Hello,
New to the forums, I recently purchased a 2004 Ford F150 with the 5.4l v8 and the 8 digit of the vin is a 5...

There is oil all over the engine bay (both sides under hood) and I figured it to be valve cover gaskets... I brought the truck to my mechanic and he said that the engine has blow by and if you replace the valve cover gaskets it wont fix my problem.

I have never heard of this before on the newer f150 style pick up.. can anyone confirm that I need a motor replacement?

Thank you in advance,
Billy Gee

 

Hi & welcome!

May want to ask him, given it's a sealed crankcase, and a sealed intake, where it's coming from

He Sounds clueless of this platform to me. Gaskets are far more likely. And find another mechanic.

Check all plugs for proper tightness ( but I doubt it's that - you'd hear it )

Sure it's engine oil, and not the previous owner's attempt at rustproofing? A/C system refrigerant oil? Brake fluid? P/S fluid? lol

good luck

MGD

 

Welcome to the site.

First identify the "oil" is it engine oil for sure. Could it be trans or P/S fluid or coolant? Do you have any engine codes? What makes you think its cam cover gaskets is it obviously leaking around these gaskets or its just a guess? Oil on both sides of the engine and engine compartment makes me suspicious that it may be coolant and it just appears to be oil? With this much blowby you should see some driveability problems. Is the oil fill cap "0" ring intact? PCV hose and connection secure?

LOL I guess we were typing at the same time MGD....

 

Clean the engine as well as possible without getting the cops wet and then you may be able to tell where the oil is coming from.

 

Yessir - but I'm sure glad yer on the case!


MGD

 

Hey Guys!
Thank you for the quick response!

It is definitely oil, definitely not coolant or ps fluid, I do not have the truck w. me at the moment. but from what I could see it seemed to be apparent to be coming for the valve cover area. there was even some oil puddling up around the covers.

tomorrow I will pull it in the shop and degrease/spray off underhood and take a closer look for myself and see if I can actually see the oil coming out..

Thank you for the information and I will be sure to get back to you guys in the next couple days!

 

o ya..

and there is no check engine light on or codes and seems to have plenty of power/runs fine. thanks again

 

Hi.

Ok - if you get a chance, please read this before any cleaning activity:

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ca...ngine-bay.html

Refer to the posts by RollingRock, 2Stroked and Jolly -

We would not want you to identify yer leak only to end up with a passel of random misfires

good luck!


MGD

 

LOL thanks for the vote of confidence, I thought the same thing when I saw you were on it.

 

Hey guys!
Just checking in, I had my mechanic replace the valve cover gaskets and I cleaned the engine bay and so far no problems. I have about 150 miles on it so far.. Thanks for the help and hope that this is the fix!

Thanks again

 

Hi guys,
I have the same issue as luckyracer22, 2004 5.4 130k on the engine. Oil all over the engine compartment and pooling on the intake manifold and in the spark plug wells on both sides of the engine. Never a drop of oil on the engine or on the ground until just recently. My situation differs from Luckyracer22 in that I have a slight but noticeable loss of power over the past few months. Took it to the dealer and they were indicating it was blow by from the pistons and were recommending a rebuild or replacement of the engine.
Before I drop that kine of $$ are there tests that can be run to confirm blow by ?

 

Well if you have oil around the spark plug wells then that can generate missfires. Also if you are using a K&N air filter which is in the engine compartment it can pull this oil into the intake system and contaminate the MAF sensor. Both of these conditions will cause lack of power..any codes? Do what the OP did and clean everything up then watch for the source of oil contamination. Very well could be cam cover gaskets as well.

Check the site and suggestions that MGDfan provided in regards to cleaning the engine.

 

Thanks for the quick reply Dynotech,
The dealer cleaned the engine during the visit to locate where the oil was originating from and the notes from the tech state "found oil spraying from valve cover gaskets...and PCV system is clogged." That was the part where they told me it would be caused by pressure buildup in the valve covers due to blow by, causing the valve cover gasket to fail under pressure and to clog the PCV system. They said replacing the valve cover gaskets and PCV valve in my case would be counter productive as they would most likely fail again due to the pressure buildup. No engine codes were present. I was hoping for a definitive test for blow by to support their diagnosis so that I wouldnt get soaked 7k for an engine replacement. Does it sound like they are on to something or am I being taken ? Can pressure build up enough to make the valve cover gaskets fail?
Thanks again for your help in advance.

 

Yes what they are saying is true. There is a test (bottle test)for blowby but I have personally only run it on dyno test engines. The pressure from excessive blowby can blow the cam cover gaskets. The dealer may want to perform a compression test as well, the PCV valve can also be a problem the dealer may want to make sure the PCV is not the cause of the high pressure if that is the problem. I think they should do a little more diagnosis before telling you a new engine is in order. A blown head gasket into an oil drainback passage or behind the front cover can pressurize the crankcase as well..JMO

 

Doesn't the 3 valve have a fixed PCV orifice integrated with the valve cover?

Blowby can also be caused by stuck rings - sludged up due to improper maintenance. An AutoRX treatment may help here.