Texas1988

I just bought a 1988 XLT Lariat. It has the 5.0 L 302. Unfortunately it has an oil leak somewhere. The driver side of the engine is covered in oil that seems to have been leaking for a while and it went all the way to the transmission pan. I believe it to be either the oil filter housing or the valve cover gasket. I'm new to this kind of stuff so please dumb down your answers for me!

My questions are simple for you, not so much for me!

How difficult is it to replace the valve cover gasket and oil filter housing gasket?
I have read that alot of fixes on this engine and year truck requires the engine to be lifted... I dont have any way to lift the engine myself so im hoping i dont need to do that! I am really afraid to ask about the rear seal... I've read that it is not only a pain but expensive to replace.. I'm running a very small budget here so any shortcuts would be appreciated

Forge-World-FORD

Clean it first as best as you can, then check on it as you drive around to pin point the location. You want to find the leak before you throw parts at it.

Brandon587

The rear main is only expensive if you don't do it. If you do it then its a $20 seal at the most, then oil and filter and any tranny fluid you may loose pulling the transmission. It really isn't too bad, I did it in a good long day. Along with some other things. But as stated above, clean up all oil, and drive to see where it leaks. You may find it doesn't leak bad at all, at least not enough to justify replacing whatever gasket it is. The only oil gasket I can think of that requires lifting the engine up some is the oil pan gasket, and the engine only then needs to come up a few inches.

Texas1988

Thanks for the quick reply! I did clean it once and drive a little so I could pin point the exact leak but wasn't able to find it. So I'll clean it one more time real good and see what I find. I'll let y'all know

Forge-World-FORD

If you can afford it, they have sprays and foams you could use to get it extra clean.

Brandon587

Advance has cans of engine degreaser for about $3 each. I just used 3 under my truck and pressure washed it yesterday, now it's much cleaner.

Forge-World-FORD

Like I said, if he can afford it. I've definitely been at a point where even $3 was too expensive for something.

Brandon587

Oh, I have been too at one point in my life. I was buying gas with dimes cause I ran out of quarters lol. But now everything is fine and dandy lol.

Rusty but trusty

If oil is on the top of the oil filter housing it may be your oil pressure sensor, its straight up from the filter on my 5.8 and it was leaking. Hopefully the 5.0 is similar.

Texas1988

It is my oil pan gasket and at this point with the amount of miles and the cost to fix it is not worth it. Just need a quart every 3000... And by then I'm changing the oil anyway...