i have a 96 f250 with the 351. i bought this truck for plowing and to have a truck with passanger plates because i also have a 2006 f250 powerstroke and it has to have comercial plates do to the weight. The area i live the park way is the best way to get around and there are no comercial plates alloud. So anyway i have had the 96 for almost a year now and put maybe 2000 miles on it but lately i have been driving it alot more. The guy i bought the truck from started using synthetic oil in it so i have to continue using it which i am not a fan of being that it is so thin. i have noticed the truck leaking oil lately alot more than usual. i drive it for maybe 15 miles to work and let it sit for about 4 hours and there is a spot of oil maybe the size of a half dollar that drips from the back of the engine and another drop the size of a quarter leaking off the front of the belhousing. i am assuming this is the rear main seal doing this but is this to much oil, should i worry about this amount. i know its kind of the nature of the beast for these older trucks to leak and i feel it is leaking so much because the oil is so thin. i just want other peoples views on this. my other issue is that if i drive the truck and it gets up to temp and shut it off then go to start it again in about a half hour it dosent want to start the first try cranking it. i have to try cranking it 2 or 3 times. if i shut the truck off when it is up to tem then start it a min. later it starts right up. it only has a problem when it has been sitting for a little while. Then when the engine is totally cooled off again it has no problem starting. anyone have any ideas. and sorry for the huge post

 

Honest I disagree on that.

I used to have 95 F250 351W with plow. Problem is they let sit too much. Only 15K on new engine that was 7 years old. Truck had 70K miles when I bought.

It was leak like you describe. It was Valve cover gaskets not rear main seal.

And change PCV it will help little. Mine were bad and cause leak until I put new PCV it stop or slow then I replace valve cover gaskets now it stop.


I rather use synthetic oil than DINO. Company I force them change oil before I bought. They use cheapest oil 5w30 so I wasn't aware. Drove hwy and plow snow. 4000 miles it time to change oil so I did myself.

I was pissed off when I saw how color oil was. It was dark black like coal. After I put synthetic 5000 miles later it was light black.


How many miles you have now? Use 5w30 in winter and 10W30 in summer.

 

i only have 65,000 original miles the only thing is that the truck has been a plow truck its whole life and is pretty rusty. the body is great but the frame and other components under are pretty rusty thanks to all the salt used here in n.y. but i agree that the oil def. lastes longer but in my opinion i think it is alot thinner and that cuses the leaks eaiser. as of right now i still hace 5w-30 in it. do u have any ideas of the starting issue

 

CEL on?
Last tune up?

 

not sure what the cel is and i just did cap, rotor, and wires about 2 months ago because it was running crappy when it was wet out

 

I may get flamed for this, but to each his own..

Just stick with dino oil for your application of use. If you used this truck for extended highway use, taxi type of service or knew it didn't leak oil, then I would use sythetic. True that synthetic is great for extended drain intervals, a few extra MPG's, keeping the internals cleaner, and reducing cold-start damage. Just remember this, It's your "Coin" to drop when you buy the oil.

 

When we switch to synthetic 20K miles later we replaced rot oil pan it was LOOK NEW no black color. But when we got truck first month we replace valve cover it wasn't clean it was cover in black brown color. That after we switch to Synthetic.

I stick to synthetic cause we live in Michigan. I use cheap supertech synthetic.

 

once you start using synthetic dont you have to continue using it

 

I never listen to that. I don't believe it. but my personal favor stay with synthetic over dino.

 

Ok so do u guys think that I am having to much oil leaking or is that kind of expected? And any thoughts on my starting issue

 

Just power wash whole then drive around to do errand then look where oil leak.

Have you try switch front or rear gas tank then do 5 times cycle key in ON but not start do you hear fuel pump? Then try start.

Can you test fuel pressure on Injector rail? I forgot what psi it supposed to be but I think it between 38-40

Have you change fuel filter? It going be PITA cause it ROT rusty together.

 

No, you don't have to stick with synthetic after you have used it.

As milwaukee noted, try cycling the key several times, but don't actually start it. Then after 2 or 3 times, turn it over. See if that makes a difference. Also, as milwaulkee pointed out, when was the last time the fuel filter was changed? I would invest in a fuel pressure guage, since it's gold in your hand once you have it and then you can do some real troubleshooting. This problem could have nothing to do with fuel delivery, but rather ignition related. A weak ignition coil comes to mind since it wasn't on your "Tune-Up" list. Use a hair dryer to heat the coil up after it has sat overnight or you know that it has cooled off. Then see if the problem exist's. You could also do the same with the TFI module, but usually if the TFI module goes bad, there's no "Grey" area.

These are some suggestions, let us know what you find.