3.3TT Anyone know what this is, and should oil be leaking out of it?

[Stingah]

Just had an alignment yesterday at 3k miles during my first oil change, and now something is clicking in the steering column, while investigating, I noticed this, completely unrelated I think, but suspicious.

I took the front under aero panels off completely, but this part happens to align with the little removable hatch middle of the front half of the under panel for easy checking. It's right behind the cooling fan.

Is this something they service during a maintenance interval?

 

[StingerLover]

That looks like the oil filter housing. It may not be leaking. Looks like they just didn't clean up well after themselves.

 

[ShannonC]

Yes, oil filter housing. Just give it a good wipe down and you should be fine. The clicking is unrelated.

 

[ShannonC]

If you still have the panel off could you take a pic of the power steering motor in relation to oil filter housing as I'm curious to see the difference between LHD & RHD cars.

 

[Stingah]

Doh!! Thanks guys, never seen an oil filter housing mounted side ways like that, but makes total sense, and explains the easy access panel.

Mystery solved in less than 10 minutes!!! People on here are great.

 

[Stingah]

If you still have the panel off could you take a pic of the power steering motor in relation to oil filter housing as I'm curious to see the difference between LHD & RHD cars.

Here you go, best I can do with my limited space.

 

[ShannonC]

Thanks mate, that's very different to our RHD models.

 

[5tinger]

I'm sure Kia will soon be dealing with power steering motor failures for RHD models from all the oil dropped on them.

 

[Kamauxx]

Doh!! Thanks guys, never seen an oil filter housing mounted side ways like that, but makes total sense, and explains the easy access panel.

Mystery solved in less than 10 minutes!!! People on here are great.

Be aware that the filter housing is made of plastic and is easily over-torqued. Too much torqued can crack it and cause leaking. Clean it up and check back later to see if there's any more oil on it. And monitor your levels with the dipstick to make sure you aren't losing any oil.

 

[Rob M]

I would 2nd that recommendation. Technician should always wipe away any oil residue after doing the oil change. Clean it up, then monitor it for a bit to make sure it is not leaking. There is a thread somewhere on this site where someone did overtorque the filter housing, cracking it.

 

[SKStinger]

If the filter housing was cracked it would be leaking a hell of a lot worse than that. There would be oil all over the place.

 

[Rob M]

If the filter housing was cracked it would be leaking a hell of a lot worse than that. There would be oil all over the place.

True. But there is always possibility of very small fissure and slow leak.

 

[SKStinger]

True. But there is always possibility of very small fissure and slow leak.

Typically you know when they’re cracked. I barely cracked one on my Toyota and it wouldn’t even hold oil.

 

[Stingah]

Kia cheaped out with the plastic housing, but thankfully there's that quick access portal which I will be checking periodically for oil stains now that I'm paranoid it was over tightened. Tech also left out one bolt and one plastic fastener when he reinstalled the bottom cover. Too many fails, going elsewhere for oil next time.