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Where on earth is this leak coming from??

3K views 19 replies 14 participants last post by  Cybase8 
#1 ·
I've had oil on the oil pan of my 99 DOHC for a long time, and I finally decided to do something about it. I replaced the oil pan gasket about a month ago, which was a devastating nightmare to remove the exhaust nuts, as I live in the rust belt. I was able to get three of them off (using an induction flameless torch to heat them) but I cracked one stud, the hardest one to reach. Anyway, nightmare is over and I got the job done. But now I look under the car, and see oil there still!! And yes, I used a good gasket and put rtv where the timing cover meets the bottom of the engine, as per instructions. When I looked up a bit higher, I realized that it seems that the leak is not actually coming from the oil pan, even though it ends up there. It seems that it is coming from the next seal upwards, which is some kind of rtv gasket, which seems to basically be the bottom part of the block; I guess it would be called the crankcase. I saw it called the bulkhead in one diagram. Is it possible or likely that that is where the leak is coming from? If so, I guess repairing the leak would involve pulling and tearing down the engine, which I'm obviously not going to do.

The valve cover gaskets aren't leaking, and neither is anything else apparent. And I see the oil near that seal that I described, and lower, but nowhere higher. The car is old, true, but only has like 80,000 miles and is decently well maintained, so I wouldn't really have expected an oddball, atypical oil leak. At least the leak is pretty small...
 
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#3 ·
I have 3 '03's DOHC and have had one previous. They leak everywhere. My most recent buy had the pan gasket replaced and it does not leak around the gasket. BUT: somewhere above the oil filter, maybe the pressure switch, cam shaft to water pump seal, crank seal, crank position sensor O-Ring, and so on and on. It drips on the exhaust and smells. Not inside the cabin so @#$%& happens.
-chart-
 
#4 ·
I have 3 '03's DOHC and have had one previous. They leak everywhere. My most recent buy had the pan gasket replaced and it does not leak around the gasket. BUT: somewhere above the oil filter, maybe the pressure switch, cam shaft to water pump seal, crank seal, crank position sensor O-Ring, and so on and on. It drips on the exhaust and smells. Not inside the cabin so @#$%& happens.
-chart-
If a Tec doesn't have some oil under it there probably isn't any in it.
 
#8 ·
If you really want to find the exact source of the leak try adding dye to the oil and after running a little while shine a black light around the area and the glow will lead you right to the leak. Autozone and other auto parts stores should have it in stock and check out some youtube videos to see it work. I've used it to find coolant leaks a couple times with great success.
 
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#9 ·
I believe the next seam up from the oil pan would be the two halves of the block as you already guessed, but as others have mentioned the timing cover is usually a suspect as well. As for addressing your leak, an easy thing is to consider switching to high mileage oil. In my case, it reduced my drippy oil pan gasket leak to a slight weep and I could live with that. I used Castrol GTX HM but I'm sure most any respectable brand would be ok.
 
#18 ·
(SIGH) Like you, I have put ALOT of work into my 2002 Taurus DOHC with 85K to reduce oil leaks, both engine & transmission. This engine is a major PITA to work on. Replacing both pans (ATF & ENG) gaskets reduced some of the leaks. Proper venting the transmission can also help, if the dipstick pops out, it's not venting properly. It's quite likely to be cam/crank or timing cover seals, which may require removing the engine. Once I had done as much as I could W/O engine removal, I added Lucas Engine Oil Stop Leak with an oil change. It has further reduced the leaks to very minimal. Read the directions, it must be added with each oil change. Might consider, if possible the PCV valve.
 
#19 · (Edited)
I've had oil on the oil pan of my 99 DOHC for a long time, and I finally decided to do something about it. I replaced the oil pan gasket about a month ago, which was a devastating nightmare Speed Test Scrabble Word Finder Solitaire to remove the exhaust nuts, as I live in the rust belt. I was able to get three of them off (using an induction flameless torch to heat them) but I cracked one stud, the hardest one to reach. Anyway, nightmare is over and I got the job done. But now I look under the car, and see oil there still!! And yes, I used a good gasket and put rtv where the timing cover meets the bottom of the engine, as per instructions. When I looked up a bit higher, I realized that it seems that the leak is not actually coming from the oil pan, even though it ends up there. It seems that it is coming from the next seal upwards, which is some kind of rtv gasket, which seems to basically be the bottom part of the block; I guess it would be called the crankcase. I saw it called the bulkhead in one diagram. Is it possible or likely that that is where the leak is coming from? If so, I guess repairing the leak would involve pulling and tearing down the engine, which I'm obviously not going to do.

The valve cover gaskets aren't leaking, and neither is anything else apparent. And I see the oil near that seal that I described, and lower, but nowhere higher. The car is old, true, but only has like 80,000 miles and is decently well maintained, so I wouldn't really have expected an oddball, atypical oil leak. At least the leak is pretty small...
In my case, it reduced my drippy oil pan gasket leak to a slight weep and I could live with that.
 
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