Had my truck in for service yesterday and they found the leak that had been bothering me was the passenger side head, not the valve cover gasket. Ouch. I know that others have had this problem with their trucks, I was wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what to do. It doesn't leak a ton, maybe a quart or 2 during 3k miles. It does leak onto the manifold, making my truck smell like a beater. My dealer quoted 2500 or so to replace the gaskets. The truck is a 99 f 250 SD 5.4 auto with 79k. Thanks. KP

 

I would try some Valveoline max life, a lot of posters in the Oil and Lubrication forums have had a lot of success with this oil.

Worst case, you'll just have to keep adding a qt here and there.

Any way you look at it, its cheaper than ripping the motor out.

 

Check out this thread. You're not going to be very happy...

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...&threadid=8668

 

Thanks for all the help. It is so nice to know I am in good company. NOT!! Wish my truck didn't leak. Anyhow, I know you guys have probably seen this type of post a million times, next time I will do a more thorough search. Wish me luck, I am going to try and get something done out of warranty. Want to keep a customer Ford?? We will see... KP

 

Yeah right, Dearborn is no help. I went thru a vibration at idle for 8 months (still under warranty) they just gave me the run around and kept telling me it was normal, as did my dealer. I found another dealer (service advisor is a member here) and we found an old TSB for the very problem and he fixed it for me. I told Ford that I was verry diappointed with there service along with my original dealer and told them that I should get a free extended warranty for my troubles. They havemt responded to me since. I even told them that I have been a Ford owner for over 20 years and if they didn't offer me thae warranty, that I was going to go buy a brand X.
I guess they could care less once they get our hard earned money because they never responded.
Maybe you will have better luck. At least now, I have a dealer that actually cares about their customers.
Jimmy

 

I too have this same mysterios leak from the passenger side. Thought it was the valve cover so I replaced that. Still smells like burning oil though. I think that the drivers side is leaking also. I guess I had better get it into the shop before the warranty is up.

 

Good luck DS, keep me posted on your progress if you can. I think the more info I have the better off I will be. KP

 

Well after closer inspection. I have not 1 but 2 leaking headgaskets. The passneger side bad enough to cause the POS/Beater smell and also drip onto the driveway. The driverside just enough to make a mess. If I get the new gaskets installed what the likeliness of them leaking again? Will a head gasket replacement fix this leak permanently?

 

DSJOBBER,

Didn't know if you were able to link to the thread I referenced earlier. Here are two of the posts I think you'd find meaningful...

jkattz: Based on previous posts and our experience, the engine in question is the 1999 5.4L from the Windsor plant. Our research indicated that one of the numerous right head surfacing machines was out of time and the head was picked up too soon causing a bevel at the rear of the head. The gasket fails due to the larger than normal gap allowing oil to leak. No compression loss. The heads are not tracked by machine so there is no way to trace which head is on which engine. Most of the 5.4L were produced at the Windsor Plant.

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Yea man! Been there!
For the most part, Ford had a problem with 99' Expi's being built from March of 99' to somewhere in July of 99'. Expi's with 5.4 engines. I took my 99' to the Ford dealer in November of 2000. They had the vehicle for approx four weeks after numerous visits for leak observation. They replaced the passenger side head beacuse of faulty machining when the engine was installed at the factory where the truck was built. They not only replaced the head, (passenger side), but also installed an updated gasket during the repair.
That was at 23,000 miles. I now have 36,000 miles on the vehicle and have not have had anything leak. Only normal oil consumption.
One thing that I will say is that Ford did give us a rental vehicle. They did not give us an exact replacement but we were given a Ford Taurus for approx 3 weeks.

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...don't know if just the "updated" gasket will cure your problem if the heads were from the batch that were machined wrong to begin with.

Let us know how you make out.

 

Anyone know which TSB addresses this issue and where I can get a copy of it???

 

klp, just wondering if you found anything out, I have a '99 F-250 super duty 5.4 L with about 76000 mi. and the passenger side head oil leak too.

 

Yeah, I have some info on the TSB's I can dig up but I have made no attempt to get Ford in on the repair bill. I am out of warranty and have been dragging my feet. Anyhow, I can find the TSb stuff, I will post it tom.

 

Talked to the dealer on Thursday and he was quite knowledgeable about the 5.4 oil problem. I bought the good warranty when I purchased the truck so I will be getting a free rental car. The service guy didnt even try to swerve me about the problem. He was honest and admitted to the oil leak being a big problem. There service dept ia also ope from 0600 am till midnite mon-sat. Now thats what I call service.

 

Sorry forgot to add that this Ford dealer has a test to see if the head can be re-used with the updated gasket or if the head itself must also be replaced. IM still surprised on how the service rep came clean on the "known problem". Horror stories on these forums had me worried that I might end up at a non compliant dealer. Ill repost tommorow after the truck is inducted into service.

 

i just had my truck in a local shop that repaired my leaking passenger side head problem...the problem is not in the gaskets really but the surface of the heads...the factory didn't perfectly mate the head to the block, thus causing leaks...

my shop machined the pass head and replaced both head gaskets...1000k miles so far and no leaks...i was leaking about a quart and a half every 3000 miles before...thanks to my aftermarket warranty...i only had to pay $300 out of the total $1400 it cost to do the entire job...but i also have the windshield wiper multifuntion switch replaced which was $80 and not under warranty...very common problem with the 5.4 i noticed...can't believe it wasn't a recall