• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Head gasket leaking engine oil

B

Broken Bolts

CEG'er
Joined
Aug 30, 2010
Messages
49
Location
CT
I bought a 98 SVT last year and have been trying to fix everything that is wrong with it. It has 131K miles but seems to have been mildly driven. The engine is leaking oil and after I looked around and cleaned the leak, it's leaking from the rear cylinder head gasket near the oil feed port. I searched and found this link that documents it with pictures perfectly!! http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?21354-possible-head-gasket/page4

Now, i've also noticed on cold start ups, I will get a slight ticking upon startup for about half of a second. It's like the engine is losing its prime, and now I know why because of the oil feed ports leaking causing oil starvation on the rear head after the engine sits for the night.

I've learned that if you hold the throttle (TPS sensor) open 100%, the ecu doesn't operate the fuel injectors, so every morning I just crank for 5 seconds with the throttle floored to prime the oil system and I don't hear any ticking.

I know this is a common problem on 2.5L Duratecs, my question is does this happen because the engine has been overheated and the gasket sealing surfaces are warped and need resurfacing at a machine shop? Or is this just normal gasket hardening/failing over time and the sealing surfaces are not warped? The engine doesn't use any coolant whatsover, ive been tracking it for 9 months now and I haven't had to add any and the level goes up when it gets hot and goes back down when its cold.
 
Basically the only way for the head gaskets on these cars to go bad is because they over heat when the water pump fails. I have very rarely heard of the head gasket going just because.....maybe 2-3 times in the years I have been on this site.
 
I agree that it's not a common problem, but, on my 2.5 there was an oil leak out of the head gasket that sounds like it was in the same place as yours. I drove the car for about 100k miles and it was never over heated. I can't account for the first 30k miles of the car, but when I drove it there was never a time when the water pump failed or anything happened to cause it to over heat. Maybe it's just bad luck on a very small number of cars. I have the head, head gasket and block all torn apart in my garage, I could take a pic of where the oil was leaking if you like.
 
One of my SVT's had a small oil leak coming from between the block and the head. Didn't even notice it till I pulled the engine to change a clutch. Engine never had any issues.
 
Thanks for chiming in guys. I hate to break it to you other people, but that's the definition of a common problem. Plus if you cared to read the link I posted, it says that some big shot tough guy that rebuilds duratecs for breakfast every morning has seen this problem on EVERY SINGLE duratec he rebuilds. Bill from FCO or whatever that is.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top