Okay, so it's my fault, but I think I lucked out.

As temperatures drop down the freezing, and below, I change my engine
oil to 10-40, a thinner grade. But this winter I got lazy. I admit it, I
got lazy.

Well, one cold morning last week I started the van and trundled down the
street to go downtown, and was about a 1/2 mile from home when I noticed
that the idiot light for the oil pressure was lit. And the aftermarket
oil pressure gauge I installed a few years ago was at zero. They don't
share the same sender or anything so I knew it was serious.

I pulled off the main road and got out and looked behind the van and
sure enough, a trail of oil behind me leading up to a small puddle under
the engine.

Triple-A flatbedded the van to Gary's Ole Volks Home here in Bend, and
after an hour he called me and said that the oil filter had plain blowed
off.

So here's what happened: at these low temperatures, I reckon that the
thicker summer oil was as thick as pine sap -- maybe amber -- resulting
in very high oil pressure.

The oil filter was not the stock one that I use. I installed a
tencentlife oil cooler kit a few years ago, and it uses a banjo fitting
that goes between the filter and the engine for oil send and receive
(thermostat in there, too). The stock filter is too long to fit and he
recommends a Bosch 3300, which I have been using.

But the last time I replaced the filter, when I switched from winter to
summer oil, the auto parts store was out of stock on the Bosch, and they
offered the Wix. I never heard of Wix, but the guy said it was a good
brand, so hey.

Well, the mechanic was consternated by the shorter filter, said it was
the wrong one, and that the threads looked like pipe threads. I picked
up a new Bosch on my way over and took at look at the Wix, comparing it
to the Bosch, and the threads in the Wix looked pretty poor.

So I think I lucked out here. That high oil pressure was gonna blow out
something, I'm just glad that it was a $6 oil filter. Otherwise, $75 for
the work, nothing (other than subscription to Triple-A) for the tow. It
could have been a lot worse.

Engine sounds fine, I hope no damage was done.

And what's the lesson, kids? Don't skip maintenance. And distrust Wix
filters.

--
Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
Bend, Ore.