I have the 99 5.4 with the optional head gasket leak. I Have a e250 van and it has 95k. I removed the doghouse { the van is a lot easier to get to the end of the head}, used brake cleaner {a lot} to clean the area, let it dry, and put on a nice bead of black rtv gasket sealer. So far so good , no more oil smell. well see what happens.

 

I just picked up a 99 F150 4x4 with the 5.4L. I Crawled all over this truck making sure that it will last me a couple years (its used). I read about the oil leak here and got a little freaked out, but then I thought to myself, If it isn't dropping the oil pressure and I am not using loads of oil or deploying it onto my driveway. Whats the big deal? I actually thought that RTV might be a good alternative too. As of right now I only see a little grime down by the starter. There isn't any wet oil or fluids. The truck has 70,000 miles on it. Is it possible that this engine got buy or does the vast majority have this problem.

 

Welcome to the forum Dave
Don't be discouraged by everything that you read here. Even though a lot of members may have a similiar problem here, there are millions of trucks out there on the road that do not. Most people don't come here just to say, Hi my head gasket doesn't leak
I would say that your's will be fine or it already did it and has been repaired. The main cause was that some of the passenger side cylinder heads were not milled properly when built and this caused the gasket to fail in the rear just enough that oil would leak out. No internal engine problems though, like water in the oil or anything.

Enjoy the forums, there are alot of great people here and very seldom there is a question about Ford trucks that can't be answered by somebody. Just try to ask the question in the correct forum like you did here and the replies will come.

Jimmy

 

Thanks for the quick reply. This is a great forum. It is one of the few that is not filled with everything besides technical content.