Hey guys, the other day when I had the truck on the lift I noticed this:



this was NOT related to the overfilling of my transmission (for one it's oil not mercon) because I noticed it before adding any trans fluid

interestingly enough here is a picture of my red truck taken back in '01:



I noticed the leak on the '01 when I had it in the air for the first oil change. The funny thing is that around (I'm guestimating) 5000 to 8000 miles, this leak stopped and the bellhousing remained dry as a bone from then on.

This leak appeared to be from the rear main seal NOT the head gasket.

Hopefully the blue truck will heal itself as well. only time will tell.

BTW, I don't know if I or anybody else mentioned it but Ford finally came out with updated design head gaskets for the 5.4 oil leak problem. there is a TSB or service message about them.

later,
chris

 

My 2002 Truck did the EXACT same thing.
I had them run some stuff in the motor to find where the leak was comeing from but it just stoped on its own, so we never figured out where the oil came from... I have almost 15K now and still dry and clean.

Johnie

 

yep, I feel 99.9% certain that it's the rear main seal leaking a little when new. may sound silly, but maybe it has to "seat in" or break in or something?

also my 01 didn't leak even after switching to synthetic oil.

later,
chris

 

Chris,

Our '01 did the same thing. I noticed it on the first oil change. I wiped it off, and never saw it reappear?
-----------
Rick

 

I hope this ain't your problem..
let me explain...
I had oil in this area....look up are the rear of the heads..the passenger side on mine was leaking at thr lower rear corner..not much but enough to leave a light trail. If it is make damn sure they replace the head and check the engine deck for flatness....
they initially replaced a gaset , supposedly a new type that was to insure the fix...after the new gasket..when pushed hard the first time my engine leaned out on that side and ate 2 plugs....new long block.....good luck.

 

I know through a couple of motor rebuilds that a brand new rear seal can leak just a little until it seats. This is perfectly normal until the motor is broken in. I was once told that all good NEW engines leak at first.
Just wait a litte time and see if it persist. Then if it keeps leaking then you might have a problem.

 

I have a 02 L with 4,500 miles that has the same leak. Just got it back from the dealer who said it was the oil drain plug. After 2 days leaking again. How long did it take to resolve on its own?

WarEagle

 

So what did the dealer do, just tighten it? I'm sorry WE but I don't believe your dealer.

Dan

 

frankly I don't remember the exact mileage that it stopped doing this. if you look at the second picture you can see that on the red truck, this "leak" amounted to just barely a drip of oil. It wasn't even enough to spread anywhere. I just wiped it off and washed the area with brake cleaner for the first few oil changes, and then one day (probably 5000 to 8000 miles) I went to change the oil and noticed it was gone. it never returned. I had first noticed it at my first oil change at 1000 or 1500 miles. I contacted ford immediately, they were going to send me a brand new L engine off of the assembly line (because they thought it was the headgasket). I was hesitant to tear my truck apart at 1000 miles for this little drip so I decided to see if it got any worse. luckily I didn't replace the motor, because the leak stopped. however on the '03 truck, so far the leak is slightly worse. looking at the first picture, you can see three distinct droplets forming. we'll just wait and see what happens.

and it does not appear to be coming from the head, I think it's coming from the rear main.

later,
chris

 

LIGHTNINGROD,

You guessed it they just tighted it and said it was fixed. Why do we have to put up with these Bozos? Now I'm concerned on how to find out what is causing the leak. I have read it is the main seal and will self resolve, that it could be the head oil leak, the transmission seal or torque converter. Where can you take it to find out for sure? I've got 32K miles of warrenty left so I guess I shouldn't worry too much.

WarEagle

 

I didn't notice mine until my 3k miles oil change.. I had taken pictures under the truck at less than 1000miles and it wasnt there (yes i know i am a picture freak).... at my 6k change it was dry so it stoped sometime inbetween. only leaked a little...... it looked exactly like Chris's pictures.

 

count me in too
My 02 had the exact same spot on it's second oil change @ 6K
I didn't do the first so I can't tell you if it was there then.
Haven't looked lately, I'll check it though