can't get a break. OIL ALL OVER.....

[titansarrow]

for the last few days (not driving much) the check oil light has come on and gone off. I checked the oil friday, and it looked fine to me. to day i went out and foun a small oil spill and looked under. and guess what i found.....more oil. the driver side frame rail (underside and inside mostly). when i say oil is on it, i mean that it is caked, looks like its been that way for years. considering it has 300k on it, it wouldn't be too far fetched to believe that. however, about 6 months ago i have the engine bay cleaned (due to what i am sure is years of crud build up), and it looked good.

i took some pics and will upload them shortly. the exhaust manifold is still clean (because of the wash), and the passenger side, under the bay is clean. so, hear is my conclusion- the oil pan gasket is blowing out on the driver side, and may only be leaking when the truck is running. and due to the oil pressure, is "shooting" all over the driver side.

A) am i correct?
B) if so- how hard/costly is it to replace?
hidden answer C) is there a sealer additive in stead?

THANKS ALL!!!

 

[titansarrow]

bump for help

 

[Currency]

for the last few days (not driving much) the check oil light has come on and gone off. I checked the oil friday, and it looked fine to me. to day i went out and foun a small oil spill and looked under. and guess what i found.....more oil. the driver side frame rail (underside and inside mostly). when i say oil is on it, i mean that it is caked, looks like its been that way for years. considering it has 300k on it, it wouldn't be too far fetched to believe that. however, about 6 months ago i have the engine bay cleaned (due to what i am sure is years of crud build up), and it looked good.

i took some pics and will upload them shortly. the exhaust manifold is still clean (because of the wash), and the passenger side, under the bay is clean. so, hear is my conclusion- the oil pan gasket is blowing out on the driver side, and may only be leaking when the truck is running. and due to the oil pressure, is "shooting" all over the driver side.

A) am i correct?
B) if so- how hard/costly is it to replace?
hidden answer C) is there a sealer additive in stead?

THANKS ALL!!!

I believe they make sealers for an oil pan gasket. I would call autozone, advance, Napa or which ever place you prefer and ask them about it.
Maybe Lucas or slick 50 would help???


I would replace the oil pan gasket, It should be fairly cheap and easy to replace, Would drain the oil before attempting removal of the oil pan

maybe someone else will chime in and offer some advice.

 

[tigercat]

there would also see oil drooling down the side of the oil pan if so u dont have to remove the engine to put a new gasket u can just drop it as far as it goes and squeeze the gasket under and arount the crank shaft an wolla. i dont reccomdend getting the quiq fix goo cuz itll gum up the engine

 

[titansarrow]

i know it sounds stupid, but what about an exterior fix? this truck only has to last me a year. is there some sort of caulk or something maybe?

 

[Currency]

i know it sounds stupid, but what about an exterior fix? this truck only has to last me a year. is there some sort of caulk or something maybe?

You can check this out. I would personally just fix it right because if your selling it in a year it would be worth more.

http://www.jbweld.net/index.php

I've heard people using it to fix cracked heads before. It's your explorer so it's really up to you. I just wouldn't do it the cheap way.

Warning: if you put their steel hardener around the oil pan you may never be able to remove your oil pan again.

 

[titansarrow]

i would just do it, but it doesn't look like there's any room to drop the pan with out pulling the motor

 

[nitro71]

You could do a radius arm, pivot bushing replacement along with anything else wrong on the front arm. Drop the pivot arms, do your oil pan, do the RA's and the pivots while you're there. Doing something like this would depend on how many days you can have the vehicle down as it would probably take a while if you haven't dug into your front end before.

Looks like you might have to pull the engine to do the oil pan gasket? I haven't dug that deep into mine. Seems like a crazy design if that is so.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256469

 

[titansarrow]

i'm not what the RA's are honestly. for now i'm just looking to get by. it's starting to get cold out, so i want to handle general maintainance before snow falls. not to mention i'm trying to not spend much money till spring, when i'll most likely either rebuild or buy a new/rebuilt motor any way.

and by pull the motor i just meant to jack or lift it up. but it still seems like a pain in the ass. but then again, the oil filter isn't exactly easy to get to either. though the design makes sense in an off-road application

 

[Currency]

The oil filter is easy to get to imo. Right by the drain plug. That way when you put your drain plug back in you can remove your oil filter and replace it.

I would say, unbolt the motor mounts, lift up the engine. If you have to unbolt the trans from the engine and get some longer bolts, a few inches long to slid into where the old transmission bolts were. That way you could gain a few inches there.

 

[titansarrow]

went and had the oil done (because i couldn't get the filter off last time). and got a quote for the oil pan- $50 for the gasket, $750 or so labor. lmao! for that i can just have a temporary solution and get new motor in the spring. i intend to get a new motor any way, and in light of how difficult it is to change it and the fact that it's not that bad, i may just say screw it

 

[Currency]

I swear if someone told me it would cost $800 to change the oil pan gasket on my explorer I wouldn't be able to help myself and slap them silly.

I honestly don't think the best guys around here would charge that much. I know they all charge $55 an hour labor. I can get a engine swapped for $300-400, Cheaper if I look around and free if I do it myself. But I can find people here that can do it just as good as me or anyone I paid for $125 to $150. They would have it done in a day or two.

So I'm sure you can find someone to replace it cheaper the $750. I'd do it for $250 if you bought the gasket.

 

[Tony H]

Have you gone around the oil Pan and made sure the hardware holding it is tight?
Drivers side: there is a low oil sensor, maybe that is where your leak is coming from.

 

[Tony H]

I swear if someone told me it would cost $800 to change the oil pan gasket on my explorer I wouldn't be able to help myself and slap them silly.

I honestly don't think the best guys around here would charge that much. I know they all charge $55 an hour labor. I can get a engine swapped for $300-400, Cheaper if I look around and free if I do it myself. But I can find people here that can do it just as good as me or anyone I paid for $125 to $150. They would have it done in a day or two.

So I'm sure you can find someone to replace it cheaper the $750. I'd do it for $250 if you bought the gasket.

WOW $55 per hour??? Here in N.Y. you are looking at $100 and hour from an INDY and $100+ for dealer

 

[titansarrow]

i think he said it was like $70/hr labor. i knew it would be a jip. but that just furthered my thought before- even if the cost was 3-$400, why bother? even if i go through a quart every 2 weeks, i can make it last till spring and spend 800-$1300 on a new motor. plus i just put in some lucas oil stop, it's petroleum based and "guaranteed" not to harm the motor in any way. so if that works, or even slows it down, that's $10 V a few hundred.

and no i havent checked too much into where else it could be leaking. but i've noticed being under it before, that there was oil/crud around the oil pan area.

And i would probly do it myself in a weekend or week, but i don't have the motor jack/lift or anything other than basic tools. plus i moved, so i'm not near my mechanic buddies any more.

 

[MrWizard]

Tony H has a good point.
You might want to recheck the oil level sensor (and/or oil pressure switch) thoroughly.
They can fail and leak A LOT of oil when the engine is running (50 psi), but show very little residual oil
on the connector when the engine is off.

Plus they're only a $5 part and simple to replace.

 

[Tony H]

Tony H has a good point.
You might want to recheck the oil level sensor (and/or oil pressure switch) thoroughly.
They can fail and leak A LOT of oil when the engine is running (50 psi), but show very little residual oil
on the connector when the engine is off.

Plus they're only a $5 part and simple to replace.

Can you really get to them easy. I thought I looked once and saw that the connection disappeared into a harness. Does that switch/sensor just unbolt?

 

[410Fortune]

I agree the oil pressure sensor leaks on these engines, it is near the front of the block below your power steering pump, access from front of drivers tire

oil pan I would tighten the bolts just a bit all the way around, evenly...this can slow a leak and like you said you are looking for a new engine in another year.

Lucas oil addative is very thick (pure petroleum) and can slow leaks and restore some compression. I dont use this stuff unless I have to and then when I do only a little bit at a time, maybe a quart max

How much is it leaking? Because to me with 300K miles, oil leaks are expected

 

[MrWizard]

Can you really get to them easy. I thought I looked once and saw that the connection disappeared into a harness. Does that switch/sensor just unbolt?

Yes, it just unbolts. It's a big bolt with a hole in the center and a sensor mounted at the other end.

It does help to have the oil sender socket. Just a deep socket that clears the sensor end. Another $5.
And hope the old sensor isn't just frozen in place after almost 20 years.
But usually because there is some conductive teflon grease on the threads they come off easy.

( Just thought titansarrow should be really really sure it's the oil pan before
spending hundreds of dollars repairing something that might not be the problem. )

 

[Tony H]

""( Just thought titansarrow should be really really sure it's the oil pan before
spending hundreds of dollars repairing something that might not be the problem. ) ""

That's exactly why I mentioned to check the Pan hardware and look at the Switch first.

Thanks for the info.