krispy97xlt
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- April 23, 2003
- Messages
- 111
- Reaction score
- 1
- City, State
- LaGrange, Ga
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '01 Sport Trac 4x4
Well,
I have been fighting an oil leak from the passenger side head on my 01 Sport Trac (4.0 SOHC). It manafested itself as a burning smell once the engine was
fully up to temp. No puddle was shown under the car, as the oil would just land on the passenger side exhaust manifold and burn off while driving.
I first just snugged the tensioner and cleaned up the visible oil.
The leak vanished for a few days, then I noticed the burning smell again,
crawling back under the car I noticed that the tensioner was seeping oil again.
I had to travel away on business so I parked the explorer, and ordered a replacement part from flea-bay.
This new tensioner came in, and I pulled the old one and replaced it with the new one, including the metal o-ring.
I snugged it down to about 40 ft-lbs. Later that day, I crawl back under the truck and sure enough it was leaking again.
So I back off the torque re center the washer (metal ring) and torque again this time to about 50 ft-lbs.
This time I start the engine to inspect for leaks, nothing at idle, and nothing when I rev to 3k rpm. Sweet. No leak!
Put the wheel liner back in, put the wheel back on. Park it for the night, after driving the next day. Boom: Leak is back.
So that brings us up to today. I have ordered 2 OEM ford crush washer (gasket/o-ring whatever) XU2Z6M252AA at 9$ a piece to see if I can stop this oil leak.
What am I missing here?
This seems like a poor design where the sealing surface and the oil inlet hole are way to close to one another.
All my friends are telling me to just keep topping of the oil and let it leak, but I am not one to let problems go unfixed (unless it was a rear main leak or something )
Any tips or input would be helpful....
-Chris
I have been fighting an oil leak from the passenger side head on my 01 Sport Trac (4.0 SOHC). It manafested itself as a burning smell once the engine was
fully up to temp. No puddle was shown under the car, as the oil would just land on the passenger side exhaust manifold and burn off while driving.
I first just snugged the tensioner and cleaned up the visible oil.
The leak vanished for a few days, then I noticed the burning smell again,
crawling back under the car I noticed that the tensioner was seeping oil again.
I had to travel away on business so I parked the explorer, and ordered a replacement part from flea-bay.
This new tensioner came in, and I pulled the old one and replaced it with the new one, including the metal o-ring.
I snugged it down to about 40 ft-lbs. Later that day, I crawl back under the truck and sure enough it was leaking again.
So I back off the torque re center the washer (metal ring) and torque again this time to about 50 ft-lbs.
This time I start the engine to inspect for leaks, nothing at idle, and nothing when I rev to 3k rpm. Sweet. No leak!
Put the wheel liner back in, put the wheel back on. Park it for the night, after driving the next day. Boom: Leak is back.
So that brings us up to today. I have ordered 2 OEM ford crush washer (gasket/o-ring whatever) XU2Z6M252AA at 9$ a piece to see if I can stop this oil leak.
What am I missing here?
This seems like a poor design where the sealing surface and the oil inlet hole are way to close to one another.
All my friends are telling me to just keep topping of the oil and let it leak, but I am not one to let problems go unfixed (unless it was a rear main leak or something )
Any tips or input would be helpful....
-Chris