i just picked up this truck and there appears to be a leak from the oil pan/front cover area (passenger side). i hate leaks so i want to replace the gasket.

will the oil pan clear the crossmember/steering gear without having to raise the engine on this truck, or drop the steering gear?

2004 f-150 4.6 litre 4x2

thx

 

Before you remove pan I would find out if it is the pan or the rear main seal. Likely the seal. They make a tool you can snake a new seal in there by removing pan only.

Not sure about if pan will clear but its unlikely the pan is leaking.

 

one piece rear main in that engine requires trans removal

 

nah the source of the leak is def up near the front of the engine, behind the a/c compressor.

i am thinking the oil pan gasket where it meets the front main cover

 

Its easier to just pull the engine. I've never done a 4.2 v6 but I have done a 90 5.0 V8 and I cant tell you half way through it I wished I had just yanked the engine. If you have big hands forget about it. On the 5.0 I did you have to remove the oil pick up from inside the pan to get the pan off blind. It is a mother fer. Make sure its not leaking from somewher else like a valve cover etc..

 

if it is in fact the pan gasket, napa makes a nice setup for the old 5.0 and 5.8s that i know of that you simply drop the pan as low as you can in the truck, then do your best to clean the cork gasket off and put a rubber gasket on with a thin piece of metal in between it and there are little plastic things that screw into the block where the pan bolts and you slide the pan bolt holes over the things and start your bolts and pull the things out and tighten everything up. i would see if they have the same kit for your truck.

 

I can't recall if the 4.6 has the oil filter mount in the same location as the 5.4 (2004-2007), but if it does I would be willing to bet that that is where you leak is coming from. There are two 10 or 12mm headed bolts that hold the mount to the engine block. We have discovered that this is a major leaking point for the 5.4's. Some leak enough that the oil will run back along the drivers side of the oil pan and leak in the rear and it appears that the rear main is leaking. Get yourself a can or two or brake parts cleaner and spray the entire area including where the pan bolts to the bottom of the block. It will then be easier to tell where the leak is actually coming from. Lifting the engine to change the pan gasket is a pain in the A$$.

 

No one has realized that his engine is a 4.6, not a 5.0, or 5.8. And your leak is on the PASSENGER side of the engine. You are getting info from uninformed people. They post what they have seen posted about similar problems. If they knew what they were talking about, it would be much easier to ask for help. ALL ford engines since 1986 utilize a ONE PIECE rear main seal which requires trans removal to replace. I have worked for a Ford dealer for 13 years and have yet to replace a rear main seal in a 4.6 or 5.4 due to a leak. Your best bet is to clean the area thoroughly and re evaluate after a test drive to see exactly what is leaking.

 

I believe I mentioned I was aware he has a 4.6 and also advised him to clean the area to better assess his leaking condition. So not everyone has failed to realize his peril.

 

ok thanks for the info - sounds like it won't clear the crossmember too easily due to the oil pickup

but yeah i will try to find exactly where it is leaking from by cleaning that whole area

also one thing i noticed is that they had the oil level extremely high, so i drained it out to the normal level. this truck has over 90k so i'll replace the pvc valve - maybe it clogged and is forcing oil out of the crankcase area. hopefully that will remedy and i won't have to attempt dropping the pan

but thanks again for the help

 

update: i have been researching this a little bit and the crossmember can be removed (4 bolts) in order to completely remove the oil pan.

pcv valve was not clogged

leak is at front engine cover and oil pan on passenger side

 

further update for anyone researching oil pan removal procedure on this my:

pretty basic and straightforward procedure, crossmember removal is required but then the oil pan is moved rearward slightly to clear the steering rack and comes straight off.

i ended up replacing the engine front cover gaskets too and cleaning the whole thing up so it took me a while longer than i originally planned for

fwiw

 

well might as well update once more lol because unfortunately replacing all of the cover gaskets did not fix this oil leak

500 miles on it and it appears that the leak is the same as before - it must be coming from the head gasket just above the a/c compressor.

i have read that the romeo engines have had tsb problems with metal chips from the machining process getting caught inbetween the head gaskets and causing leaks. but it appears to have gotten resolved by about 2001 or so.

so maybe eventually i will prolly be pulling this engine to do the hg. (i won't do that in-vehicle) but in the meantime i am loving this truck and its running like a champ!