Oil is collecting on the passenger side intake valley of my 2001 5.4 F150. This may have been there for a long time as it is difficult to spot without a flashlight. There is about 2 tablespoons maybe. Just by chance I happened to spot it the other day. No other oil leaks to be found. Nothing dripping on the ground. Engine has 145K and runs great. Engine uses about a qt a month of oil - more or less - I check it every other fill up and top it off if necessary.

Is anyone out there familiar with this issue? Is it a major concern? Should I look for other related issues? Would I have been better off if I never noticed it? - LOL.

Thanks for any input you can provide.

 

Clean the oil out as much as possible and then keep an eye on it for more oil accumulation. It's possible that when adding oil at the oil fill tube some spilled and ended up in the valley and it will stay there forever. I wouldn't worry about it too much. The high pressure oil feed hole on the rightside head is at the very back of the head so it would be a stretch for a leak there to end up in the valley. I would bet on it being spillage. I know what you mean about being better off not noticing. Sometimes I hear noises from my truck and I just turn the radio up because I don't feel like dealing with it at the time LOL. Take care.

 

I had the exact same truck since brand new. I took excellent care of it and only had 40,000 miles on it when I noticed the same thing. Took it to the dealer and they said the heads were warped. traded it in at another dealer, that was 5 years ago.