Have a friend and looking at his truck for him.

He was towing a boat and climbing a steep grade hill. As he described it, it felt like he lost all power. Did manage to get it to the top of the hill and stopped to check it out.

Noticed the under of the truck dripping oil. Checked the motor oil and none on the stick.

Put 4 quarts in the motor, started it back up and oil pressure is good and motor sounds fine.

The strange thing is the motor is dry. Can not find where the oil leaked out. All the oil is located on the transmission and transfer case.

I'm not too familiar with these Triton 5.4's but where could that oil possibly have come from? I'll re-look this morning.

Also, with oil in motor, and it is idling, there is no oil leak or drip anywhere. Is there a pressure regulator in this oil system and the load he was exerting cause it to release?

Thanks for the help in advance!

 

Maybe the rear of the valve covers is where it leaked?

 

According to him, he checked the oil before he left the house and it was full.

He claims the oil dumped out and he was mosquito fogging before he reached the top of the hill.

When I got there, we filled it and let it run for approximately 20 minutes and not a single drip. No oil residue anywhere around or on the engine. Frame, cooler lines, oil pan, oil filter, etc. no where on the motor where it is visible.

Where the motor oil is first visible underneath is at the transmission oil pan and then after that is saturated.

Of course, first thing I looked at was the transmission and it was full. It was motor oil

I will be looking at it more today or tomorrow and hope I can at least find a oil track where it ran down to the transmission.

 

The oil is going to get hotter .If climbing a hill more oil thrown to back of valve covers .
This oil loss is very detrimental to engine , should add oil pressure gauge now .Dash gauge no good its an idiot gauge .
You need to see the highest point oil is coming from . You may need to hand clean off engine . Dry newspaper under it will help pinpoint drips . You haven't stated year model . Has timing job been done on engine ?
That leads us to possible engine leaks. One, the seams on metal on all gasket points are to be sealed with RTV when installed . Thats valve covers and timing cover /oil pan . You will feel these joints in metal with your fingernail . Plus on the timing cover the crankshaft key will not seal correctly if you don't coat it with RTV .
A poor jobber will not do these steps .
I suggest re torque of all cover bolts /oil pan . Sometimes the timing chain will eat a hole right thru the alum cover when it needs timing job .
Of course there always is the rear main seal but its not a common leak point of discussion . You should start with a new oil filter as this is very common fail point .Use only mc filters .

 

That will simulate a trailer load ,throwing more oil to the rear of valve covers .

 

Could also be the rear main seal leaking under load. That would put oil on the tranny but not the engine.

 

OK, have it up on the ramps (12" high home made) left the motor running and crawled underneath with a flashlight and mirror.

There is a very small valve cover leak on the passenger side. Not nearly big enough to dump 4 quarts that quickly. In fact, that leak trail hasn't even made it past the freeze plug on the side of the block.

That is the ONLY oil spot on this motor. The oil filter has no oil on it. The transmission bell housing has absolutely no oil stain on it either. top, bottom, sides...all dry.

It looks like the leak originates next to the transfer case and on the drivers side as there is more oil splatter on that side running boards. Left side running boards are nearly dry and the right side is covered.

Ford engineers love using the motor oil for several applications on their diesels. There isn't something else in the middle of the truck that's not powered or monitored by engine oil, is there?

From what I have seen, there is absolutely no way this oil came from the motor. I can try to post pictures if no one believes this scenario.

 

But I thought the transfer case was using transmission fluid ???? I haven't worked on one .
If you have a slight leak on passenger valve cover under no load idle what's it going to do under heavy hill load . Higher oil pressure hotter . Does sound like rear main seal . Is this truck the one with the iwe vacuum solenoids that fail and stay in 4x4 . Causing it to be engaged all the time . It still shouldn't leak .
I'm sure some 4x4 will come in and straighten me out .
But in any case the transfer case will not empty the engine oil out anyway ,there is no fluid connection .

 

I think there is a o-ring on it on tube . You could rig a camera under there in suspected location and hit that hill, go pro etc . A bore scope inside bell housing near rear main seal ? Is there a dye that can be put in oil ?

 

And yet the engine was down 4 quarts?

 

probably burned the oil thru the PCV system ........ heavy under load.

 

Didn't burn it, some seal is letting go. Problem where ,4 quarts is real serious .
Sounds like rear main seal . All though he has a small valve cover leak that could get worse under load . Squatting and climbing a hill ,who knows how heavy a load .

 

You don't LEAK 4 quarts of oil ON THE GROUND and not be able to tell where its coming from. HE might have a MINOR leak, and burned the rest of it.

 

There are only 3 places for the oil to go. On the ground-Would be readily visible (might not be able to pin point leak that large due to the volume of oil). Out the tail pipe- Would be visible in rear view mirror (think insect fogger). Or into the cooling system-Would be visible in puke tank.