Houston...........we have a problem!!!

[Vozar]

Ok heres the situation. I first started synthetic this oil change . I had a very little leak on the crossmember and it seems it has intensified greatly since i put synthetic in 2000 miles ago. Yesterday i finally took it in to the dealer and wanted to see if i could get the leak fixed. Heres the the bad part. The wanted $1400 to fix 5 of my gaskets that are leaking(most of the expense is because the had to pull the motor out)-

-LowerBlock assembly gasket-

-Front Crank Seal Gasket-

-Oil Pan Gasket-

-Front Cover Gasket-

-Water Pump Gasket-

My first reaction when heard this was What The F&%$.
My dad meticuliously took car of the X up untill 80,000 when he gave it to (oil changes every 3,000 like clockwork), and i have too since i got it but i do rag on it a little(now has 101,000).I have several options but I was wondering if i could hear some other ones too.


Tomorrow I am going to but some no-leak stuff that fixes leakes. Also going to buy some gunk engine flush. A friend at work had a oil leak on his car and he flushed it out with the gunk stuff and added the no-leak stuff in the new oil. It worked for him and he no longer leaks oil.First i will try that.

One of my other options is that i could just add oil but the leak seems to be intenseifing. I dont want to be ading a quart a week.

The third option is that I find an new or used 4.0 OHV motor(i have the SOHC now but want the reliability of the OHV) and drop it into the truck. It wold bolt right up the tranny but im sure i would need wiring harnesses and other stuff. Well, what the hell do i need? I would spend up to $800 for the motor and stuff if i could even find one that cheep.Anyone got one for sale?

Last i could drop my motor now and just replace the gaskets. That would be the cheapest. Nothing is wrong with the motor its just the damn gaskets.It would be a teedious process and would probably be very hard.


Well I could use the input, suggestions, or information you all could give me. Thanks, Matt

 

[Redrig]

How about going back to regular oil? I always heard synthetic is thinner which maybe why it leaks more now. But thats hear say.

 

[Premier]

Mine started to leak oil once I switched to synthetic also. Ford wanted over 2100$ to fix mine
Total bullsh!t!!!

If you are thinking of putting in an OHV, then why not just replace the seals in the SOHC? I think you culd get a rebuilt engine for much cheaper than what ford wants just for replacing gaskets.... My grandpa got a rebuilt 7.3L for his F-250 and it was only 1300$. Whatever you decide to do GL

 

[Bronco_bill]

Change the oil and put in some 10-W40 weight it should fix most of your leaks.

 

[Vozar]

redrig-I might do that but it still did leak a little with regular oil. But my truck is a different truck with the syntec. I runs and drives soo much better.

premier- a rebuld sounds ok but $1300 is still pretty steep and thats alot of money. Its in the back of my head as an option though.

 

[Vozar]

bronco bill-you mean change back to regular oil and use that weight or stick to syntec in that weight.

 

[Redrig]

Did the dealer even do anything? You could try just tightening up some bolts on the oil pan, etc.

 

[Premier]

Originally posted by FordBeast98
premier- a rebuld sounds ok but $1300 is still pretty steep and thats alot of money. Its in the back of my head as an option though.

Remember that was for a 7.3L 460. Your engine should be quite a bit cheaper

 

[Vozar]

If i can find a shop around here that would rebuild it for like $900 or $1000 i would do that. I will have to search around here.

 

[DocVijay]

You could try a heavier weight synthetic.


All oil that is 10w30, for example, has the same thickness and viscosity. That's what the numbers are for. What happens with synthetics is that they don't have the same impurities in them, so no deposits (or rather much less). They can also dissolve some of the old deposits, and that can cause leaks. Switching back to dino oil won't really help.

 

[Vozar]

redrig- all they did was put die in my oil to see where it was leaking- I thought it would be a free diagnosis, noooo the charged me 80$ bucks. I was pissed because they didnt tell me about it. One day im going to start a dealer ship that will be honest and fair!

 

[Vozar]

Im lookin into the rebuild idea. Bronco bill how much did u get youres rebuilt for.

 

[Vozar]

heres a pic i snapped today. Notice everything that is yellow is normal maybe the sun and everything isnt is oil on the crossmember and a litthle tranny fluid on the left from my tranny cooler line(just started when i put my 35's on, gears are going in this week though.)

 

[espnfreak]

I smell a V8 swap..if your gonna go with a OHV just throw the 5.0 302 In there, it should be directly bolt in..I am bolting in my 302 5.0 in my Explorer soon and it apparently is supposed to be bolt up. I bought a wrekced mountaineer and hope to do it all under $2000

 

[Vozar]

A 5.0 would be nice but that would be a little more expensive and time comsuming. I dont think a 5.0 will bolt up with a 4.0's tranny. 5.0 will only work with the C5tranny or is it the C4. I dont know?

 

[Premier]

Also if you went with the 5.0 I think you would need a new transfer case. Also new tranny, and it would turn into an all wheel drive. Bad if you are getting lockers.

 

[Vozar]

my locker is in the process of getting

 

[DocVijay]

Originally posted by FordBeast98
my locker is in the process of getting

Getting what?

 

[Premier]

LoL, he is in the group buy for hootus 4x4. They might not get ordered if enough people dont buy
So they might come they might not, hence the process of getting

 

[Vozar]

yep, premier took the the words out of my mouth.
Ohh and by the way i bought the gunk motor flush and the stop leak stuff and im going to flush my motor this weekend. Im still pondering whether i should continue with syntec or go back to my old castrol GTX regular motor oil. Opinions?, Matt