My 97 Expedition with 92,000 has been leaking oil since I got the bright idea to try Mobil 1 about 2 years ago. It drips about maybe about 1 to 3 drops when parked over night. Maybe less it's hard to tell because it is just a flat nickel size spot with jagged edges and it doesn't drip every night.

Anyway I had it in the shop last month for a tune up and the mechanic said he thought it was leaking from the Valve cover gasket.

It seemed like it was getting worse after that but I think it might have been tranny fluid that was dropping from the cross member after being serviced.

I called to have the leak fixed and they said I should put some dye in it to make verify where the leak is coming from. They said if it's;

valve cover, replace both for $350

Head gasket $900

Is the head gasket leak common in the 97 4.6's?

Should I bother with a fix if it is just 1 to 3 drips, maybe 4 to 5 days per week for the last 2 years?

I am reluctant to spend a whole bunch of money because we have been thinking about selling and getting something smaller.

gg

 

Mechanic called, said it is the head gasket, passenger side.

Crap!

The mechanic is also my cousin. He said for the expense, $1000.00 I should probably leave it alone and keep running it. He also said it is very common in the 4.6, more so than the 5.4.

He didn't think it would effect the longevity of the motor.

Looks like I will run it for now. As I said before I have been thinking about getting something different.

A Passat tdi might be closer than I thought.

gg

 

I tried Mobile 1 in my 97 a few times without any problems. There didn't seem to be any benefit from it, so I went back to good old dino oil.

My 94 F150 with 36,000 miles on it developed a leak after using Mobile 1 for the first time. Smaller molecules finding a weakness in the gaskette I guess. It ran fine for another 70,000 miles until I traded it in. I just had to keep putting oil into it every few weeks.