High mileage oil question - 2003 Ford Escape

[LexAtlanta]

Back in August 2012 I purchased a used 2003 Ford Escape with the V6. It was a one owner vehicle that looked to be taken care of. There was a small oil drip I noticed but nothing too bad at all. The oil change sticker on the windshield was from Pep Boys and called out
Pennzoil. No grade was speced but I guessed it was PYB 5W-20. I changed the oil and installed PP 5W-20....thinking that PP would be a better oil and also keep the engine clean. The drip has not gotten worse since the oil change....until now. I have lost about half a quart over the maybe 1,000 miles it has been driven thus far. The vehicle is used by my son to drive to and from school so it sees less then 10 miles of total driving each day.

The last 2 days I have been driving it and noticed a burning smell coming from the left side of the engine (standing facing the vehicle) after driving for a few minutes. I know it is the oil dripping on the pipe and burning off. It has gotten cold here in Atlanta - cold for us anyway - with temps at night ranging from the high 20s to the low 40s. I am thinking that the colder temps are making the seals and gaskets shrink which is letting the oil through. I am considering replacing the PP for a 5W-30 High Mileage oil. I am hoping the thicker grade oil and the HM with its seal conditioners will slow or stop the leak. Is this thinking flawed? 5W-20 seems like thin oil, this is the first vehicle I have ever owned that calls for it. Will a 5W-30 have negative consequences or shorten the life of the engine? SHould I stick with 5W-20? Small leaks on the Ford Duratec engines with this kind of mileage are not uncommon. From what I have read on other forums these motors have gone over 200K with these small drips/leaks.

I have read good things here about Valvoline Max Life. Is this the best choice for the driving described above? I have never used a HM oil so I am looking for input from the group. I was thinking of doing an OCI of 6 months and using a NAPA filter.

 

[pbm]

I think your logic is correct and the HM 5w30 should be fine (especially in Atlanta's climate).
The best bargain HM oil at WM is Mobil HM at $15.29 for the 5 quart jug. Most of the others are over $17.

 

[getnpsi]

High mileage oils are not "high leakage" oils. If its coming from the front of the engine, not where it connects to the transmission you might as well find it and fix it. Some 5w-30 oils when hot are really close to other brand 5w-20 oils, so both are going to be thin enough to get out and drip. The seals are going to cool down along with the oil as the car is parked so i don't think +40F has the same effect of the banana in liquid nitrogen video we all saw in science class.

My dodge neon turbo is leaking oil at the pressure sender, its SUPER hard to get at. It doesn't leak when its cold, it leaks while it is running and/or parked hot. if i start it up and take it around the block and repark it, very little to no drip. After a long highway run i know better and leave it in the street or on top of a pan.

 

[bmwtechguy]

Check your valve cover gaskets. Replaced a set on a friend's V6 Escape that were leaking. If it is a rotational seal like the front main or rear main seal, a HM oil may help some. If it is a gasket, then probably not much help.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Sounds like it's a valve cover gasket since it's dripping on the exhaust manifold. Try seeing if you can replace the valve cover gaskets to stop the leaking.

You should be okay running 5w-30 in that, IIRC, an 03 Escape should have the same Duratec as the 96-05 Tauruses that were originally spec'd for 5w-30

 

[itguy08]

Wife has an 03 Escape with 122k and we're going through this with hers. She had/has the burning oil smell and the undercarriage showed a similar leaking pattern. The Y-pipe runs there and that area gets quite hot.

I'll bet you it's either one (or both) of these:
1. Oil Pan Gasket
2. Front Timing gasket.

Both of which are common items on that vintage Duratec and age and miles.

If it's #1 it's under $100 in parts and about 1/2-3/4 of a day. The hardest part is getting the exhaust pipe out of the way. I did hers and it wasn't too bad. Did snap a stud and had to have a shop cut it out and replace with a regular old bolt. Other than that it was a straightforward job. Did need to go to HF for a set of Metric impact sockets which made the job longer.

If it's #2 it's around $1k at the dealer or most mechanics and needs a lot to happen. Oil pan has to come out, valve cover gaskets need replaced, alternator, axles, etc. all need to come out to fix it. It's not tough but a PITA and most that have attempted it say it's 1-1.25 days.

Hers was worse in the winter and we tried HM oil for a year and it helped a little. Finally got tired of smelling it and hearing her complain and did it right before Christmas. I tried the oil pan gasket first (not sure I want to tackle toe timing cover one). So far so good although I suspect there is a small leak at the timing cover gasket too.

What I was doing for her was pressure washing the engine 2x a year with full strength Simple Green. Seemed to keep most of the smell at bay. If you go that route always do it with a stone cold engine so as not to crack stuff.

 

[Danh]

I have a similar car with what might be a similar leak. The dealer says my leak is coming from the front (timing chain) cover. As itguy08 points out, this is kind of a big deal to repair: my dealer quoted $1,700 (!). Oil seems to run down the block and collect on the oil pan. Air flow can then push the oil drip back onto the exhaust pipe where it bends behind the oil pan, causing the smell.

The front cover is sealed with RTV, but there is some doubt about whether HM oils help RTV seal leaks. In any event I tried MaxLife 5w/30 and it seemed to help. Whether the higher viscosity or the seal conditioners were responsible I don't know. I then reverted to conventional (thinking conventional may leak less than synthetic) 5w/20 for winter and the leak is back; so I'll return to MaxLife 5w30 in a few months.

The same car/engine combination was sold in the UK as the Ford Maverick and the specified oil was 5w/30, so I'm confident that grade won't in any way be harmful. If you want some reassurance go to a Mobil or Shell website, pretend you're from the UK and ask it to recommend an oil for your 2003 3.0 Maverick.

Good bit of engineering on Ford's part! Good luck.

 

[LexAtlanta]

UPDATE.....and another question

I have looked underneath the vehicle for some time today and discovered that the leak looks to be coming form the oil pan gasket. There was a thick layer of "stuff" all around the area close to the pipe so I cleaned it off. I also looked at the valve cover - I can only see the front one. There is a small bit of oil present but the amount is really minute. The culprit seems to be the oil pan. Replacing that gasket is beyond what I want to attempt so if it is replaced, a shop will have to do it.

Seeing this has generated another question.......should I go to a 10w-30 high mileage oil? The thinking here is that thicker oil will be less likely to leak. Is that too thick? Will it cause damage and / or decrease gas mileage?

 

[dinkydau]

Ive got a 04 escape with the 3.0 V-6 and have followed the forums on these rigs. The V-6 in these are known for oil pan leaks and they usually start on the back side of the engine.
Going to a 30w may slow down the leaking and will not hurt the engine.Now wether a HM oil will cause the O ring gasket on the pan to swell or not is another question but would be an easy fix if it did. HTH DD

 

[JOD]

I'd just fix the leak. It's most likely coming from the cam seal and it's not a very difficult job on this car. My Freestyle may have a bit more room with a slightly larger engine bay, but it's reasonably accessible. You could always try a HM oil and see if it helps, but ultimately just fixing it is the way to go. A 5W30 certainly won't hurt the engine, but if you go the HM route I'd start with a 5W20 HM. Most HM 5W20's are thicker than their non-HM counterparts, and the seal conditions may help.

I'd also make SURE it's coming from the oil pan vs. the cam seal, since oil always drips down and clings to the underside of the pan. Did you clean the engine thoroughly before determining if it's coming from the pan?