Well, I went ahead and bit the bullet on the 05 f150. Didnt see or notice any oil leaks when I first looked the truck over.

Get home last night and notice an oil spot on driveway. Look underneath and oil is everywhere.

I tried taking some pics from underneath in hopes someone might be able to help pin point where it might be coming from. Man I hope its nothing too major.
Thanks for any feedback on this.

 

Can you wash the oil off so the leak can be indentified a little easier?

 

I had a leak at the front of my 03 4.2 and thought it was the front main. Turned out the filter was a tad loose, soooooo you might want to give the filter a little twist or change it out for a new Motorcraft. Once it starts to leak around the filter the fan plus turbulence from driving will give you a 5w20 paint job on EVERYTHING.

Hope it is that simple.

 

The filter was loose and i did tighten it but still leaking. I may try a new filter and see if that helps.
my driveway is on an incline so the oil could be traveling back further.

Here's another pic after wiping down.

 

The oil that is already spread all over the motor will drip for days/weeks. From the underside, NOT THE TOP, spray/wash the underside off. That will give you a better starting point to see where it is coming from. Use caution when spraying around any electrical connecters, the crank position sensor is right there by the front lower pulley.

Another thing is it could be a leak in the filter itself at a seam or something, not just the gasket.

Good luck I hope it is that easy for you.

 

Another common leak is the rear main seal.

 

Is the rear main seal where the green arrows are pointing in the attached pics?

I cleaned underneath and noticed the front innermost pan bolt was not as snug as the others and had oil on it. I snugged it down some, wiped oil away and waited couple hours and now theres oil buildup again around arrows. Not the pan bolt though, so Im thinking its the rear seal.

If it is rear seal, would blue devil rear seal restore work or is that snake oil? and what would a rear main seal repair cost?

 

If it is a rear seal, the transmission has to come out to replace it. That runs the labor bill way up.

 

Any pointers on changing out the oil filter mount gasket? I hasn't seen oil here for last few days and last night i have oil dripping from new filter.

i thought for sure it was rear main seal but now I'm thinking / hoping it's the filter mount and just blowing back.

from other posts I've read i have to drain the radiator and might as well change engine oil while I'm doing filter again. Any other tips advice?

 

Maybe the oil pump seal/gasket. It is flowing directly over the filter? Wipe it down as well as you can and check back for leaking.

 

Does anyone know the torque specs on that 8mm Bolt? I think the 10mm is 22 foot pounds I'm not sure if that applies to the 8mm as well

 

Did you ever find/fix your leak? My 2001 F150 4.2L looks almost identical, except for the filter area leak.