Could I ask if there is "history" of problems with oil leaks on the 5.4 litre engine??

Son reports hot oil smell from engine, then appearance of oil coming from ABOVE the rear main seal area. During drive home, a loss of power and "shuddering" when attempting to accelerate.

Friends (mechanics) tell stories of this engine developing cracks in the block running for and aft at the junction of the "V". (Might just be Chevy lovers, however!)

Thanks for any thoughts.

Amoose

 

I don't know about your shuddering problem BUT these engines (5.4's) are very well known for leaking from the passenger side head gasket. Some of the leaks are worse than others. The smell is the oil dripping onto the exhaust just below the back of the engine.

Lie on your back on the passenger side and look up with a shop light or flashlight and you will see the leak.

good luck!

 

Thank you HCMQ for your response. We have contacted the Ford dealer just now and they seem very willing to look at this as a warrantable item even though we are 7 months beyond 3 years. We are, however, at 33000 miles and that may be the reason they're willing.

The head gasket was the first thing they suggested should be looked at so that validates your comments. Our son had looked at that area, but had not yet seen that source. I'll tell him to look harder.

Thanks again for your suggestion.

Aneemoose

 

your welcome and good luck!

it is a very hard leak to see if it is not making it to the ground yet. mine has not made it to the ground but it does weep/leak just enough to get on where the exhaust manifold joins with the exhaust pipe. that is why you have the burning oil smell.

like i said above you need to lay on your back and slide under the passengers side and use a strong flashlight and you will be able to see where the head meets the block and you will see where it is coming from.

keep us posted

 

33k and just over 3 years?

BUY THE ESP QUICK!!

 

HCMQ and Bikenut:

Chapter 2. Dealer says, "Yes, it is a head gasket leak." I said to my Son: "Let me guess, passenger side bank, right??". Of course the answer was, "RIGHT!" (as in correct) So then they told him, they'd see if Ford would cover it and if not it was 11 hours at $70/hr........

Son was not doing well after hearing that news and now is very discouraged about the quality of the vehicle. These things happen I told him and even my Odyssey has had a coolant leak and a loss of a/c refrigerant in the same total mileage range.

Bikenut, are you saying "Buy the extended warranty"? I'm not familiar with the acronym ESP.

The reliabiliity rating in Consumers Report is significantly higher than the GM products, but significantly lower than the Toyota Tundra.

That's Chapter 2. Thanks for your input.

Aneemoose

 

Yes, personally, I like the extended warranty.
Even if you never use it, it is good peace of mind. And if you do need it, it will usually pay for itself in one incident.

Some people say extended warranties are a waste of money, but to each his own.

You should be able to get Fords ESP (extended service plan) for about $1000. (right guys?)

 

I got the ESP when I bought my 97 simply because its the first model year of a new product. I paid around 1500.00 and get free rental car and no deductible. Truck now has 65,000 and has had over 5000.00 in warranty work done.Just my .02

 

I have 60,000 trouble free miles on my truck, but it is up to you as to whether or not you want to purchase an extended waranty. In my opinion, I think my engine takes more of beating than almost anyone else's. I live in an area where it gets extremely cold (well below minus 50F without wind chill) for long periods of time and I rarely if ever plug my F-150 in. I just hop on in it, fire it up, and then drive off when I see the rpms's drop to around normal. I don't think I am ever easy on the engine, and it runs extremely quiet and smooth. Some have had some issues, but I think the majority of F-150 owners have not. I absolutely love how reliable and dependable my truck has been for me, and I wouldn't let this incident discourage you from thinking you don't have a reliable vehicle. The day I see a Tundra parked overnight in -65F weather unplugged and start up on the first try is the day I'll admit they make a more reliable truck. I know a lot of F-150 owners that leave their trucks unplugged no matter the temperature, because we know they will start (Toyota owners don't have that security up here). You have an extremely reliable truck so please don't second guess its reliability. Just hope it gets fixed right and you should have nothing but smooth sailing from that point on.

 

I too have the 6/100k ESP with $100.00 deductible which the dealer threw in to get me to buy the truck.

My truck might have some of the common problems that others do BUT I do however trust this trucks reliability 110%

I am going to wait unitl my oil seep gets unbearable before I have them fix it. I discovered it 15k ago, no oil makes it to the ground and my oil level between changes doesn't drop at all.

Your truck would prolly run another 200k miles with that little leak and never have a problem.

waiting for chapter 3

 

Okay you guys all:

HCMQ, Bikenut, Wantmorespeed, I Laugh.

Good info and tips and much appreciated for your time here.

Chapter 3 will be Monday I guess when the dealership says it should be ready. We'll see what they think we will stand still (or bend over!) for....($$$$$$)..

Ford has taken their knocks lately and I'm sure they are concerned for their reputation and customer loyalty. As I told our Son: These are complex vehicles and FAR more reliable as well as functional than vehicles ever used to be.

I had the unfortunate experience of owning a '74 Mustang II and it was awful. It had less than 80,000 miles on it after 10 years simply because I couldn't afford to keep it on the road. It would break down, I'd park it and get out the old '68 Beetle with 125,000 miles and freeze my buns off for another Winter. A friend took pity on me and gave me an old gas heater he had for it. It occured to me many times however that driving down the road with your legs under the gas tank and a gasoline fire burning directly above that for heat was probably not a formula for a long safe life!!

Thanks again.

Aneemoose

 

Yep, my 01 had a leak from the rear of the head on the passenger side ( closest to the fire wall)

 

Aneemoose,
I would get your district service rep from Ford involved. I would use Toyota and GM as your next brands to look at as a bargaining chip. It sounds like this is your son's truck. If you and other family members drive Ford products tell the rep that none of you will ever purchase another Ford Product again. (even if you really would continue to purchase Ford vehicles) I have never had this work for me. But I hear stories of them repairing vehicles way out of warranty with up to 100,000 miles. The other thing I do not like is that they seem to be less inclined to help younger customers. So then I would say something to the effect that you have the potential to buy many many vehicles throughout your life. And ask them if they would really prefer you to purchase a competing brand from now on? This oil leak is a very well documented known problem. Should they decide to fix it, make sure they replace the gaskets with the new 4 ply service fix gasket. They are contemplating or planning to use this addative to the oil to gum up the leak. I equate it to bars leak or (radiator stop leak) for your oil. And I do not like that idea. From what I hear, they have to remove the engine to get the head off and sometimes they actually prefer to remove the cab to get the engine out. Look and see how the engine is stuffed up in there under the dash. Maybe for a head gasket thay would remove the cab and change the gasket with the engine still in the vehicle. Maybe someone else can confirm this. I am looking at installing a Lightning engine in my F150, so I have been checking around to see what is involved. You may just consider living with the problem if all this work does not make you feel comfortable. I personally do not like the dealer touching my vehicles. But sometimes you have to let them work on it. Just my opinions. Darin

 

Sorry for not posting immediately with "Chapter 3" yesterday. Monday was the day to go to the general mgr. concerning cost estimates on the 5.4 litre repair. We're talking serious bucks here as the tear down revealed a seriously out of tolerance cylinder block on the offending (passenger) side. I believe the number was 4 thousandths variance, but don't quote me on that. Everything I get is second hand in the info department. Bottom line: replacement engine with new 3 year 36000 warranty.

The service mgr. was quoting 80% factory, 10% dealership, 10% owner share of expense. Son quickly calculated this was about 9% more than he was capable of. (What's he doing owning a truck of this value, you say?? Don't ask.)

Before even seeing the service guys, we went directly to the gm who had previously verbally committed to full or very nearly full Ford responsibility. We discussed lineage of this truck and sure enough, there on the papers was date of manufacture, the troublesome FIRST OF THE '99s. (late '98).

To gmgr's credit he said right away that the service guys are "reading from a script". I told Son that as "Click & Clack" said on Saturday, they were "assessing your pain threshhold". You should have pretended to faint and dropped the phone on the floor!

I'd like to again thank each of you, HCMQ, Bikenut, Wantmorespeed, I Laugh, KeithG, Wheelspeed for your comments and thoughts. I was "armed" with a "ream" of info off the internet that I waved at and offered them and said Ford should be ashamed for even suggesting that anyone other than Ford might be asked to pay for there mismanufacture.

It is abundantly apparent that my gray hairs and obvious laps in life stopped them from even bothering to attempt to assess our pain threshold. Your comment that they don't respect youngsters is absolutely right on the button. That's unfortunate. I'm trying to model savvy consumer awareness for our young man ( a young 25), but age is for sure not in his favor at this point. The internet can be a great help in areas such as these for rapid aquisition of info.

The job is supposed to be complete tomorrow. I hope I'm as upbeat about it tomorrow as I am at this moment tonight......

Many thanks again.

Aneemoose

 

ESP, EXTENED WARRANTY SHOULD BE BOUGHT WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR SO I DONT THINK YOU WILL GET IT. SWEET TALK THE WARRANTY MAN YOU MIGHT GET LUCKY BUT IT WILL COST YOU. I GOT MINE IN 13TH MONTH COST $850.00 FOR A 98 LARIAT 5.4 SUPERCAB BUT I DID SOME SLICK TALKEN.