found oil pool

[dayo808]

I recently discovered oil pooling on the top of my engine between my heads it appears there's a freeze plug and it's full of oil and the section behind it looks like a sensor sticking up out of a pool of oil. Any ideas ? I can't get my hand in there and I don't have any idea where it's coming from. The engine is a 4.0 v6 09 eb. Also I have not noticed oil getting lower

 

[Bobmbx]

Are you sure its oil? The thermostat housing on your truck is made of plastic and has a high failure rate along the "seams". It usually starts out as a small leak. The leakage will collect in the valley. Coolant is very slippery, and when it pools "way back there", it looks a lot like oil.

 

[dayo808]

Dipped a pvc pipe in it certainly looks like oil. I'll check it out again and get back

 

[Duranged84]

Could be valve cover gasket leaking in there if it is for sure oil. The sensor sticking up is your knock sensor. Could also be from that I guess now that I think about it. Not sure if it goes all the way through the manifold or if its sealed below it. Its basically just a microphone so it doesnt need internal access. See if you can get a pic for us. If something in there is leaking, You're looking at removing the upper intake to get to it, valve cover or knock sensor. If its coolant mixed with dirt/engine shine crap from dealer/detailer, then it will most likely be the thermostat housing.

 

[dayo808]

Dammit I can't figure out the picture route. I do have a couple pics of it the how hard is it to remove the upper intake?

 

[Duranged84]

To get pictures in here, put them on photobucket or any image hosting site and copy the (IMG) link and paste in your reply.

Upper intake isn't too terrible to pull, mostly time consuming and need a torx bit. I'll try to find a post showing the steps to make it more clear. You will need new o ring gaskets and I highly recommend replacing the isolator bolts (the torx bolts with rubber grommets on them ) usually around $40 on eBay or $80 from the dealer for a set. Search for "intake isolator bolt set"

 

[Flag Gibby]

There was an individual here a while back (may have been a year ago) with an identical issue and it ended up being something relatively simple to fix. Let me see if I can find the specific thread in my list of comments.

Found it: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=399207&highlight=oil

 

[dayo808]

Thanks flag and durranged the post about the oil pump drive gear is very interesting maybe that's the problem. I guess I'll just have to take it back to the dealer where I bought it and have them check it out. It'll cost me about a hundred to have it checked but maybe more in the long run is at chance since I'm still under warranty. It just burns my azz to have found out there's a chance of voiding if I do the work myself but a 500$ to change valve cover gaskets is b.s. also haha. Rock and a hard place. Dang also I switched from 3rd shift to 1st at work. So haven't had time for more than work and sleep sorry for the late reply.