My 150K mile truck is leaking oil and dripping from the starter motor. But I can't see where the oil is comming from, I got a mirror and looked all over the area. Also I see oil under the carburator in the middle of the valley. Any ideas where the leak could be from? Thanks

 

Carburetor??????? F-150's haven't had those since the mid-80's.

Which engine? Check the cam/valve cover gaskets first, make sure the bolts aren't loose.

 

I have the same problem on my 1999 5.4. I looked up under the passenger side while changing the oil on Saturday and noticed a leak. I had this problem at 25,000 miles and was told this engine type had a bad spot in the head/gasket/block. looks like Oil leaks and hits the down tube off of the exhaust manifold. i park on the street now, due to the class 2 leak.

 

Ive had 2 99 5.4's and never had a leak anywhere. I do recall someone speaking of a flaw in the block or head on a certain model that a few got out the door before the fix, but it was very very unlikely that if you had a leak there it was from a factory flaw.

 

From my experience, the valve cover gaskets don't leak much. But it should be 1 of three things, head gasket, valve cover gasket or rear main seal. Since you have it in the valley and dripping off the back, it would be valve/cam cover or head gasket.

 

That's a " Burr problem". There's a TSB on it from Ford, but yea, it's the head, -passenger side.

 

Ok, I have a service appointment in the am, What should the protocol be for this problem?

TSB 03-6-2 and or TSB 01-12-2

Is this covered for repair? they Seemed to "correct" it right after I purchased this truck in 2000

 

No, that does not fall under a recall or extended warranty. You will have to pay for it.

 

was just told by service advisor that Ford won't fix it due to the amount of miles on trk, and the leak is coming from the head. a cracked head? The truck runs great and no blue smoke from exhaust.

 

They wont fix it at all?
Cost wise, you might want to look at other options as far as replacement or rebuilding. I'm not sure how severe the issue is though.

 

I'm going down to take a look at it. I see a silver dollar sized oil spot on the pavement each morning. yes, the service adviser said "Ford won't let us work on it due to the mileage." we can't warranty the work.

 

I had this problem on my '03 5.4 7700 work truck at about 125K. It was fixed by changing the pass side head gasket.

Location of leak ...

 

looked at the area in question last night at the dealership.

The Valve cover and head casket look dry, The exhaust manifold from Mid head, to the rear, show fresh oil seeping around manifold gasket ports and being thrown back to the Down tube and exhaust heat shield?. The rear pass side exhaust manifold bolt and post are broken flush at exhaust manifold and shows normal metal corrotion as old as vehicle.

So that bolt has been missing for a awhile

The tech recommended a new engine (that's what I always here each time I visit this dealership), From service ad visor on down, or up depending on the hierarchy.

The cheaper rout would be a new head gasket and post or manifold gasket? or is the problem in the seals as no oil is leaking at head casket.

Thanks for the replys and I hope you have a hell of a GOOD weekend.

repeat

 

Allot of people go that route. Iduno what I would do, depends what I could find I guess.

I'd see what's out there first by going here - http://car-part.com/

 

Thanks for all the great feedback. It is a 5.4L Triton and since the leak is not real bad I think I'll just live with it. Also the truck has 150K miles so not really worth the time. Sorry about the Carburator input, guess that puts a time stamp on me. Have fun with all your trucks.