope this doesn't happen on my 2009 with 146k miles.