Has anyone else had a problem with the rear main seal leaking on a 5.4? I have a 2002 5.4 with 8,000 miles on it and yesterday while changing the oil I noticed some oil coming from the rubber grommet in the inspection hole by the torque converter. It wasn't a ton of oil, just a little. My fathers truck is a '00 and also has the 5.4 and has the same leak, except a little worse. He has 36,000 miles on his. It ticks me off, one of my pet peeves is oil leaks, they are annoying as he**!!

 

I changed my oil last week and noticed the same thing. Just a tiny bit of oil. At first site I thought tranny fluid. I cleaned the area well and planned to check agian sometime this week. You know what Ford would say "Thats normal". If mine gets worse, and it will, I'll test that theory. I'm still under warranty right now plus I bought the ESP so if the seal is bad I might have a chance of getting it replaced without a bunch of crap. I just hate for them to have to go in there, something always get screwed up. I may have to crawl up under it today and look at it.

 

I NOTICED THE SAME LEAK..SMALL. BUT ENOUGH TO HACK ME OFF....I HAVE 2002 EXPEDITION 5.4...MY OIL GAUGE WAS ALSO GOING TO "0" AFTER STARTING IN THE MORNING..AFTER A FEW MINUTES IT WOULD LEVEL OUT..TOOK IT TO DEALER FRIDAY AND THE HAD TO REPLACE THE "OIL SENDING UNIT"? TALKED TO THE TECH IN THE SERVICE DEPT AND GOING TO HAVE TO DROP THE TRASMISSION MONDAY TO SEE WHAT THE PROBLEM IS?? HE'S THINKING IT'S THE "REAR MAIN"? MAYBE? THIS IS MY FIRST FORD PURCHASE AND THE FIRST VECHICLE TO HAVE A OIL LEAK AT 9,000 MILE AND 5 MONTHS OLD... ,MAY BE MY LAST........ THEY SAID IT MAY HAVE SET TO LONG ON THE LOT BEFORE THEY SOLD IT AND SOMETHING WENT WRONG WITH THE SEAL?????? SOUNDS LIKE A BUNCH OF B.S TO ME....

 

i doubt its the rear main, probably the right head gasket, look on or around the starter for oil, see if it isnt coming from up higher.

 

Nope, not the head gasket. I just looked and from what I can see everything is bone dry up in that area. There is just a bit of oil coming from the tranny grommet, not enough to even drip off.
Definetly oil though, cleaner than this time.

 

Not oil but I did have tranny fluid leaking from the torque converter plug. It never dripped on my driveway and the fluid returned about 100 miles after clean up. The dealer took the tranny apart and replaced the front seal(s) but it still leaked. After the first attempt at a fix I returned with a wet converter plug. The advisor had the tech clean it up and said ‘MY TRANNY GUY WITH 35 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE SAYS THE LEAK WILL NOT RETURN.” So 100 or so miles I was back when the leak returned and they replaced the tranny. The dealer said that the metal was ‘weeping’?. A few thousand miles later now and no leaks.

I remember reading something somewhere like Truck Trend where a rep from Ford was asked if they were having a lot of problems with internal truck tranny parts. He said no, but they were having a lot of problems with leaks. Can’t remember the specifics but the article was fairly recent.

 

I have an appointment tomorrow morning with the dealer to have this annoyance investigated and addressed.

2001 Lightning with 6500 miles.

Will advise as to their findings.

 

it appears there is a 'common' issue with the 5.4 as the findings indicated the head gaskets? My first inquiry was "Is it the gaskets or the cylinder head?" Granted, my truck is supercharged but if it was isolated/common to the Lightning, the Lightning community would be all over this as some are throwing 8+ additional pounds of boost with no problems... hmmmm

A couple of buds mentioned this may be a casting issue with the 5.4 heads as they had this same issue and ended up replacing the entire head..

And to top it off, heads are "D-99" similar to double-secret probation backorder...joy

will advise as this unfolds.

 

Bob
Did the dealer say it was your head gasket leaking? I don't think it's my head gasket, there just isn't any fluid that i can see around the head area. If it was a head gasket it would probably be leaking coolant. I'm not real concerned at this point as I have some time to watch it. I will have it looked at before my warranty expires though.

 

The parts places are selling die kits to add to the fluids to determine if it is trans or motor oil ..You want to make sure what it is and where it comes from, because rear main, head gasket, or front trans seal leak are all major jobs...

 

Aren't 4.6 and 5.4 the same block, different crank? In that case the rear main seals would be identical too.

The head leak if it happens is supposedly from the gasket on the valve cover, not the actual head gasket.

Look into the tranny inspection grommet while someone turns the engine by the front pulley crank via 18mm socket/ratchet until you see the 11mm (4R70W) plug in the torque converter to check it for leaks. Mine was bone dry inside that inspection hole so no leaks here.

Knock on wood.