Hi I have been a member for a while but this is my first post.
I seem to have the oil leak on the right side of the motor above the starter. My truck is a 2001 f150 xlt with the 4.6l.
I search the forums and found alot of people have this problem. I just bought this truck a month ago and notice the leak last week. I bought the truck from a small dealer and have a 2 month 2500 mile warranty on it so I can probably get it fixed or here in MA a dealer has the option to buy it back. My question is has anyone just let the leak go? and not have it fixed and if so what was the outcome? did it get worse?
I'm only asking because he is a small dealer and I think he sends his vehicles out for reapair. So I dont know how good his mechanics are or anything, and my concern is I've heard of alot of people getting their cars back after a major repair and the thing never runs the same.
This truck runs great besides the leak. and it only has 49000 miles on it. If he takes the buy back option then I'm out of a vehicle and the money for sales tax and other state fees. anyway, if some of you that didnt get the gasket fix could tell me how its going, and if other problems developed by letting it go. That would be great.

Thanks

 

Hi and welcome to the forum

I've seen some of these that people have not fixed. They continue to leak but I've never seen one get bad enough to cause more problems.
If you can get it fixed under warranty and if you think you can trust whoever will fix it then I'd get it done, especially if you're planning on keeping the truck any length of time. Maybe check and see if the mechanics there have ever done one of these before. It's not rocket science but it is something that has to be done properly.

 

I'm with Racerguy, get it fixed especially if you plan on keeping the truck for a extended time. they should put another warrenty on it when the job is done.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I called the dealer and he sais he was going to call his mechanic. I have to call him back on wed. I'm a little worried, he said he knows about the problem with the 5.4 but not the 4.6 and said its probly the valve cover gasket. I told him it wasnt because I can get a decent view of the valve cover through the fender behind the tire and its bone dry. He then said maybe they would just have to retorque the head bolts. I hope his mechanic didnt agree with that. If he is going to just rig the thing I rather not have him do it at all.
Hopefully I'm just paranoid and he'll do the right thing. I'll let you know what happens.

 

If this problem is the head gasket, where on the head is it leaking from? rear? i have the same mysterious leak but i cant quite pinpoint the source of the leak. how much worse could this leak get if it is the head gasket?

 

the best thing is to clean the area up with carb cleaner or brake cleaner get all the oil out. and then run and observe where the oil is coming from it's hard to tell when the whole area is dirty.