Leaking alot of oil

[JohnnyUhlar]

hey everyone, ive got a 97 ranger regular cab with a 2.3l motor. it started with just a slow leak and i didnt pay much attention to it. yesterday however i went out to get in the truck and as i backed down the driveway theres a puddle where my truck was. i checked my oil and it was dead empty. i put two bottles in and before i even got to cleaning up and putting things away i noticed it leaking ALOT. my thoughts are a front seal between the motor and the trans. any thoughts on how to go about figuring out if this actually the problem? lemme know your thoughts and ideas.

R.I.P. Jason Finn

 

[snake]

If its coming from the bellhousing and it is motor oil, it is the rear seal- or the tranny front seal, but then it would be red in most cases. The only way to verify any leak is to clean it up and watch it. Kerosene works the best for cleaning off oil, the older gunk engine degreaser had kerosene, stay away from the newer "citrus" ones, they suck. Clean it up, put it up on jackstands, crank it and watch. You'll find it pretty quickly. Make sure it isn't the rear of the oil pan because that is very close to the bellhousing. But clean and watch with a strong light and you'll find it.

 

[JohnnyUhlar]

thanks snake. always got the best instructions for me <3 lol

 

[macx]

I bought a 93 4 cyl with only 75k on the odometer after my car got stolen.

Crawled under and gave it a good look-over, saw the usual signs of oil seepage but
no drips on the driveway under it or big drops hanging anywhere. Well, the driveway
was pretty steeply sloped and it was front down.

When I got home I changed oil, parked it on the level, and had a 3' diameter puddle
under it the next AM. Thought rear main.

Only way to check is to pull the trans. I broke down and bought a manual $65 trans
jack from Harbor Freight and it made the job just about simple. Truck was up on jack stands.

Wasn't the rear main. I think somebody had maybe messed with it, but there was about
3/16" or close to that gap between the bottom of the rear main seal retainer and the
top of the oil pan flange.

I am 1700 miles from home and don't have enuf equipment to pull the motor, and needed
the truck ASAP anyway as it was by then too cold in the AM (20's) to ride my bike the 40 miles to work.

Used a can of carb spray to clean the oil out of the gap, let enuf out of the pan so it was below the leak point, sprayed it several times and dried the gap with canned computer air as I don't have a compressor here. Used hi temp silicone and pushed it into the gap good, let it dry, then put another layer over the top. That was 2,000k ago and no more leaks. Fingers crossed!

 

[manley]

My oil pan had a hole rusted in it...

 

[MJ'sBlkBII]

Leaks are affected by gravity. Start high and work your way down. Oh, check you drain plug.

 

[macx]

Leaks are affected by gravity. Start high and work your way down. Oh, check you drain plug.

Absolutely right - and add front to back.

At least if it's in anything resembling airflow while moving.

Check the pan bolts (my pan appears to be aluminum on my 93 so no rust
likely on mine anyway).

One thing I've done for over 40 years is to clean any bolt that holds a gasket in solvent ( brush if heavy grease/oil/crud, carb spray and blow or air dry), and stick the straw on a can of carb spray in the bolt hole and clean the threads - just watch out for your eyes and face!!! - then blow dry or air dry, but best to push some air in there. Even if it's from a can of "canned air" like for cleaning dust out of computers. Then use a douple drops of blue loctite and torque to factory specs. then let the engine or trans sit overnite before running. Then those bolts will never work loose from vibration over time and allow the gasket to start to seep. Those bolts that hold gaskets can't be torqued very much or they'd crush the gasket, so anything you can do to keep them from working loose will keep your engine clean.

good luck!