Cracked Valve Cover

[Jason Krakauer]

Add a little flavor to the broken CV Joint on the front driveshaft I've been working on getting resolved.

Driving on the highway the other day, went to pass and give it some gas ... got some odd hesitation on from the trans (holding 10th ... not really wanting to kick down). Pushed a little harder, and got a "low oil pressure" warning on the dash - along w/ some odd turbo boost pressure readings (fluctuating mid-high range). Pulled off immediately, shut her down, checked the oil level and looked for a telltale blood trail. Nothing seemed off ... restarted and the pressure was in the green, no CEL or continued pressure warnings. Headed right home. Similar event - stopped again - all looked normal. Trying to merge back on, got a stutter and a CEL. Code reader showed misfire on cyl. 6. Also showed oil pressure was mid-40s at part throttle on live data.

Just got to the mechanic and they found the driver's side valve cover cracked (laterally) across the entire width. Best they can surmise is that's causing a vacuum leak, which would cause the trans/motor to go into a "protect" mode, which is causing the trans to limit hard downshifts. The coil pack on 6 was bad, so that's the misfire. The oil pressure sender/sensor likely bad too... no pressure warnings on live data or since.

So new valve cover/gasket and new coil pack to get me going again... oil pressure sender/sensor is back-ordered from Ford, so gotta white-knuckle it and see if the problem crops up again while cruising.

Fahhk - man. Never heard of a valve cover cracking under normal useage - and at 69k miles. Had to drive down there and see it to believe it. Anyone dealt w/ this?

 

[CoronaRaptor]

There's always a one off, I wonder if yours is one of those recalls for the oil consumption? Were they just replacing the gasket or the whole valve covers on those? Was it ever in for service before? Hope you get it fixed quick. You have any pics of the cracked valve cover, would be interesting to see that. Good luck.

 

[Antho]

My driver side was cracked. Replaced the cover and gasket and haven't had an issue since.

 

[FordTechOne]

Add a little flavor to the broken CV Joint on the front driveshaft I've been working on getting resolved.

Driving on the highway the other day, went to pass and give it some gas ... got some odd hesitation on from the trans (holding 10th ... not really wanting to kick down). Pushed a little harder, and got a "low oil pressure" warning on the dash - along w/ some odd turbo boost pressure readings (fluctuating mid-high range). Pulled off immediately, shut her down, checked the oil level and looked for a telltale blood trail. Nothing seemed off ... restarted and the pressure was in the green, no CEL or continued pressure warnings. Headed right home. Similar event - stopped again - all looked normal. Trying to merge back on, got a stutter and a CEL. Code reader showed misfire on cyl. 6. Also showed oil pressure was mid-40s at part throttle on live data.

Just got to the mechanic and they found the driver's side valve cover cracked (laterally) across the entire width. Best they can surmise is that's causing a vacuum leak, which would cause the trans/motor to go into a "protect" mode, which is causing the trans to limit hard downshifts. The coil pack on 6 was bad, so that's the misfire. The oil pressure sender/sensor likely bad too... no pressure warnings on live data or since.

So new valve cover/gasket and new coil pack to get me going again... oil pressure sender/sensor is back-ordered from Ford, so gotta white-knuckle it and see if the problem crops up again while cruising.

Fahhk - man. Never heard of a valve cover cracking under normal useage - and at 69k miles. Had to drive down there and see it to believe it. Anyone dealt w/ this?

What year, and did you have your valve covers replaced for an oil consumption concern?

Haven't ever heard of this myself.

 

[Jason Krakauer]

It's a '17 - roughly 70K miles. I bought the truck in Feb of this year, records aren't totally complete - relying on the CarFax report prior to purchase. It did list a bunch of service items from Ford dealer work (mostly maintenance), didn't have a listing for the oil-consumption TSB that I saw (doesn't mean it didn't have the work done). I'm glad to see that at least I'm not the only one w/ this... makes me wistful for a good old set of stamped metal valve covers (plastic trash).

Other good news, though, is that I never realized how detailed the My Ford App. could get on codes and trouble-shooting. My code reader only pulled the CEL for the misfire ... my brother-in-law's Apollo code reader showed the low-oil-pressure warnings... but when I was messing w/ the App. this morning it listed a those errors plus a code for a bad "oil pressure switch/solenoid" ... which is what we suspected w/ the intermittent "low pressure..." warnings. I was able to source one at a local dealership for $30 so that's going on when they fix the valve cover at my mechanic.

It's a little odd that a bad coil pack, bad oil pressure switch, and a cracked valve cover all hit me at the same time on the same cylinder bank... I mean I guess the stress of the cracked cover could have stressed the other parts enough to fault.

 

[Antho]

There's always a one off, I wonder if yours is one of those recalls for the oil consumption? Were they just replacing the gasket or the whole valve covers on those? Was it ever in for service before? Hope you get it fixed quick. You have any pics of the cracked valve cover, would be interesting to see that. Good luck.

The oil consumption TSB was to replace the valve covers if no oil leak was found. Mine was easy to see and was on top of the cover. I've seen a few folks with 2017's that have had the leak in the exact same spot.

 

[Jason Krakauer]

Thanks - Not sure I had "excessive" consumption. There was a pretty obvious leak at the crack just now - could run my and along the top side near it and see oil. Before that, I'd only added about a quart over like 2,000 miles (which in my mind isn't too excessive).

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Thanks - Not sure I had "excessive" consumption. There was a pretty obvious leak at the crack just now - could run my and along the top side near it and see oil. Before that, I'd only added about a quart over like 2,000 miles (which in my mind isn't too excessive).

That's excessive, the engine isn't breaking in at that mileage. You should not go through any oil during oil changes, not noticeable anyway.

 

[Jason Krakauer]

It might be termed "excessive" for the 3.5 Ecoboost, but I've had engines that go a quart/3-4000 miles... My old man had an E90 335Ci and the factory said quart per 800 miles was "totally normal"... zero usage between oil changes is like Camry-level car world. I would expect a high-strung power unit like the 3.5 HO would use some oil between changes. I don't know what the typical Raptor is doing on that front ... but I'd say anything at 2-quarts or less between change intervals is probably not "bad/excessive."

Besides, I don't know how long I've been running w/ this cracked valve cover. Could be that's been the source for all my "consumption" up until now.

 

[CoronaRaptor]

It might be termed "excessive" for the 3.5 Ecoboost, but I've had engines that go a quart/3-4000 miles... My old man had an E90 335Ci and the factory said quart per 800 miles was "totally normal"... zero usage between oil changes is like Camry-level car world. I would expect a high-strung power unit like the 3.5 HO would use some oil between changes. I don't know what the typical Raptor is doing on that front ... but I'd say anything at 2-quarts or less between change intervals is probably not "bad/excessive."

Besides, I don't know how long I've been running w/ this cracked valve cover. Could be that's been the source for all my "consumption" up until now.

Well, I can't wait to see what others say on this. I don't have a gen 2, but I have a gen 1 and a high hp mustang that don't use any measurable oil between oil changes. 2 quarts is pre1980 technology to me anyway. Not bashing here, but I think you will notice no oil consumption after your repair. Good luck.