SOHC oil filling up my intake galley and over flowing to the ground | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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SOHC oil filling up my intake galley and over flowing to the ground

compdoc777

Well-Known Member
Joined
April 5, 2004
Messages
159
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City, State
Cypress, TX
Year, Model & Trim Level
95 EB, 98 EB, 01 Exped EB
I am having a problems with oil filling up the intake galley on my 98 SOHC.

I just replaced the tensioner kit from Ford that big black bolt thing and my upper and lower intake gaskets.

The truck seems to run just fine, but I noticed it leaking oil while it was running it seemed to be leaking a lot on to the ground just recently. Yet, I check the oil level and it is full.

I took the upper and lower intake manifold back off and there is oil around the upper and lower intake gaskets and the Intake galley is full of oil.

I can't really see why it would be getting oil in the galley. The area where I cleaned the intake runners, and around the right valve cover are super clean still nothing seems to be leaking in that area.

The oil leak seems to be coming from the front and back of the motor, but this is with the galley full I would imagine.

Could oil be leaking that much out of the intake gaskets to fillup and over flow the galley in a month of driving? or could there be another reason?

It was bone dry and clean before the tensioner and gaskets replacement.

Do you think it could be the PCV valve?

I have noticed that it is getting worse gas mileage about 13 mpg when it used to get about 16-18 hwy and 14-15 city.
 



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Could be weeping out of the mating face of the "that big black bolt thing" (tensioner).
Did you use any sealing washer? Did you initially wind it into the thread by hand to get it started in as it is very easy to cross the threads and have it in on a slight angle.
Mine had been cross threaded and when i put the new one in it wouldn't seat and oil did fill the gallery. To fix this i chopped the old tensionerat the bottom of the threads so i could remove the spring and plunger. I then cut vertical slots in the thread to turn it into a tap with a hole in the head to put a long screwdriver thro to hold it straight while working it as a tap with a 27mm spanner.
Removed the valve cover as i did it and put a rag inside the head to catch any shavings. i also filled the slots with grease to catch shavings.
Once i had straight threads (2 hours carefully working it in and out) i took the tensioner down to my local motor factors (auto parts shop) and got them to find a sealing washer (old one had copper) that fitted snug and did not cover the oil fill hole. They found one the was for a VW beetle sump plug though it was a soft ally rather than copper. This all worked a treat.
If your thread is already straight the just the addition of this washer could solve the leak.
If you find you need to tap the threads let me know and i'll post a pic of the tool i made.
Regards
 












Did you put grease on the washer/compression ring to keep it in position when tightening? If not, it may have slipped off center when tightened. If it is off center, oil will leak no matter how tight you torque it.

Thats a good point Dale.
So compdoc if you reused old washer then may be worth seeing if you can find a new one that fits snug as i did. It was exactly right so would not slip when tightening down.
If your lucky a 50c part and a bit of time to source.
My other thought is did you install the restrictor pencil and is the grub screw in straight and sealed. If you did do this then may be worth pulling that and wrapping the threads with PTFE sealing tape. Plumbers merchant sell for $1 a roll in the UK! Again i had to do this as a previous owner or mechanic had put mine in ascew.
 






Do you think it could be the PCV valve?

Yes it is......

I had the same thing happen. It got so bad the air filter was soaked with oil. I was 400 miles from home in a snow storm when it started so I had to drive it home like that. I discovered that the PCV had come loose from the larger hose. I stuck it back in and put a small hose clamp around it. Cleaned up all the oil inside the intake and its good as new. Just a bizarre thing. You wouldn't think that would cause all that oil all over the place, but it did.

Bob
 






My other thought is did you install the restrictor pencil and is the grub screw in straight and sealed.

I have a package that I found in the garage with a sealing metal ring and a little "grub screw" don't know where to put it. Never removed one. The oil seems to be leaking all around my upper intake and lower intake ports into the galley. But where is that oil coming from?

I checked my intake and it was dirty as hell and filled with gritty oil. So somthing is really screwed up. The truck runs perfect other than I see the oil on my drive running out of the galley and I am sure it is a huge fire hazzard. LOL!

The PCV was in it's hole and tight until I popped it out. Just don't know if it is bad. How can you tell?
 






you can tell if your PCV valve is still functioning by shaking it to detect movement of the "ball" - If I had mine out I wouldn't hesitate to replace it since they're so cheap. I vote for the tensioner/washer as the source of the oil. That 10c washer will probably cost $10.00. Good luck.
 






Ok I found the package with the grub screw and the washer. I took the tensioner back out and put the washer on and removed the old grub screw and put the new one in, but it seemed to be the same size and dimensions so I really don't know why the grub screw would be important.

Looked like there was oil that could have been leaking from the bottom of the tensioner. Yet, there was oil thick around the upper and lower intake gaskets as well when I took it apart.

The PVC did shake just fine they only cost $2.99, but it is east enough to replace at any time.

I cleaned it all out and now I have put the lower intake back on the car. I will clean the rest tomorrow and put it back together and test.
 






did you install the restrictor pencil .

What is the restrictor pencil? I only had a tensioner, baggy with seal washer and grub screw, and upper and lower gaskets for the intake manifold.
 






restrictor pencil?

Your kit should have included the plastic item shown in the photo below as well as the inadequate installation instructions.
KIT.JPG

The plastic item reduces the volume of the oil chamber ( faster oil pressure to hydraulic tensioner at engine start) and possibly restricts oil draining from the chamber. It should be inserted under the oil galley plug if there isn't one already in place.
 






Sorry compdoc, been at a Ford Fair all day but it seems dale has already answered. When my tensioner was leaking it was only a small continual weep but over 5 mins it put a large puddle in the valley. So hopefully the addition of the sealing washer will sort out your prob.
 






Made the mistake of pulling up the fuel rail to get to the tensioner when I went to start the truck the fuel rail is leaking around the top of the injectors now.

I had to take it all back apart and now I need to go find some o-rings to put back on the injectors and fuel rail. What a pain!
 






Made the mistake of pulling up the fuel rail to get to the tensioner when I went to start the truck the fuel rail is leaking around the top of the injectors now.

I don't remember having to pull the fuel rails to do the tensioner! You have bolted them back down properly haven't you? And what has happened to the o rings that were on there before, as again it would be hard to damage them.
Anyway a PITA but you should be able to pick new ones up easy enough. Just make sure the caps of the injectors are on properly also.
Regards:salute:
 






I don't remember having to pull the fuel rails to do the tensioner! You have bolted them back down properly haven't you? And what has happened to the o rings that were on there before, as again it would be hard to damage them.
Anyway a PITA but you should be able to pick new ones up easy enough. Just make sure the caps of the injectors are on properly also.
Regards:salute:

I guess the o-rings were old and rotted they broke in half when I tried to seat the fuel rail back on them did not notice this until I turned over the truck to get the oil pressure up.
 






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