Driving with a coolant leak from the timing cover

[Mbrooks420]

rtv is for sealing gaskets, imo i like JB better in that its strength is higher, but rtv does better with the expansion/shrinking (heh...) of metals, cause thats what its designed to do. however, JB has a higher strength... i could see either working!

The issue is that’s it’s nearly impossible to get JB Weld to stick to an oil pan, since oil is going to constantly come out of the pan, unless you pull it, at which point you just replace the pan. The ultra black is forgiving about being applied to a completely clean surface.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

The issue is that’s it’s nearly impossible to get JB Weld to stick to an oil pan, since oil is going to constantly come out of the pan, unless you pull it, at which point you just replace the pan. The ultra black is forgiving about being applied to a completely clean surface.

ah true. if its done when the oil is drained, if you let it sit a while it may be dry enough. but yeah, youre right about the surfaces

 

[C420sailor]

Previous owner tried fixing it with some kind of epoxy. It failed. Became brittle from heat cycles and also didnt bond very well.

I drained the oil out of mine, and let it sit for a good two days before I cleaned it up. I used acetone. I wanted any oil that was going to run out to run out before the repair, not during. After applying the RTV, I waited 24 hours before adding oil.

 

[98FordLove]

one atf change removes 4.5 qts for me, and the system holds 10 qts for a v6 sohc 4x4, or 9.5 at least (9.5 is what is for the ohv 2wd) so i usually remove about half per change, which i do every 30k. 90k i do a "flush" which is 2-3 chnages of the fluid in a short timespan. dont use the flush at the shop though, sometimes they can cause other damage due to the pressure the fluid passes thru. with that regimen, my 5r55e has lasted so far 330k miles, its all original! (yep, even the VB stuff is original!! all original gaskets, servos, epc solenoid!) also have a big trans cooler- heat is the enemy of these units, and fresh fluid helps extend the life alot on these, as does 3k OCi for the SOHC due to the thin passages and hydraulic tensoers, etc. i know ford says its "lifetime" but imo it sure can be lifetime, but it shortens the life of these! i think a decent amount of people do change, but im nto entirely sure

I think my ATf has been changed once in its lifetime. Its too bad you need a new pan and gasket each time just drain and filling the tranny.

 

[98FordLove]

rtv is for sealing gaskets, imo i like JB better in that its strength is higher, but rtv does better with the expansion/shrinking (heh...) of metals, cause thats what its designed to do. however, JB has a higher strength... i could see either working!

Is RTV basically silicone? Some have told me high heat silicone would work better, others say JB weld.

I guess I picked up the wrong stuff and the mechanic ended up picking up the correct stuff and got the JB export steel still instead. He said it will work better. Though the continuous heat tolerance is 300F vs 500F on the regular JB weld and the PSI strength is about 25% of what the JB is. And the cure time is 1hr vs 15-24 on reg JB weld. really hope this will be better, he says it will be.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

I think my ATf has been changed once in its lifetime. Its too bad you need a new pan and gasket each time just drain and filling the tranny.

you dont need new pan everytime, its metal and can reused unless its cracked or somehting. i put a drain plug in mine so i just drain it like oil, makes life so easy!!!!

 

[98FordLove]

Previous owner tried fixing it with some kind of epoxy. It failed. Became brittle from heat cycles and also didnt bond very well.

I drained the oil out of mine, and let it sit for a good two days before I cleaned it up. I used acetone. I wanted any oil that was going to run out to run out before the repair, not during. After applying the RTV, I waited 24 hours before adding oil.

Oh no. That's what my mech just got, JB weld steel stik. Which one exactly did you use? What was the cure time and continuous heat tolerance?

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Oh no. That's what my mech just got, JB weld steel stik. Which one exactly did you use? What was the cure time and continuous heat tolerance?

jb should be fine, steel stik is strong from what ive heard. should be fine. i have a feeling by epoxy 420 meant someting like that clear gorilla glue looking stuff... btu not sure! ive seen some weird things at the yard!

 

[98FordLove]

jb should be fine, steel stik is strong from what ive heard. should be fine. i have a feeling by epoxy 420 meant someting like that clear gorilla glue looking stuff... btu not sure! ive seen some weird things at the yard!

Ok good thanks. My immediate worry about the steel stik was the much lower PSI, much shorter cure time and the lower continuous heat tolerance over the reg JB weld. I'm not gonna lie I kinda wish he got the regular JB weld but if he says this is going to work better then...

I got the truck back just now and that one crack is working with the JB steel stik but the bolt nearby was leaking oil though and from the looks of it, when the mech applied some JB to it, it didn't work (but he also never drained the oil). I may have to just replace the oil pan and gasket he said but will give it more time to see how bad this leak gets after the truck has been driven for a week or so. Since the under carriage is all free of oil since we degreased it very well and cleaned it, I'll have to see if my under carriage is going to get as bad and if so, how long before that happens. If it's not near as bad as before ill just leave it. They said they would give me a deal on the pan and gasket repair if i wanted to do that. I'm eery on how well these two spot patches are going to hold up over time.

But more worrisome is the fact the mech believes my heads are leaking. Not sure of oil or coolant but how do i tell if my heads are indeed leaking? What are signs? He showed me a spot right behind the timing cover that was soaked in oil but that could have been from when the valve covers were leaking before I had them replaced. If my heads are indeed leaking then im not going to sink another dollar into this truck.

Other than that, with the new iacv the truck starts with more roar and seems stronger at startup. It revs up higher at startup but comes back down to 900rpm or so and stays like that at idle. I'm guessing this extra roar at start up is from the new iacv?

 

[Fix4Dirt]

this shuld be fine though, i mean oil pressure isnt that high, and neither is the temp, so it should be fine imo

 

[Mbrooks420]

There’s no real oil pressure in the bottom of the pan. I wouldn’t want any type of epoxy, although I don’t know why you’d want a longer cure time. The issue here is the residual oil. It needs to cure before it absorbs any oil, or it will never stick.

 

[98FordLove]

There’s no real oil pressure in the bottom of the pan. I wouldn’t want any type of epoxy, although I don’t know why you’d want a longer cure time. The issue here is the residual oil. It needs to cure before it absorbs any oil, or it will never stick.

So shorter cure time is better?

A few things I'm not happy about.
1) oil wasn't left to drain overnight. Just about 2 hours to drain.
2) he refills the motor with new oil only an hour after the JB weld steel stik was applied. Maybe even less. But he cleaned the spot really well though, removed the old red stuff and sanded it too and scuffed it so the JB could bite into it.
3) when I was just about on my way, and he discovers that oil is leaking out of the one corner bolt too, he dries the oil off, cleans it but doesn't drain the oil again before applying the JB weld steel stik around that one bolt. I mean what's the point? After 5 mins he tells me to start the trucks I did. No leak within 10 seconds and he said he's fixed.

I let the truck sit for an hour after this before driving home because it was a good drive. I'm now at home and was dying to see underneath and I see oil coming out of the bolt area but the crack area looked good. The oil could still be coming from the pan gasket but not sure.

The truck sat at his place overnight anyways last night so not sure why he wouldn't just refill the oil this morning and not last night. The truck wasn't going anywhere until today anyways. Makes no sense. Btw, JB advertises this steel stik to fully cure in 1 hour.

I feel like I just wasted my money. Sure I have a new AC belt on, new iacv, new front crankshaft seal, throttle body cleaned but the pan is still leaking (though it may be an improvement from before). Won't know for a few days after I gauge how fast it leaks from it in comparison to before.

I may just dump the new bottle of K seal that I got yesterday. For the fact I had to drain all the coolant so the coolant leak could come back. But most importantly if I have leaking heads I feel I should throw the bottle of K seal in, maybe 2 bottles. If the heads are leaking then this truck is on its way out and should be in the junkyard. I don't feel that the heads are leaking, Im not getting white smoke out of my exhaust, no bubbly foamy coolant. I feel that oil on the side that the mech saw is the old oil from when the gaskets and valve covers were changed but it just wasn't cleaned up.

 

[C420sailor]

I don’t know what epoxy was used, but it wasn’t JB. JB generally has good oil and heat resistance.

Never use normal silicone. It is not resistant to chemicals, and it will break down and end up in places you don’t want it—oil pump screens, passages, etc. Use the appropriate RTV if you need a sealant. Ultra Black is the cat’s ass when it comes to oil resistance.

I don’t know why he would apply JB over a bolt. What happens if/when you need to remove that bolt?

 

[98FordLove]

I don’t know what epoxy was used, but it wasn’t JB. JB generally has good oil and heat resistance.

Never use normal silicone. It is not resistant to chemicals, and it will break down and end up in places you don’t want it—oil pump screens, passages, etc. Use the appropriate RTV if you need a sealant. Ultra Black is the cat’s ass when it comes to oil resistance.

I don’t know why he would apply JB over a bolt. What happens if/when you need to remove that bolt?

The mech used JB steel stik, I saw the product and packaging.

I checked this morning and just took the truck for a good 30min drive. He put JB around the one bolt that was leaking oil through but not over it. It didn't work because it's still seeping oil. I have to give it a bit more time to see how much oil I lose compared to before. No more leak from the front crank so that's already less. I drove the truck again last night for 30mins and this morning there was only 1 drop on the ground (before it would be like 10-15 drops).

I'm liking going to just leave this leak. Sure it's not gone but so far it seems to be lessened. I can't expect to get a 26 year old truck 100% leak free.

I'm more concerned if my heads are infact leaking. Don't know how to tell if they are. I just checked underneath a couple times for a good while with the truck running and I just can't tell if any fluid is leaking from up above the oil pan and gasket. I may have to shampoo as much are as I can above the oil pan and timing cover and wash it to see how much oil i can remove from it and then judge. Just can't tell if its new or old oil from before.