Have a substantial oil leak on our 93 4.0, 156K miles near the starter moter. In fact had to replace starter motor as it failed possibly because it was drowned in oil.
Any ideas on most likely location of leak? Currently using 20/50 high mileage oil (Miami, FL). Thanks!

 

if engine oil ?>rear engine seal, spins and sprays out into starter

if ATF? > front seal on tranny or leaking torque converter

 

yep, engine or ATF oil with gum up a starter quickly, brushes and communtator, usually cleanable, dip the rotor and stator body in some paint thinner for short time 1 minute to dissolve oil and fan dry quickly,
fine crocus cloth polish the communtator and put in new brushes.
good to go.

 

I had a major oil leak develop on my 94 3.0 Aerostar. I was ready to replace the timing cover and maybe the crank seal, but when I got in there it turned out to be the oil pan bolts were actually coming loose and the pan gasket had been forced out of place. I have never seen anything like that before.

 

DaveMac2Vans,
lots of high harmonic vibration in these V6's, especially the 60d narrow V Fords without a harmonic balancing shaft like many other V6's run. shakes bolts and everything else loose on engine/tranny.
straight 4's and 6's are the smoothest least vibration reciprocating engines avail.
we will all be driving hydrogen turbines within 20 years if we can wean ourselves off $200 barrel oil and $9 gal gas.

 

Ah! But it still takes some form of fuel, most likely fossil fuel unless we go nuclear, to produce the Hydrogen. Then we'll be talking about $18 cubic-foot Hydrogen.

 

Hydrogen is a joke. By the time you overcome all its problems, (density, heat, manufactureing tanks that don't leak, produceing the hydrogen, transporting it, etc.), you consume more energy than it contains. Since it requires power to produce hydgogen , you will find yourself consumeing more natural resources than just burning conventional fuel directly. The future lies with hybrids and renewable energy sources (solar, wind, hydroelectric, biofuels, etc.)

 

My 90 4.0 had started leaking around the oil level sensor, driver side in front of the starter, it did wash oil onto the starter.

 

try some AutoRX, cleans the engine and seals with dino oil, don't use synthetic oil while using AutoRX.
about the best there is for getting seals to work again if they can be reformed
expensive $25 and takes 500 to 1000 miles to reform seal if seal is not damaged.
the cheapy goop-a-seal in bottle's are worthless

forgot to mention after cleaning oil soaked starter, put light coating of moly grease, wheel bearing good, on starter drive engagement.

 

Really, the only solution for a leaking seal or gasket is to replace the seal or gasket. The stop leak products do one of 2 things, they either cause the seal to swell (bad), or they contain large molecules that plug the tiny passages (also bad). The first causes the seal to soften, so while the leak may stop for a short while, the seal in more likely to fail completely, especially when under stress. The later can plug the valve lifter passages, and cause inadequate lubrication. Also, the larger molecules shear under thermal stress far more easily than oil, so they break down and become oil contaminants.

AutoRX is a cleaner, but I doubt it will do anything for a leak. I checked out their website, and they have a lot of bogus myths they are propogateing.

Firstly, Synthetic oil has no negative effects on seals. The truth about synthetic oil and seal is this. Synthetic oil has smaller and more consistently sized molecules. If you have worn seals, then synthetic may escape where dino oil will not. However, this also indicates that the seals are nearing the end of their life. If the engine had used synthetic from the first oil change, the seals would still be in good condition. Dino oil breaks down far more easily than synthetic, so most of the sludge that would need to be removed from an engine would have come from the oil itself. Vehicles that have always used synthetic oil tend to be much cleaner. I have never had problems with synthetic oil escapeing past seals. The lowest mileage vehicle I have is our '92 Aerostar with 180,000 miles.