Hello all!
A little/quick back-story
Proud owner of a '97 4.6 HSE up here in Maine. We bought the truck from an acquaintance a few months back, and spent time doing little things to it (heater core o-rings, wiper motor, etc). Of course as soon as we begin driving it, the truck starts to mark its territory worse than my VW (which is of course pretty impressive to say the least)!
P.O. did headgaskets while he had the truck, engine has ~ 210,000 miles and aside from a hard start after sitting for any length of time (and the already mentioned oil leak), it's stellar!
Now, not knowing what MIGHT be leaking, I picked up new seals for the
Front Cover
Overpressure Valve
Pressure Switch
Oil Cooler Lines
Waterpump
Front Crank Seal
Since there is oil EVERYWHERE now (pretty sure fanbelt + fan + oil spray = mess) I have been unable to pinpoint exactly where it's coming from. I currently have everything stripped to the point that the front cover is about to come off, and of course I looked around more and said "i wonder if the leak is coming from the valley gasket.. and then dribbling down everywhere else"
So... looking for some thoughts on that. Is that a likely leak path? Is it possible to replace any of the valley gaskets without pulling the intake?
I'm fairly mechanically inclined, have built (3) engines for my VW corrado, several motorcycles, and have spent the better part of my adult life in/around/under engines of various types, just never played with a pushrod-based V6/8. I have spent many hours already cruising these forums but have not been able to find what I am looking for with any search string combo
Thanks a bunch in advance for any info/assistance you can all send my way!
-Nate
A little/quick back-story
Proud owner of a '97 4.6 HSE up here in Maine. We bought the truck from an acquaintance a few months back, and spent time doing little things to it (heater core o-rings, wiper motor, etc). Of course as soon as we begin driving it, the truck starts to mark its territory worse than my VW (which is of course pretty impressive to say the least)!
P.O. did headgaskets while he had the truck, engine has ~ 210,000 miles and aside from a hard start after sitting for any length of time (and the already mentioned oil leak), it's stellar!
Now, not knowing what MIGHT be leaking, I picked up new seals for the
Front Cover
Overpressure Valve
Pressure Switch
Oil Cooler Lines
Waterpump
Front Crank Seal
Since there is oil EVERYWHERE now (pretty sure fanbelt + fan + oil spray = mess) I have been unable to pinpoint exactly where it's coming from. I currently have everything stripped to the point that the front cover is about to come off, and of course I looked around more and said "i wonder if the leak is coming from the valley gasket.. and then dribbling down everywhere else"
So... looking for some thoughts on that. Is that a likely leak path? Is it possible to replace any of the valley gaskets without pulling the intake?
I'm fairly mechanically inclined, have built (3) engines for my VW corrado, several motorcycles, and have spent the better part of my adult life in/around/under engines of various types, just never played with a pushrod-based V6/8. I have spent many hours already cruising these forums but have not been able to find what I am looking for with any search string combo
Thanks a bunch in advance for any info/assistance you can all send my way!
-Nate