Oil dripping from Oil Filter

[Road Ruler]

For the past year we have been getting oil spots on the driveway. There was oil on the oil filter and it was dripping off of it. I cleaned and checked everything as well as replaced the filter many times. My guess is that the front seal is leaking and the oil is migrating to the oil filter. Does this sound right?

I also noticed that after changing the oil from 10w 30 to 5w 30 for the winter that the oil spots were much larger.

thnxs

[basskronick]

The front seal idea is completely plausible, can you find a trial from it to the filter? If not then the filter itself might not be sealing correctly, either from an expansion or possible a crack in the filter mount.

Cold weather doesn't have that much of an impact on oil weight when the vehicle is up to temperature, therefore, the thinner the oil the more likely it is to find the leak, cold or not. There's no harm in running a 10/30 during the winter, especially if there is a leak.

[ricebike]

also,

if it's in a similar location to my 2002 model... the oil pressure sensor right above it may be leaking as well...