v8hgt
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Hi all.
I spotted something recently on another group about the 10mm bolts holding the cam covers on being loose resulting in oil seepage onto the header. Whilst under the bonnet I decided to check my car and discovered the same issue on the passenger side header. The official ford TSB
https://ford.oemdtc.com/4759/5-0l-oil-leaks-from-valve-cover-gasket-2015-2017-ford-mustang
is an interesting one, go check the covers and you will see what I mean. It looks like ford cast 13 threaded holes into each cylinder head to attach the cam covers. They then designed a mould with 13 matching bolt locations. Then for some reason they only perforated 8 of the locations with a hole leaving the others blanked off (presumable to cut cost on bolts). The TSB tells you to remove the covers, drill through the other tabs, buy some bolts and reinstall with new gaskets.
Not having several hrs of free time I decided to just try nipping up the existing bolts and see if that stopped the small leak. I discovered that 2 bolts on the passenger side could be removed with my fingers. Probably never tightened during the build. So I tightened them all up to about 7NM as best I could. (one can't be reached without removing the battery box so I left that.)
On Saturday it went in for its 4 yr service which included spark plug change. The mechanic discovered some oil down 2 of the plug holes on the passenger side, and mentioned it to me as I had requested to see all 8 plugs for this reason.
Note: Oil on the tops of the plugs is VERY bad. and here is why.... The tops of the plugs get very hot, especially when sitting in an oil bath. Eventually the heat and oil will cause the plug to disintegrate and the middle will drop down through the metal threaded part into the cylinder. I know this because previously I had a Ducati that had exactly the same (expensive) problem. The plug oil seal in the cam cover had been nipped during the assembly causing oil to fill the hole. After a couple of thousand miles the plug dropped the middle straight through the piston resulting in an engine rebuild, new piston, new head, new barrel etc.
Im going to run it for a bit then pop the coil packs off and check for oil again with a tissue. If it find any I will have to do the TSB myself.
This is a known coyote build problem with a TSB to address it. To check yours, wait till cold, then get your hand down onto the cylinder head just above the headers on each side and run your fingers along the aluminium casting. If It feels slippery you probably have the same issue. Check the tightness of the 10mm bolts holding the cam covers on. A couple are hard to reach. Failing that, request ford fix it properly if you are still within the 3 yr warranty period. see TSB above.
I spotted something recently on another group about the 10mm bolts holding the cam covers on being loose resulting in oil seepage onto the header. Whilst under the bonnet I decided to check my car and discovered the same issue on the passenger side header. The official ford TSB
https://ford.oemdtc.com/4759/5-0l-oil-leaks-from-valve-cover-gasket-2015-2017-ford-mustang
is an interesting one, go check the covers and you will see what I mean. It looks like ford cast 13 threaded holes into each cylinder head to attach the cam covers. They then designed a mould with 13 matching bolt locations. Then for some reason they only perforated 8 of the locations with a hole leaving the others blanked off (presumable to cut cost on bolts). The TSB tells you to remove the covers, drill through the other tabs, buy some bolts and reinstall with new gaskets.
Not having several hrs of free time I decided to just try nipping up the existing bolts and see if that stopped the small leak. I discovered that 2 bolts on the passenger side could be removed with my fingers. Probably never tightened during the build. So I tightened them all up to about 7NM as best I could. (one can't be reached without removing the battery box so I left that.)
On Saturday it went in for its 4 yr service which included spark plug change. The mechanic discovered some oil down 2 of the plug holes on the passenger side, and mentioned it to me as I had requested to see all 8 plugs for this reason.
Note: Oil on the tops of the plugs is VERY bad. and here is why.... The tops of the plugs get very hot, especially when sitting in an oil bath. Eventually the heat and oil will cause the plug to disintegrate and the middle will drop down through the metal threaded part into the cylinder. I know this because previously I had a Ducati that had exactly the same (expensive) problem. The plug oil seal in the cam cover had been nipped during the assembly causing oil to fill the hole. After a couple of thousand miles the plug dropped the middle straight through the piston resulting in an engine rebuild, new piston, new head, new barrel etc.
Im going to run it for a bit then pop the coil packs off and check for oil again with a tissue. If it find any I will have to do the TSB myself.
This is a known coyote build problem with a TSB to address it. To check yours, wait till cold, then get your hand down onto the cylinder head just above the headers on each side and run your fingers along the aluminium casting. If It feels slippery you probably have the same issue. Check the tightness of the 10mm bolts holding the cam covers on. A couple are hard to reach. Failing that, request ford fix it properly if you are still within the 3 yr warranty period. see TSB above.
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