I have a 88 f150. 302. Just fired it up after timing and water pump job. Oil pan leaks bad, it’s underivable. What’s the best route to fix it? I know the transmissions in the way to slide the oil pan back. and it won’t drop down with crossmember. My transmission has a shift seal leak too, and rear main and front transmission seal. Is it best to drop the transmission and slide the oil pan back? I’m not an experienced mechanic I can turn a wrench and figure it out, but I hear bad things about seating torque converters and stuff. Or just lift the engine up off the motor mounts? Doing that my ford manual says take the intake manifold off for that. So either way it’s a pain to do. I’m not taking the timing cover back off either I’m dropping the oil pan. One way or another.

 

Can you identify where the leak is coming from? You may be able to save yourself a lot of time and work by cleaning the engine thoroughly with gasoline and a brush, and then start the engine for 1 minute to find the leak.
Once your find it, clean the engine again and try to seal it by packing ultra-grey silicone into the seam with a putty knife. It's not the correct way to fix engine leaks, but it might get you by.
If it was mine, I'd pull the engine and put it on an engine stand. I've replaced oil pan gaskets in-vehicle before and they seem to always leak.

 

It’s coming from where the timing cover seats on the oil pan. I just replaced that stuff. It wasn’t there before I did that. I wiped off the oil from everywhere it was fresh and started it for 5 minutes. Shut it off went and looked at it and it was dripping 2 drops every 5 seconds. I’ll clean the area. See what I can do about it. Since the fel pro gasket kit, came with the 3 piece gasket to fit multiple 302s it’s sticking out. I used gasket sealer. And ultra grey on the rubber part. It didn’t do anything apparently. I’ll look into what the best route is. I need toe transmission seals done so I thought of it as pulling the trans, but if pulling the engines better I’ll look into that.

 

The harmonic balancer slid on without a tool, so maybe that seal was bad, and I misjudged where it is. I’ll clean it when I have a chance and go from there.

 

If it only leaks from the front of the engine while running is that most likely the harmonic balancer?

 

Nothing will leak when the engine is off, because the oil level is below the pan flange. When the engine runs, oil is flung everywhere in the engine, so you need to clean off the current oil mess and try to find the source.

 

Did you check the old balancer for a wear groove from the old seal?
If you are able to determine it is coming from the balancer seal there is a sleeve kit available for that. It's a metal sleeve that goes on the balancer shaft to give it a fresh smooth surface. It comes with a new seal to fit the sleeve. You would only need to remove the balancer to do that repair.

 

Did you put the cover locating bushings back in the block?

I seem to remember a question in one the threads, but there were a few to keep up with.

 

If your oil pan gasket is bad I would recommend getting a fel pro gasket for your engine. They have plastic guides to hold up the oil pan as you install it. Changing the gasket may sound hard, but it is not too bad. I replaced mine last week. Here are the steps I used on a 5.8( should be same for 5.0.
1 drain out oil
2 remove engine mount bolts
3 grab a jack, place it under the oil pan, and slowly lift the engine up to about 2 inches above the mounts. Place wood into the engine mounts to hold the engine up while you work on it.
4 Detach the exhaust from the manifolds.
5 unbolt all bolts from the oil pan and gently lower it and set it on the crossmember.
6 slowly pull the old gasket out. (Carefully and slowly to make it less likely the gasket will fall in)
7 ( for Fel Pro gaskets) screw in the blue plastic alignment guides.
8 install the gasket and line it up to the holes in the correct place. ( There is a left and right side, there is a cutout for the dipstick.)
9 raise the oil pan back into position and reinstall all bolts ( make sure to grab a few bolts to hold the oil pan up as you install the rest)
10 lift the engine enough with the jack to pull out wood
11 lower the engine (slowly) back onto the engine mounts and reinstall bolts.
12 fill engine with new oil and change oil filter.

This process is simple but time consuming. It took me and my dad 12 hours of work to get it done. it was worth it as I now don't have to add oil to my truck every 100 miles.

 

That pan gasket is trash after 35 years. It was also crappy and multipiece when new.

I second the Felpro one. I pulled my upper and pulled my engine up with my engine crane. Did fresh Melling oil pump and said pan gasket. No leaks

 

I didn’t check for a wear groove. It came with a sleeve and some pro lock stuff, which I didn’t know what it was or how it worked. So I didn’t use it. I will clean off the engine when I have time and start it. I didn’t use any locating bushings I don’t recall seeing any.

 

my gasket in there was rubber. Don’t remember if it was multi piece I just took it out. Now I have cork on the top part and rubber where the pan drops down on the front.

 

Mine had cork. I also have a roller block, but it was not drilled nor tapped. It is now. Truck is an early 88 build, my pal's 89 (mid 89) when was 302 was roller ready. Maybe I just got more of the older parts or it was the plant doing engines. Unsure.

My 4.9 had OE valve cover gasket. That was rubber but full of cracks due to shrinkage.

You are on the right track and with an aftermarket balancer, keep eyes on it. They do come apart, but install without a tool raises an eyebrow for me.

 

I emailed that damper doctor you mentioned in another thread to see if they can rebuild mine. I haven't seen the greatest reviews online for the aftermarket options. I have to go see what the casting number is or if it has a 4 prong star on the back,

 

The 4 prong balancer stator was used on only 1996 light duty trucks with OBD-II. One year pretty much unobtainum part now.