block and timing cover issue

ive had a bad oil leak from the timing cover since i put the new motor in a couple of months ago, i got sick of it and took it to a shop. the shop told me the motor is out of a a 02-06 explorer (casting # 3L2E-6010-CA).

does anyone know if that motor came in early mustang models?

and if not wil this work:

it looks like my 07 timing cover could seal it if i add a little material in the circled area. could a little bit of welding be done in that area with no ill effects?

is it an iron block?EDIT: i see it was a built motor, if it was an iron block then not likely in the 3v mustangs as they were all aluminum blocks. the 2v engines were all iron blocks and IIRC(its been a few years) that all the v8 cars/trucks used the same block if it was used as a 2v.

also, if you have leak paths someone cleaned the timing cover surfaces with something that was abrasive to cause that, they just dont leak unless you have leak paths or the gasket is pushed out.EDIT: check out to make sure you dont have deep scratches, run your finger nail over it, if it snags a groove then you have a leak path...

i would suggest to take it to a machine shop and see if they can add material to the area then shave it down to specs. i have had this done on an old lightning i had, worked for a good 50k miles before the shortblock let go.

its deffinatly alum. the shop has determined that the leak is due to lack of a seal in the area, when i was doing the prep of the block i ensured that i didnt make any scratches in the block.

The 3L2E block is the exact same block all '05-10 Mustangs come with (and 05-10 Explorers). So it's definitely not a block issue. Even the older 1L2E blocks work flawlessly (03-04 Mach, 02-04 Explorer).

I'd pull the timing cover off, inspect it, inspect the block and heads where the cover attaches, clean all surfaces, replace all 3 gaskets, replace front main seal, apply proper amount of silicone in the proper places and torque it all back together according to spec. There shouldn't be a problem after that.

I knew I had heard of this issue before. After an hour of searching I found the thread. Might want to read this:

http://s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18048&highlight=oil+leak

pay attention to post# 10.

The 1L2E and 3L2E blocks are completely interchangable. The early "WAP" and "Teksid" blocks will need some modifications (as mentioned in that thread).

tmcolegr said:

I knew I had heard of this issue before. After an hour of searching I found the thread. Might want to read this:

http://s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18048&highlight=oil+leak

pay attention to post# 10.

Click to expand...

thanks for taking some time and looking man. i looked for a little bit but wasnt using the right keyword obviously.
ill show this post to the shop and see what they say.

bluestang07 said:

thanks for taking some time and looking man. i looked for a little bit but wasn't using the right keyword obviously.
ill show this post to the shop and see what they say.

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Keep in mind I have no personal experience with this issue. Sounds like 19COBRA93 is far more knowledgeable on this topic than I am. I just remembered reading that thread a long time ago.

I had a similar leak and fixed it with silicone sealer. You don't need to use alot of it to sealer it up. I have the cast iron big bore block.

yes I have seen this issue with several of my earlier motor. You have to put an npt plug in the hole closest to the water pump wherre the two are together there and a little RTV on the back side at the 2 spots where the gasket leaves the block to make the turn..

Pretty off topic but did the explorers came with alu blocks?

Down here all the 3Vs have iron blocks.

(and the one pictured is alu btw)

lito said:

Pretty off topic but did the explorers came with alu blocks?

Down here all the 3Vs have iron blocks.

(and the one pictured is alu btw)

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Far as I know all 3V explorers are iron blocks, but apparently the late 2V explorers were aluminum. I didn't know Ford had any aluminum 2V's.

stang910 said:

Far as I know all 3V explorers are iron blocks, but apparently the late 2V explorers were aluminum. I didn't know Ford had any aluminum 2V's.

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After some research, this is what I found; All 2V Explorers from 02-05 are all aluminum blocks. The 02's are the the 1L2E blocks (same as the '01 Cobra), and the 03-05's use the 3L2E blocks (05-10 Mustang). The 3V Explorers from 06-10 are all iron blocks (6L2E). The '01 and older V8 Explorers had the pushrod 302, so they were obviously iron blocks. And all the truck 3V's are iron blocks (F-150, E-series vans, etc).

Hope this clears it up.

so, do the 02 Exploder blocks share any Cobra internals then? might be a worth looking into

Tylus said:

so, do the 02 Exploder blocks share any Cobra internals then? might be a worth looking into

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No. They're 6 bolt cranks, so nothing there. They might have the same rods as the '01 cobra and 03-04 Mach's, but they're crap rods anyway.

19COBRA93 said:

After some research, this is what I found; All 2V Explorers from 02-05 are all aluminum blocks. The 02's are the the 1L2E blocks (same as the '01 Cobra), and the 03-05's use the 3L2E blocks (05-10 Mustang). The 3V Explorers from 06-10 are all iron blocks (6L2E). The '01 and older V8 Explorers had the pushrod 302, so they were obviously iron blocks. And all the truck 3V's are iron blocks (F-150, E-series vans, etc).

Hope this clears it up.

Click to expand...

Ok, now that fits what I've seen so far.

More thread hijacking, latest 3V explorer calibrations (09+) come with knock sensors active, what puzzles me is, are there any iron block with knock sensor bosses?

lito said:

Ok, now that fits what I've seen so far.

More thread hijacking, latest 3V explorer calibrations (09+) come with knock sensors active, what puzzles me is, are there any iron block with knock sensor bosses?

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I show for '09, only the V6 Explorers have knock sensors.

There has to be some kind of mistake under the 09-10 (and for us, 11 too, as there are rebadged 10s as 11s) calibrations then, I've never seen an iron block with knock sensor bosses (but has not looked over in these cars either)

19COBRA93 said:

After some research, this is what I found; All 2V Explorers from 02-05 are all aluminum blocks. The 02's are the the 1L2E blocks (same as the '01 Cobra), and the 03-05's use the 3L2E blocks (05-10 Mustang). The 3V Explorers from 06-10 are all iron blocks (6L2E). The '01 and older V8 Explorers had the pushrod 302, so they were obviously iron blocks. And all the truck 3V's are iron blocks (F-150, E-series vans, etc).

Hope this clears it up.

Click to expand...

This is good info. Now is there a timing cover that fits this early style block with 3V heads? I know the Explorer and Mustang share the 3L2E part#, but clearly they are slightly different cause of the oil leak problem.