Oil leak issues?

[jakegator]

Hello there, I jut purchased a 92 explorer, with a good bit of miles on it (307775 miles) most everything has been replaced with stock parts except the engine. It is a 4.0l 6. The person I bought it from said it leaks about a quart of oil a month. I cannot find any signs of the leak though (I had a power steering line break so everything is covered in fluid). Now the exhaust is clear, no smoke of any color, the coolant is clear and has no exhaust smell, the oil seems clean as well. the person claims its never been allowed to over heat, and it has not come close for me either. Does any body have any suggestions as to what it may be? Im assuming a gasket due to the age and mileage but im not sure. Thanks in advance for your comments!

 

[jakegator]

Also Im considering taking it in for a pressure test to see if there are any cracks in the engine, does anyone think this is a good idea?

 

[Anime]

You'd probably find the leak easier if you took a can of engine cleaner to it first.

The 4.0L OHV V6 is well known for having leaky valve cover gaskets, but it could be a leaky head gasket, leaky rear main seal, or even cracked heads that are allowing oil into the cylinders or cooling system. Sometimes the oil pan gasket can leak as well.

If you clean it up and there's no sign of a leak around the heads, and no oil drip around the pan gasket or at the bottom of the engine or trans, my guess would be one or both of the heads has damage.

You can try for a pressure test, but if you don't get any external leaks and it still uses oil, I think it'd be a waste to pay money for a test to prove it, and you'd be better off spending money on new heads or a motor with less miles.

 

[Jason94sport]

Rear main & the oil pan gasket are suspect, they have leaked on any 1st gen I had.

 

[jakegator]

Ok thanks for the feed back, im pretty sure its the oil pan gasket