97 5.0 AWD oil pan gasket change

[jremington59]

I re torqued them when I first discovered the leak. Of coarse there are a few that I couldn't get to towards the front of the engine.

I haven't checked it since this morning but I'm sure it will start again sooner or later. Your idea about the oil collecting under the TC made since but it has to be running down the front of the cover after coming off the engine somewhere. I'm back to thinking it's the back pass side corner on the oil pan. At least it it were I probably could stop it without yanking the engine.

Here's something else that's interesting. After my last few oil changes I noticed the oil seemed to be down almost a quart after just filling it. When I bought this one a few years ago the top was broken off the dipstick to check the oil. I came upon that in the garage today and when I put them side by side the original and replacement were not the same. I called the Ford garage and they said others had contacted them saying the fill line were off. So it seems I've been running it a few years with an extra half quart or better of oil, lol.

 

[jremington59]

I took it out last night and drove it hard for around 20 miles and this morning everything is still clean of oil. I'm sure now I must have forced some sludge into whatever part of the gasket was leaking when I was cleaning it up. So I guess until it breaks through again this thread is on hold.....

 

[jremington59]

Well, it didn't take long for the thing to rear it's nasty head again, lol. It seems to be the upper back pass side corner of the pan gasket right where it meets the plate in front of the TC. You can see it dripping on that first bolt and the one behind it.

It then seems to be running down the seam in that plate and falling off at the base of the starter right onto the top of the cat. When it gets bad enough there's a seam in the plate going the other way also that lets it drop onto the O2 sensor.

I'm wondering if I couldn't yank the starter so I could get right up there and get it cleaned to bare metal and smear some high temp sealant across the area. The starter is original I believe so it could use changing before it craps out when the temps hit zero this winter. If smearing it when I cleaned off the built up sluge stopped it for a few days the sealant might work without yanking the engine.

 

[delexploder]

Its worth a shot

 

[jremington59]

Does anyone know what size these starter bolts are? 13 mm is sloppy and 12 won't go on. 1/2 is also sloppy. The bottom one came out after about two hours but the top one isn't budging. The previous owner said the starter is original so I'm not sure if the top one's coming without going down to the shop and putting some heat to it. It's always something, lol.

 

[delexploder]

They should be 13mm , the top one is a stud with ground strap and nut and a real pita, you would think with all the oil they would come rite off. Lol

 

[jremington59]

The bottom one covered in oil was a pain in the ass compared to the top one that was dry. Go figure.

I got it done and coated this afternoon. I cleaned everything, my eyes included, with brake cleaner and wiped clean until all dirt and grease were gone. I then coated and worked into the seam all the way down around the bottom of the rear seal on the engine. I'd guess an area of a little over a foot. I'm going to let it dry a day or two and then see how it worked. Hopefully I got the spot but I may have to undo the connecter to the tranny lines so I can come the rest of the way up to the front. As much as a pita it was it's nothing compared to the thought of pulling the engine. I used high temp oil resistant black permatex so we'll see what happens.

 

[delexploder]

Keep us posted

 

[jremington59]

I'm wanting to go and fire it up but I will probably wait until tonight as we got down into the 50's last night and that's not good for drying.

 

[jremington59]

Well, we got good new and bad news, lol. The good news is the gasket sealer has stopped the big leak on the pass side of the oil pan. The bad news is, as Jon thought, I think there's a smaller leak in the main seal. The big leak was dropping the oil onto the cat and the smaller was coming out the groove on the base of the cover over the flywheel in front of the plug for the TC and dripping onto the back drivers side O2 sensor. I don't see any way any residual oil could have gotten inside that cover from the back of the oil pan. Now it's a question on how long the sealer stops the oil pan leak. I see no reason why it shouldn't last for quite a while but time will tell.

 

[bill06447]

I'm venturing a guess this has already been done, but if not now is the time to check your PCV system for proper operation.

Bill

 

[jremington59]

I put in a new grommet and valve a few weeks ago when I noticed the leak. I also ran my hand under both afterward and it's dry. I was hoping that was the problem originally.