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Timing Chain Cover Gasket

1995 F150 5.8L 256k

Hey guys! I have a leaking timing chain cover gasket. I bought all the gaskets and seals but I know it will take me a good amount of time to fix it and I just can’t have my truck down right now as it’s my daily driver. I plan on testing my oil and if there’s no signs of coolant contamination, I think I might just ride it out for a while. I want to pull the engine soon anyways for a rebuild. So my question is, is the coolant stop leak worth a try in the meantime?

Thanks!
 

Fellro

Moderator
Staff member
Stop leak likely will be ineffective at best, cause other issues like plugging radiator and heater core at worst. It depends how bad a leak it is as to whether can just keep topping off and go or not.
 
Thanks Fellro! I think I hear more bad than good about stop leak. I’ve had this leak for a while, I usually just top it off once a week. I think I’ll skip the stop leak to prevent further coolant issues down the road.

Thanks!
 

Sparky83

Virginia Chapter member
5,566
219
Norlina NC
Stop leak likely will be ineffective at best, cause other issues like plugging radiator and heater core at worst. It depends how bad a leak it is as to whether can just keep topping off and go or not.


x2 smiliewhathesaid everytime ive worked on a vehicle someone put stop leak in whether it was for oil leaks or coolant leaks it just becomes a bigger pain than people realize... there are a lot of places inside the block that you wont ever be able to get into to thoroughly get that stuff cleaned out.. we had one come into the shop once customer was complaining of high engine temps and coolant leak they "couldnt find"... they had stuck so much of that stuff into the coolant system to try and stop it that when we pulled the water pump (pulley was very wobbly) it was just caked in there like someone had packed it with clay... we actually found their leak which was actually coming from the head gasket on the front coolant passage... when we pulled the heads we found more of the stop leak that formed into the "clay" blockage in both the front and rear passage... we pulled one of the freeze plugs in the side of the block just to if there was any coolant sitting there... more packed "clay".... it was just a nightmare trying to get all that cleaned out...

both me and the other tech working with me told the SW to tell the customer itd be better to just replace the engine as we couldnt guarantee they wouldnt have problems again from the block being heat stressed due to the lack of "coolant"... but customer wouldnt go for it... just "demanded" we fix the problems and put it back together... we never saw the guy again.. so dunno whatever happened to that engine.. but wouldnt be surprised if it had issues again...
 

dustybumpers

don't play well w others
Only time I ever used stop leak was for a blown head gasket. Got me home from Nc to Md, but I had to replace everything in the truck when I got home.
was a very expensive trip.

Just add coolant, and keep an eye on the bottom of your oil fill cap for signs of coolant / oil mix contamination
 

Sparky83

Virginia Chapter member
5,566
219
Norlina NC
if coolant is getting into the oil whether its for the engine or transmission youll also find that the metallic parts of the dipstick will rust like the body of a vehicle thats lived its life in the rust belt...

dunno if the 95s had the plastic tipped dipsticks or they were like the older vehicle where they were metal all the way to the ends... why i said the metallic parts...
 

dustybumpers

don't play well w others
Dipstick is still steel, just has a funky plastic handle.
The oil cap will start to get some soup slop on the bottom too, from blow by

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 

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