Front Engine Cover Oil Leak on Explorer Sport

[bigtexan99]

When I was installing the new Raptor style grill on my Sport, I noticed a little leak. See attached picture. There is no oil puddle on my garage floor. Took the Sport in for the C02 concerns fix and showed the Service advisor the pic and he said he would check it out.

Today he called and said the oil is leaking from the front engine cover, and the oil filter adapter. The are going to open up the engine and replace the engine cover gasket, and several other gaskets.

Will update when I get it back next week. By the way, I only have 9600 miles on my 2016.

 

[shucker1]

Warranty...

 

[bigtexan99]

AFAIK its all covered under warranty. Don't see why it wouldn't be. Service adviser made no mention of any costs when he called to give me the update.

 

[FordShelby]

Good to hear the warranty is taking care of you.

 

[bigtexan99]

I stopped by the dealership unannounced to see how the job was going. We walked back and took a look and I met the mechanic. My first impression of the mechanic was "thank god". He was older, clearly experienced, and gave me a quick overview of what they were doing. Interesting that the front engine cover does not have a gasket, its just a thick bead of sealant. Here are a couple of pics of the open engine, and the front engine cover itself.

 

[bigtexan99]

Got the Sport back and so far so good. They resealed the engine cover, replaced the valve cover gaskets, replaced the oil filter adapter and gasket, replaced the high pressure fuel line from the pump to the rail, and new V drive belt. Changed the coolant, oil and oil filter All under warranty, no charge.

 

[Mlarv5]

Wow I love the look of a clean engine. It is sort of common for the front cover to not have a gasket anymore. The sealant is applied by a robot in the factory, the robot that did your must have been close to break time(-; Glad they go it fixed up for ya.

 

[shucker1]

the robot that did your must have been close to break time(-;

Or it was Friday afternoon and he wanted t get home to his robot wife "Rosie"....

 

[Stephen Cannon]

Rosie was a Riveter robot. The sealant application was her cousin.....Wait for it.....!!!....Flow...

All kidding aside I an believe they used about 14 cents worth of sealant instead of 17 cents worth of Gasket material. Probably some bean counter weenie who has probably never even heard of oil changes much less done one themselves. They will save the .03 cents and bank on the sealant lasting forever...or at least until the warranty expires.

Unfortunately way of the world, not just Ford and not just automobiles...…. I bet if you really dug down deep you would find that the Gasket maybe cheaper in the long run with overall longer reliability and reduced warranty claims, bad survey and reliability reviews.

 

[Stephen Cannon]

Kudos to the service advisor and mechanic for wanting to talk to you and show you the problem. Most people would just take the S/A word and move on. For anything this serious especially with low miles then I would insist on seeing the damage and talking with the tech. Even better allowing photos to document the repair.

 

[Ironworker40]

That's the kind of dealer I like. Most of them will give you the "you can't go back there because our insurance won't allow it".
I don't ask. I just walk in they the open bay doors. Anyway what is the name and location of that dealer? Someone else on here may be looking for a good dealer in that area.