smoking from rear of engine block. Head gasket?

[oz16us]

hi there, so I have a used Sport Trac 2001 and today I noticed that more smoke has been coming out of the rear of the engine block. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the weather since it's cold, but it's more visible now. I see it coming from underneath the hood even when the engine is off. I live in Florida, so it's not very cold like it is up north, but today is one of the coldest days of the year and I just notice the smoke more so than before.

To be honest, if you asked me if the truck is running okay...i would say, it's running just as good as when i got it a few months ago. It has a 4.0 engine, so it doesn't necessarily pick up very fast. I sometimes push it to go 85 on the highway. It has stead acceleration.

It has 140,000 and I haven't got around to changing the coolant (don't know if it has been changed). Anyway, am I safe to be driving this vehicle. I very much need your help ASAP as I will need to drive it tonight (1 hr to and from) and also for the next few days in a row.

I don't see any leaks under the truck and the smoke sorta smells like something is burning....it can't tell if it's clear or white, but I know it's not black. Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks

 

[Trackerforsport]

does it smell like burning oil it could be valve cover leaking

 

[oz16us]

it smells like burnt rubber....

 

[boominXplorer]

Leaking valve cover dripping oil on the exhaust I bet. Not too extensive of a job, definitely not a beginners job though.

Edit: MIGHT also be a leaking PCV valve, they are easy to swap out.

 

[Galactica]

Does seem like a bit of oil leaking possibly onto the back of the exhaust manifolds. Check your coolant and your oil as well though to see if there is any potential mixing of oil in the coolant or vice-versa. In the oil, this will look like a brown milkshake. In the coolant, you would see the top of the radiator looking like a bunch of oil instead of the nice green or orange coolant that you would normally see. Likely though, you just have a gasket leaking oil onto the manifolds.

 

[oz16us]

in regards to the PCV value, I've changed that out already. If there is a blown head gasket, how expensive is this to fix? As mentioned, I don't really notice any performance difference from when I first purchased the vehicle.... I read one post that mentioned that someone had the same situation and he brought it to a mechanic and found no leaks besides an overfill on the transmission fluid.....does burnt transmission fluid smell like rubber?

 

[oz16us]

if it is a leaking gasket, can i still drive it? could it be the cold weather, today, is making it look worse than it is?

 

[Trackerforsport]

burnt trans fluid has a weird smell to it almost like trash thats has been sitting for a while

 

[oz16us]

sorry, i'm not too familiar with automobile repair.... i just realized most of you mentioned it could be just a value cover repair not a head gasket. I take it, this is a minor problem? it sounds like I should be able to still drive it as usual and that being that it's extra cold today, it just made it look worse than it is?

 

[Galactica]

At least go in there with a flash light and look around the back of the engine to see if you can find anything obvious. Look after driving it to see if you can tell where the smoke is coming from. That can tell you a lot.

 

[Markaprice73]

Oil leaking down from the valve cover gaskets onto the hot exhaust can definitely smell like burning rubber. (no idea why)
My '02 Sport is doing this right now. I added the oil dye and used a UV flashlight to confirm. I tried at first to crawl under there to locate the source of the leak. But, very hard to tell and see the back of the valve covers. It collects mostly at the bell housing.
Both my valve covers are leaking from the rear outside corners.
The best way I found was to stand on a milk crate on the passenger side front corner and place my right forearm on the "snow shield". Then, with my left hand reach down 'as far as you can' to the rear corner of the valve cover. Then, check your finger tips for fresh oil.
On the driver's side I could see the leak clearly. It drips down onto the exhaust pipe after the exhaust manifold. It smokes and smells like burning rubber.
My new gaskets are in the garage ready to go. It's not leaking that bad at the moment. I tried tightening the bolts. Carefully! They can break. It helped a little. I'm just waiting for a few days off to tackle this. There's A LOT of crap covering these valve covers!!
Make sure your PCV valve is turned in all the way. Just wipe you finger around it and check for fresh oil.
Yes, you can drive it. Keep checking your oil level. It probably wouldn't be very much to have repaired by a pro. Gaskets are cheap.
Luckily I have my '03 ST to park next to it to remember how everything goes back together. I guess taking pics would be a good thing too. Oh, my ST is leaking as-well. Just not actually dripping onto anything or the ground YET.

 

[oz16us]

I just got back driving 2 hrs. Yes, I think this morning it looked like it was smoking more than it did in the past just cause it was colder than usual. So it sounds like there are two gaskets? One for the driver side and one for the passenger side? Anyone know of a good write up with pictures on replacing this part? Btw, the oil indicator in the instrumental cluster shows it's at full level

 

[Galactica]

Just an FYI: Ford gauges are in general considered "dummy" gauges. They are not necessarily a good indicator of actual oil level. The oil gauge in your dash represents oil pressure, but I believe will always show good pressure unless you get below like 7 pounds of pressure. I'm not even sure mine works properly. It literally snaps into position when you start the rig, instead of coming up normally like the rest of them. And my Voltage gauge is always reading on the lower side of normal, even though I've confirmed that I am running around 14V with the engine on. Only real mechanical or electrical gauges with sending units will tell you actual oil pressure, etc. You would see your oil pressure when hot at idle drop all the way to 20 or25 pounds, maybe even a bit less and then immediately jump to 45 or 50 pounds when you hit the gas.