Engine bay completely covered in oil

[DaddysTruck]

Every single thing under the hood of my truck is caked in a mixture of oil and dirt. Even the underside of the hood is black with oil. I've never seen an oil leak cause everything to be so evenly covered like it is. Is this a common issue for the 2.8?

 

[bronco2fan]

I wouldn't say it's common, but they do have some leakage issues. Mainly valve cover gaskets, that was my issue. PVC blow by if it's clogged. You really have to clean it up and see what's leaking. Is it new oil or old mixed with new? Is it all over the frame or underside of motor? My AC condenser was leaking and it threw crap all over the underside of my hood. I just took it off and problem solved. Get some engine cleaner, spray it down and go from there. Just make sure you cover the carb and distributor first. They make some really good non chemical cleaners now that don't mess up paint or vacuum lines.

 

[DaddysTruck]

The weird thing is that it doesn't seem to lose much oil. I think that this may be a small problem that has compounded over time with no one ever cleaning it up. The valve covers do leak pretty bad down onto the exhaust manifolds, and my best theory is that the burning oil is misting all over everything.

 

[enjr44]

Not saying this is what happened to yours.

Some folks, mostly from my generation or older, in rural areas drove on oiled dirt/gravel roads. Everything and I mean everything on the dirty side got covered in a dirt/oil mix. And some even sprayed an oil/kerosene mix all over everything to prevent rust and that would collect a layer of dirt/oil on everything. Absolutely everything would have a thick hard layer on it.

 

[DaddysTruck]

You may have something there. This truck was my dads, and he lived way out in the middle of nowhere Alabama with mostly dirt roads. They have this red dirt down there that gets on everything. I'm not sure anyone purposely oiled the motor, but the area he lived in is definitely why there is a dirt/oil cement attached to everything under the hood. I'm doing a tear down now, and cleaning all this stuff off with a brush which is a PIA and time consuming. I just want to make sure when I put it all back together this doesn't happen again.

 

[enjr44]

Spray/Soak it in kerosene or engine cleaner or super clean and it will come off with water from a hose. Even simple green will do it.