SOHC ,oil leak on crossmember?

[Vozar]

I have searched around and I dont think anyone has had the problem of oil leaking on the crossmember. A few months ago a little was leaking and i didnt really think of it and just about a month ago i changed to synthetic. I seemed to leek more but hasnt even leaked a quart. It doesnt leak onto the ground but dribbles on the crossmember. I know its not that bad since its not leaking to the point on the ground. I took it to the dealer and had a little chat with the mechanic said it was a gasket on the lower block. Ive got 100,000 miles and I was wondering if anyone else in the SOHC family has had a similar oil leak problem on the crossmember. I will post a pic tomorrow ,Matt

 

[seanthenerd]

Fordbeast....I had the same problem. I had noticed a leak on my crossmember too but ignred it as it wasnt very much. I ignored it until I put an cold air intake with a colda air tuned MAS and eventually got an error code on my ODBII...it was a LEAN code it was due to a leak in the lower intake manafold...THE OIL LEAK... Had it changed out about 40K miles ago and it is still dry as a bone. I have heard that many 4.0L SOHC motors have this leak...Grand Prix have this same problem on their Supercharged 3.8L's

hope the info helps....

Sean

 

[Vozar]

cool, thanks for the info, matt. I will still post a pic too

 

[AWJohnson]

I have a stock '97 XLT 4.0 SOHC- No mods and I'm having the same problem with the oil leak. I put it in the shop after it made a loud squealing noise. (It sounded like a turbine jet engine) I had the transmission replaced and the transfer case. It has been about 6 months now and I'm getting the oil leak again. This time the oil is leaking steadly.

 

[JDraper]

My '01 had an oil leak that ended up on the front crossmember. It turned out to be a defective front main seal that was replaced under warranty.

 

[jasonb]

my fronrt seal has leaked a little ever since i started using synthetic. it caused a few drops on the xmember but never the ground. most of it landed on a hose and was blown back on the underside of the x. i'm not worried though since it looks to have basically stopped.

the seals in my front diff leak too! my truck is territory making beast!

 

[Hunz]

98 explorer SOHC 160,000

I have been having the same problem as everyone else but much worse. The oil covers my oil pan cats cross members and basically everything else in my undercarriage. I had to replace the engine myself due to the timing chain tensioner problem destroying my entire engine, when I did this I think that when I put the damper back into my remaned long block that something went wrong with the front main seal or something. I ordered a new seal today and am hoping that this may fix it since Im losing a quart every 100 miles!

 

[crudster]

Old post, but perhaps something i can add for those noticing this now.

I have an '03 XLT 4.0 and since purchase 2 years ago, i've had a slow drip of oil eminating from the block gasket directly adjacent to the crank seal on the front of the engine. One day i cleaned the underside of the engine back to spotless (after an oilchange i wipe it down usually) and then parked the truck up half on the curb. At this point i could crawl underneath with a flashlight and let it idle. Watching carefully i could see oil pool and drip from the spot where the two halves of the block meet. I tied (in vain) to tighten these bolts (10mm) up to get the gasket to bite. (2 knuckes + 2 extensions = bleeding hands)

Eventually after getting annoyed with my driveways discoloration and parking over cardboard boxes, i bought some red "high temp" silicone and placed a bead across the gasket. Seems to have worked so far or at leased slowed it down somewhat. Sure saves me ripping the front end out to pull the crank seal or worse, replace the gasket on the block.

 

[Hunz]

The new seal didn't ever fix my leak but a new upper oil pan gasket did. The oil was leaking right near the front crank which is why I replaced the front main seal turned out I didn't have enough rtv near the crank when I installed the gasket with the new long block

 

[Woodbutcher]

Seeing same thing on my 5.0L '98

On mine it's a little more of a drip - it's dripping from the crossmember onto the ground. Not much oil farther back from the crossmember. Looks like it could be coming from somewhere near the oil filter or maybe just above it, looks to be coming from the driver's side. Leak doesn't appear to be coming from much higher up as it's pretty much clean and dry up top, but the crossmember and the front of the motor that I can see just behind the crossmember is quite wet. I just bought it yesterday - appeared to be a pretty small leak as not much oil on the ground this morning, but noticeable. Had the oil changed and the Grease Monkey guy didn't seem to think it was coming from, say, the filter adapter. Probably can't get it to the mechanic for a week or so, but I'll post what I find out.

 

[crudster]

If you've ever changed the oil yourself on one of these engines you'll know that that darn oil filter has no clean path to the pan below and tends to gush everywhere when you remove it. Including over the crossmember / ?swaybar? A few oilchanges without wiping it down and it will look like you've been mudbogging the tarpits. Also that incessent turbine fan on the engine makes quick work of loose oil and lovingly spreads it all over the underside of the engine making troubleshooting a pain.

I suggest wiping the whole thing down (or steam / soaping it) back to its purdy shiny state and then carefully examining things after running the engine for a few mins. Doing this right after an oil change is particularly useful as the golden clean oil color is easier to discern with a paper towel.