Just wanted to share something that I found rather interesting, as it might have the potential to buy you some time if your TJ has an oil leak that you just can't get to for a bit. Here's what I got...
I have an '03 Lincoln Town Car with the 4.6 V8 in it. Been driving it for about 45,000 miles, and never experienced any oil loss through burning, or leakage. I change my own oil, btw. Anyways, I read on a couple of Ford forums that the 4.6 does well with full synthetic oil, using the recommended 5w20 oil. Of course, they recommend using Motorcraft (Ford) oil. I was due for an oil change, so I decided to give it a try. Big mistake.
Two days after I switched to full synthetic, my car started smelling like an oil refinery. It absolutely wreaked of hot, burning oil. I immediately checked to see if I had done something stupid, like not tighten the oil filter, or some such gross error. Nothing. All good. Still, it was coming from somewhere, as the entire passenger side of the floor pan, exhaust, starter, bell housing, and cross members were literally dripping with oil. I hit the internet, looking for problems common to these engines, and found that there was a TSB regarding the head gaskets weeping around the high pressure oil passage (rear for the passenger side, front for the driver side). Seemed likely that this was what I was up against.
The timing of the leaking seemed to coincide with the switch to full synthetic, so I decided to try a triple play. I switched back to conventional oil, I went from 5w20 to 5w30, and I added somesnake oil Lucas Oil Stop Leak to the oil (one quart replacing a quart of oil). The Lucas product claims to have chemicals that cause the seals and gaskets to become more pliable and swell back to their original size after about 100 miles of driving (and it also brings rain to end droughts, as well...). As you can tell, I wasn't real convinced, but this approach was far cheaper and less time consuming than replacing head gaskets on a 137,000 motor.
I did the oil change, as described above. I then cleaned the underside with Purple Power and hot water, and had the belly of the car looking showroom fresh. I drove the car about 40 miles, and looked underneath. It was raining oil, going as far back as the rear seat floor pan, and there was that wretched oil burning smell, all over again. I checked the oil level, and continued to drive it to and from work. Then on Sunday, after almost 300 miles of driving, I decided to clean the underside of the car once again. Crawling underneath, I found no fresh oil. Only traces of oil remained, and it was "dry", so to speak. I hosed everything down again with Purple Power and hot water, and then drove it around town to dry everything off.
Today, I drove it into work (30 miles) and once parked, I looked underneath. It is absolutely bone dry. There was no oil burning smell, and not one single drop of oil anywhere. I was amazed by this, and am looking forward to seeing if this holds up. However, I may not know what it was that did the trick, as I changed three different things. Dinosaur oil for the win? Weight change? Lucas product actually work? Hell if I know! All I know is that I went from being ready to give the car away to being hopeful that I can continue to drive this car. If it lasts until summer without an issue, I'm calling it good. If it starts to leak again, it's getting donated.
So what do you think? Could full synthetic have been the issue, or was the timing of the start of the leak purely coincidental? Could the Lucas product actually do what it says it does? Any predictions on whether or not the leak will return? Imagine if you could buy yourself some time using this Lucas stuff, and not have to change that leaking RMS in your TJ until you actually have the time to deal with it. Just a thought!
Anyways, thanks for letting me ramble. I'll end this by saying that I'm guardedly optimistic, and will report back on what happens down the road.
Thanks,
Squatch
I have an '03 Lincoln Town Car with the 4.6 V8 in it. Been driving it for about 45,000 miles, and never experienced any oil loss through burning, or leakage. I change my own oil, btw. Anyways, I read on a couple of Ford forums that the 4.6 does well with full synthetic oil, using the recommended 5w20 oil. Of course, they recommend using Motorcraft (Ford) oil. I was due for an oil change, so I decided to give it a try. Big mistake.
Two days after I switched to full synthetic, my car started smelling like an oil refinery. It absolutely wreaked of hot, burning oil. I immediately checked to see if I had done something stupid, like not tighten the oil filter, or some such gross error. Nothing. All good. Still, it was coming from somewhere, as the entire passenger side of the floor pan, exhaust, starter, bell housing, and cross members were literally dripping with oil. I hit the internet, looking for problems common to these engines, and found that there was a TSB regarding the head gaskets weeping around the high pressure oil passage (rear for the passenger side, front for the driver side). Seemed likely that this was what I was up against.
The timing of the leaking seemed to coincide with the switch to full synthetic, so I decided to try a triple play. I switched back to conventional oil, I went from 5w20 to 5w30, and I added some
I did the oil change, as described above. I then cleaned the underside with Purple Power and hot water, and had the belly of the car looking showroom fresh. I drove the car about 40 miles, and looked underneath. It was raining oil, going as far back as the rear seat floor pan, and there was that wretched oil burning smell, all over again. I checked the oil level, and continued to drive it to and from work. Then on Sunday, after almost 300 miles of driving, I decided to clean the underside of the car once again. Crawling underneath, I found no fresh oil. Only traces of oil remained, and it was "dry", so to speak. I hosed everything down again with Purple Power and hot water, and then drove it around town to dry everything off.
Today, I drove it into work (30 miles) and once parked, I looked underneath. It is absolutely bone dry. There was no oil burning smell, and not one single drop of oil anywhere. I was amazed by this, and am looking forward to seeing if this holds up. However, I may not know what it was that did the trick, as I changed three different things. Dinosaur oil for the win? Weight change? Lucas product actually work? Hell if I know! All I know is that I went from being ready to give the car away to being hopeful that I can continue to drive this car. If it lasts until summer without an issue, I'm calling it good. If it starts to leak again, it's getting donated.
So what do you think? Could full synthetic have been the issue, or was the timing of the start of the leak purely coincidental? Could the Lucas product actually do what it says it does? Any predictions on whether or not the leak will return? Imagine if you could buy yourself some time using this Lucas stuff, and not have to change that leaking RMS in your TJ until you actually have the time to deal with it. Just a thought!
Anyways, thanks for letting me ramble. I'll end this by saying that I'm guardedly optimistic, and will report back on what happens down the road.Thanks,
Squatch
