Camshaft position sensor oil leak.

[StangTime]

I found the area around the intake cam sensor is leaking a bit of oil and collecting dirt. Is a new sensor required or can I clean it up, remove the sensor, inspect the seal and replace?

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[SheepDog]

Should just be an O ring. Pull the sensor out, and replace.

 

[NGOT8R]

I’d start out with a good cleaning of the sensor and retorque the bolt. If it continues to leak, then look at replacing the seal or sensor.

 

[black22gt]

If it was me, I'd get a new o ring, take off the sensor clean up it and the surrounding area, pop the new oring on, reinstall the sensor and see if it still leaks. Probably PTSD from my first car, a 90 corolla, but everything i took out always needed new seals or gaskets, so in my head they are auto replaces if they are inexpensive and leaking is the issue. Most of the time this worked beautifully,
although sometimes it is the sensor or just loose and not necessary! Obviously your mustang is much newer so bad seals shouldn't be a plague like it was for me back then, but if its leaking, I'd want a seal in hand before unbolting. Potential waste of a couple bucks, though you might could return it for a refund if that mattered to you.

Now that I've explained what i would do, i think NGOT8R's suggestion to clean and retorque is probably actually the best place to start.

 

[StangTime]

If it was me, I'd get a new o ring, take off the sensor clean up it and the surrounding area, pop the new oring on, reinstall the sensor and see if it still leaks. Probably PTSD from my first car, a 90 corolla, but everything i took out always needed new seals or gaskets, so in my head they are auto replaces if they are inexpensive and leaking is the issue. Most of the time this worked beautifully,
although sometimes it is the sensor or just loose and not necessary! Obviously your mustang is much newer so bad seals shouldn't be a plague like it was for me back then, but if its leaking, I'd want a seal in hand before unbolting. Potential waste of a couple bucks, though you might could return it for a refund if that mattered to you.

Now that I've explained what i would do, i think NGOT8R's suggestion to clean and retorque is probably actually the best place to start.

Thanks everyone. I'm going to clean the area well before removing it. Have a look at the O ring. While it's out, measure the O ring and try to locate a replacement. If, not I will re-install it and monitor for further oil creep.

 

[black22gt]

I have not done the proper research for it so take this accordingly, but the pic i found of a replacement sensor for my 22 had the oring in the pic, and it looked like a standard fuel o ring to me, so i bet you should be able to measure and replace easily enough. Unless I'm completely wrong of course!

 

[NGOT8R]

If you do lean toward replacing the o-ring, make sure it is made of special material such as Viton that can resist high temperatures much better than standard o-rings.

If you can’t find one for sale individually, then you may have to buy a new sensor with one included. Lastly, carefully measure it with calipers (I.D., O.D. and thickness) without distorting it and use that data when you search for a replacement.

 

[StangTime]

Cleaned up the dirt and oil from around the sensor and dried the area. Pulled out the sensor and had a look. Fords O rings are questionable. They look like they are painted orange and the actual o ring is black. A lot of the orange was dissolved or coming off. Very similar situation at the oil refill cap where the yellow coating is coming off.
I wiped off the oil and removed the seal from the sensor. There is an additional seal down inside the valve cover, I left that one alone and just wiped the office clean. I measured the O ring with my calipers in case it leaks more and I will replace it with one of these these for an exact fit:

I would prefer not to buy 100 but that's all I could find in the exact correct size and rating.
For now running with the original o ring and properly torqued bolt.

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