Oil Leak - 2004 Lincoln LS V6

[adamrc]

I have a 2004 Lincoln LS with the 3.0L V6. It only has 23,000 miles on it so it wasn't driven much by the previous owner. I bought it a few months ago from a family member and I was the one who maintained it so I know its maintenance history. I've been running Motorcraft Synthetic blend 5w-20 along with a Motorcraft filter. Over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed some oil drops on the garage floor. Upon inspection, I noticed it appears to be leaking oil around the oil pan. It appears to be around the gasket. Any ideas on how to fix the leak at a reasonable cost? I thought about trying some high mileage oil since they contain some seal conditioners which may help the leak. I've attached a few pics below.

 

[tig1]

I would remove the pan and reseal.

 

[Rob_Roy]

Step 1: Clean the area with degreaser/solvent and then drive to determine exactly where the leak is coming from. If you still think it is the oil pan, I would make sure the bolts are properly torqued. I have seen several engines develop oil leaks from loose pan bolts.

 

[ottotheclown]

Just had the same problem with a Protege 99. I made each pan bolt tight but not too tight they break off very easy. Then I bought Maxlife 5-30 and so far so good. That is over a month of use. The Maxlife has been very good. I think that might be your first and easy approach. You might think of dino a good brand for another approach. I think that, because the Protege did not have a pan leak until I changed it over to PP might have nothing to do with the leak but then ....well do what you think.
Originally Posted By: adamrc
I have a 2004 Lincoln LS with the 3.0L V6. It only has 23,000 miles on it so it wasn't driven much by the previous owner. I bought it a few months ago from a family member and I was the one who maintained it so I know its maintenance history. I've been running Motorcraft Synthetic blend 5w-20 along with a Motorcraft filter. Over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed some oil drops on the garage floor. Upon inspection, I noticed it appears to be leaking oil around the oil pan. It appears to be around the gasket. Any ideas on how to fix the leak at a reasonable cost? I thought about trying some high mileage oil since they contain some seal conditioners which may help the leak. I've attached a few pics below.

 

[mechtech2]

The pan may need to be lightly retorqued, as mentioned.
But they often use a sealer and no gasket.
Also, maybe a crank seal [either end] is leaking.
Is the filter OK?
A faulty PCV system can cause leaks. The crankcase , under the valve cover, etc., is supposed to have a bit if vacuum under normal conditions.

 

[Merkava_4]

It could be the rear crankshaft seal and if that's the case, forget about it until engine overhaul time.

I'd lose that 5W-20 in favor of some 10W-30 MaxLife.

 

[bdcardinal]

This application uses a gasket and leaks are very common. But as said before, clean the area and check it again in a week or so.

 

[adamrc]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I've cleaned the area and added some MMO to the oil just to see what happens. I even thought about using some Auto Rx to see if that fixes some of the leaks. I'm not sure if the MMO will do anything but it shouldn't hurt anything. I may try the Maxlife oil on the next oil change. Some of you suggest that I use 10w-30 Maxlife instead of 5w-20 weight. Would it be alright to run that weight oil since the manual recommends 5w-20? This car already requires premium gas and only averages about 19-20 MPG so I want to also try to get the best MPG possible.

 

[adamrc]

I've thought about running PYB with Auto-RX to help the oil leak. Has anyone had any success using Auto-RX to fix minor oil leaks?

 

[jimbeamalki]

Might try the 'oil additives' section and read the thread on page 5 titled: "Might have found something that works??"

 

[meep]

I'd hate to go from a 5-20 to a 10-30 that's close to a 10-40 in actual viscosity in such a newer car.

1. first find leak
2. check pan bolts. I'd expect 10 ft/lbs, maybe 15... helps to know factory spec here to not strip them.
3. then see where you are at.
4. if still leaks, try a regular 10-30 before trying maxlife
5. then try maxlife.

 

[Norse]

Use White Shepherd. It works.

http://www.usasealants.com/products/white-shepherd-oil-stop-leak-conditioner/

 

[adamrc]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm probably going to try the White Shepherd Oil Stop Leak or the Lubro Moly Motor Oil Saver. They are both available locally and reasonably priced. I am going to stick with 5w-20 oil. I'm thinking about staying with the Motorcraft synthetic blend or maybe PYB.

 

[Whimsey]

Did you try torquing the oil pan bolts then cleaning to see if the leak continues before you try "additives"? I've had loose oil pan bolts on many vehicles. A simple retightening cured the leak.

Whimsey

 

[Norse]

Originally Posted By: adamrc
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm probably going to try the White Shepherd Oil Stop Leak or the Lubro Moly Motor Oil Saver. They are both available locally and reasonably priced. I am going to stick with 5w-20 oil. I'm thinking about staying with the Motorcraft synthetic blend or maybe PYB.


Did you try the White Shepherd?

 

[adamrc]

Originally Posted By: Norse
Did you try the White Shepherd?

I bought a bottle of it but I haven't used it yet. It says on the bottle to drive continuously for one to two hours or until oil leak has stopped. Most of the time, the car is driven for no more than 30-40 minutes so I figure I'll dump the bottle in before a longer trip. I'll post an update once I try it.

 

[JustinH]

I would have torqued the oil pan bolts as the FORD PARTS GUY suggested before I dumped a bottle of GLUE into the crankcase.

Heck, if anyone has seen leaky lincolns it has to be this guy.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
I would have torqued the oil pan bolts as the FORD PARTS GUY suggested before I dumped a bottle of GLUE into the crankcase.

Heck, if anyone has seen leaky lincolns it has to be this guy.



duh parts guys dont know anything...

 

[lipadj46]

white shepherds is not glue it is a very effective seal conditioner, very polar (does not mix well with oil at low temps)so I think it is ester based. That being it won't do a thing for an oil pan gasket leak though. Man up and reseal the oil pan with a new gasket or right stuff.

 

[adamrc]

Well I ended up running the White Shepherd seal conditioner and I'm still having the leak. I'm thinking it's leaking some oil onto the exhaust or something because when I run the car for the first few minutes when it's cold, I can smell burning oil coming through the heater vents as it's warming up. I may just have to end up buying a oil pan seal and changing it out. Does anybody know the part number or a good place to get one? I've done a decent amount of mechanic work before so I think I can do it myself. This car was in the Nashville flood of May 2010 and so it sat in about a foot of water at the time of the flood and I'm thinking that the dirty flood water may have affected the oil pan seal and is causing some of the issues.