Oil leak!

[Michael Anderson]

Hi there, so last week i changed the oil in my explorer. I had forgot what oil weight i had used last time and someone misplaced my manual so yeah. No help there. I thought I used 10w-40. But not positive. So i checked with ford and they recommended 5w-30. So i used that and now my oil pressure gauge is being janky and oil is leaking from what looks like at the seal between block and oil pan.
Thoughts? Recommendations?
Thank you.

 

[Mbrooks420]

If you are losing oil pressure, quit driving it. These pressure ‘guages’ Are nothing but idiot lights. If it reads over a nominal value like 5psi it reads normal. I’d check it with a real mechanical gauge. A change from 10w40 to 5w30 shouldn’t cause any dramatic pressure drop.

 

[lobo411]

Remove the oil filter and inspect the area where the filter lip meets the block. The old rubber gasket from the oil filter you replaced when you changed the oil is probably still stuck there.

Or, if you still have the old oil filter, you could just look at that. If it's missing its rubber gasket around the lip, then you know it's still stuck on the block.

 

[koda2000]

10W40 is too heavy, Ford recommends 5W30. I use 10W30 in my V8 vehicles, which now have over 200,000 miles. I use 5W30 in my SOHC V6. The SOHC is more fussy about oil weight.

Merely changing your oil from from one weight to another shouldn't cause oil leaks. As said make sure you got the old oil filter gasket off before you installed the new filter.

What engine does your Expl have? OHV V6, SOHC V6 or V8? If you have the SOHC V6, you may have broken pieces of timing chain tensioner blocking your oil pickup, which will make the pressure gauge bounce around. If so it's pretty easy to remove the lower oil pan and check to see if it has broken pieces of tan plastic in it. Removing the broken plastic should stop the oil pickup from being clogged, but the plastic means your engine's days are numbered.

How many miles of your vehicle?

 

[Mr. Alligator]

^ the above are solid points. If after checking those items, you still have a fluttering gauge .... I would check the sender, then the gauge. After twenty years, I have been through several of each. As they fail, you get flutter or readings showing no pressure at all.


*. It is very unlikely that an oil change would impact oil pressure or cause an oil leak at the pan.