nightowlll

hi all. i just bought a 1996 F150 with a 4.9 liter engine. I bought the truck from a city auction here in Texas and the fleet service manager tells me the truck miles are all original. it has 96,000 miles. brought it home yesterday and the engine seems really smooth. it is a turtle on acceleration but im used to riding motorcycles. anyway, got home and looked it over again and crawled underneat and it's leaking oil everywhere. there is oil on the rear of the valve cover gasket toward the firewall in the engine compartment and oil all over the underneath covers the oil pan and tranny. Does this motor have any common area leaks? im not sure where to start.... please help! im confident it will be a great truck once i fix the leak but it looks like its gonna be a job!

Your help sure would be appreciated!!

Scott'sF150

The valve cover gasket is a bit involved but straightforward to repair.
Since you'll be taking it apart anyway, go ahead and replace the intake manifold gasket as well. While you're in there, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to replace the oil pan gasket as well. Do the grommet for the PCV and get a new one of those as well, and you should be golden.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

I would start with a pressure washer...clean it up and see what ya got !!

nightowlll

Thanks a lot you guys. I really appreciate it! I will do exactly what you guys recommended. However, I now have another problem. I went to the auto parts store to get some engine degreaser the other day along with an oil filter, etc. and when I came out my truck would not run. It would crank over and over and over but no dice. I crawled under the truck and changed the fuel filter as I heard the fuel pump whirring when I turned the key to the acc position so I figured it might be the fuel pump. Well, after changing the fuel filter still no dice. I was stuck at the auto parts store for 5 hours until I finally had to call a tow truck to tow me just 4 miles home. Everyone at the auto parts store and some other customers told me it was the fuel pump. I got the truck towed home and removed the fuel filter and crawled into the engine compartment with an air hose from my compressor regulated to 40 psi and blew air into the fuel pressure check valve and went under the truck and there was a spatter around the size of a large funnel on the ground of dirty grit and grime that was blown out of the fuel line going from the engine back to the filter. I reatteched the fuel line to the front of the filter (engine side) and turned the key and it cranked up almost instantaneously. I was so excited that I had fixed the problem that I backed out of the driveway and took off around the neighborhood. Guess what? It died out on me again around 2 miles away from my house. My wife drives a little honda element so I grabbed a strap and took off in her car with her sitting shotgun. She steered the F150 and I pulled it home. I pulled up into my driveway (about a 30 degree incline) and got out to check the position of the truck in the driveway. Hopped back in her Honda Element (it's a standard transmission) and released the emergency brake so I could put my foot on the brake and let it roll back a little to release the tension on the strap so I could unhook it. Guess what? I put my foot on the clutch instead and her Honda rolled back around 8 feet and crashed into the front of the F150. Man, I have not had much luck with this truck. Her tailgate (on the honda) was dented and it tore up her rear bumper. Now I'm in the hole another $$$. Anyway, everyone keeps telling me to hang in there and fix this thing up and it will be a great truck. I hope I can get some help here because I really need some wheels. I know this is getting off topic so I will post another thread with a topic of "1996 F150 Fuel Problems - Please Help!". Thanks for all of your assistance. Also, if anyone knows where I can get an authentic dealer service manual for a good price for this truck I sure would appreciated the info. I've checked on ebay and everyone wants $150 for them!

techrep

iTrader: (1)

wow... you backed into your truck with your wife's car...bummer...I would buy a haynes or chilton's manual at your local auto parts store and while your there get a can of throttle body cleaner...remove the throttle body as per the hayne's manual...not hard...and clean the **** out of it..

nightowlll

yep. I was rushing and at the time my foot didnt find the brake in time. lol. I did buy one of those haynes manuals and used some starting fluid to spray in the throttle body. its getting spark and wanting to run from the spray but dies once the fumes are gone. Do you think I should still buy the throttle body cleaner or just use starting fluid? what is the difference between the two chemicals?