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Leaking seal Variable Cam Timing (VCT) solenoid (Oil leak)

42K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  Oddposty 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello all,

Thanks to this Forum, I was able to track down a serious issue I had with the first Focus I purchase back in nov 2011.

I had a major oil leak in the engine bay and back then the dealer was not able to precisely tell me the nature of the oil leak.

Thanks to ''Raycer'' a forum member, I was able to find out that it was due to a faulty Solenoid seal from one of the 2 VCT Solenoid unit under the hood.

Raycer made a post about it back in june 2011 but the post has been since hijacked and the issue has faded and/or went all over the place.

I'd like to know if anyone had a similar experience regarding this VCT Solenoid broken seal.

Another member, Gabe2010SE had a picture of the culprit added. Here it is:



Thanks in advance
 
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#2 ·
I've heard of several people having this issue now, shame it's as widespread as it is. I had a similar issue with oil gushing out everywhere, but in my case it would seem the oil dipstick was "faulty", more like they forgot to put the tube the dipstick slides into inside the engine during manufacturing.[screwy] My thread is here in case you're interested.
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=260179

Leaving parts out of the engine itself, and to have that problem at 300 miles hasn't really given me high hopes for the car long term.
 
#3 ·
Wanted to go for a nice Easter ride with the girlfriend, decided to check oil on new Focus (2400 mi.). Raised hood and see puddles of oil on valve cover! Good thing I checked oil before 135 mi. trip to girl's house. So I know it happened recently. Blown rubber seal on part you've circled on pic, front vct soleniod. Just got car back from dealer, today. They cleaned up engine, but felt-like heat shield on hood still soaked in oil. I also didn't like the use of rtv type sealant on valve cover re-install. Wonder how much of that is floating around in my engine oil now! They also charged me for an oil change, I insisted on because, I felt my closed oil system had been breeched and contaminated. What the heck Ford! I picked you over imports doing the right thing and standing by you. Don't have a good feeling about this!!!!!!!!!!! Gees It's stylish though.[rant]
 
#9 ·
Is the RTV all the way around the valve cover?....or is it in a location where the valve cover gasket has to bridge a seam (such as where a front cover meets the engine block?). If its where there is a seam that the valve cover gasket sits on, then it is completely normal for there to be a small touch of RTV at that location only.....which is the same as it has been done for decades. Some engines have the entire front cover sealed with RTV from the factory, same with oil pans, etc. Any competent technician can do the repair with zero worries of contamination in your engine [wave]
 
#5 ·
One quick way to ''know'' your seals are broken and you are leaking oil, is the very powerfull burn oil smell that fills the interior of the car.

Beleive me, you can't miss it. when the car moves, the smell goes away, of course...But as soon as you stop at a red light or idle for some other reasons, BAM! instant burt oil smell flagrance...I called it back then ''Eau de Focus''

So, IMO, having the engine cover will block your visual check, but the smell will always be there. Follow your nose, it always knows :)
 
#7 ·
Indeed it will.
It will however prevent any visual check to see if some oil is leaking from the Solenoids. In my case, it was pretty severe, as I did a visual check while the engine was running and oil while was gushing everywhere. Some may experience a smaller/slower leak. I admit however that the engine cover looks pretty darn nice :)
 
#8 ·
We'll be taking on a 3,000 mile road trip shortly and it only has about 2,500 on it so far. So I think I'll remove the cover for the trip to allow a quick visual inspection at each fuel stop. Not expecting a problem, but if it does happen it would be better to find it early.
 
#11 ·
...Thanks to this Forum, I was able to track down a serious issue I had with the first Focus I purchase back in nov 2011.
I had a major oil leak in the engine bay and back then the dealer was not able to precisely tell me the nature of the oil leak.
...
Hey Kaaru,

Are you having this concern with the current Focus? If so, don't hesitate to visit the local Ford dealer. You can also shoot me a PM with your contact information, dealer name/state, approximate mileage, and VIN so I can get this escalated to the Customer Service Manager for your area.

... I had a similar issue with oil gushing out everywhere, but in my case it would seem the oil dipstick was "faulty"...
Hello xwhit3devilx,

Has the local Ford dealer addressed this concern? If so, great! If not and the concern is still present, make an appointment and send me a PM with your contact information, dealer name/state, approximate mileage, and VIN. I’ll arrange a call from the Customer Service Manager for your area.

Wanted to go for a nice Easter ride with the girlfriend, decided to check oil on new Focus (2400 mi.). Raised hood and see puddles of oil on valve cover! Good thing I checked oil before 135 mi. trip to girl's house. So I know it happened recently. Blown rubber seal on part you've circled on pic, front vct soleniod. Just got car back from dealer, today. They cleaned up engine,...
Hello

Hi Zosylf,

If the issue reappears, please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can send me a PM with the VIN, dealer, mileage, full name, and best daytime number. Once I receive this info, I’ll arrange a call from the Customer Service Manager for your area.

Take care all and have a relaxing evening!

Noemi
 
#12 ·
Hey Kaaru,

Are you having this concern with the current Focus? If so, don't hesitate to visit the local Ford dealer. You can also shoot me a PM with your contact information, dealer name/state, approximate mileage, and VIN so I can get this escalated to the Customer Service Manager for your area.

Noemi
Noemi,

No I am not having this issue with my second Focus, however, I'll admit that I dont feel ''at rest'' or very much confident about the new car either. Having the oil leaking issue with the first Focus (SE hatchback) and now the transmission/MFT issue with my second one (The SEL Sedan), I have realized that I dont fully trust the car or the product anymore...and I hate to say it, but the car has become the source of some less than tastefull fiability jokes around the house and the office. To be honest, we take my wife's SUV when we go out of town...that says a lot about how far we trust the car...I wanted to like this car sooo much. Sorry OP, back to the thread.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Argh...that suks...I'm sorry to hear that. I check the engine bay once a week, just to make sure it doesnt leak again on this new SEL I got to replace the stinky/Leaking SE. I cant really put in words how bad I feel everytime I open the hood and realize that I have to do a visual check on a 30K$ with 5500 Km on it...thats just sad.

When my leaking SE was brought in, I was told I had about a litrer of oil left in the engine. Based on the mess it did in the engine bay AND my driveway, I had no problem beleiving that back then.

What makes me hyper mad is that they totally missed it when doing the PDI I was charged for...I mean, how can you miss such a mess? And what exaclty did I paid for ? Some air and a warm hand shake ??



On the left: The SE HB with faulty Solenoids seals that I brought back...on the right, the new SEL Sedan I purchased to replace the SE HB...took a nasty hit, of course, but it's more like the car I wanted initially.

(Finally found a way to download my pics from my phone and share them here)

And today, detailling the car, I found this under the hood...again...some oil around the CVT seals...




Cleand it up to this:



I'm keeping an eye out for those seals and report any leaks.
 
#15 ·
I know this is an old post, but wanted to add my experience. I have a 2012 Focus. I had same issue; oil leaking from seal around vct Solenoid. I replaced with Felpro valve cover gasket. The Felpro VCT circular gasket fit so tight into the valve cover that I had to tap in with a 2X4 and hammer. I also had to firmly press on the valve cover to push the new valve cover seals onto the Solenoids. When completed, the leak was worse. I took apart and found the vct Solenoid gasket had split in half. Maybe if I had lubricated the solenoids, this would not have happened. I went to the local Ford dealer and bought the OEM valve cover gasket. I was able to easily press the gaskets into the valve cover, and they pressed easily over the solenoids....and no leaks!
 
#16 ·
I know this is an old post, but wanted to add my experience. I have a 2012 Focus. I had same issue; oil leaking from seal around vct Solenoid. I replaced with Felpro valve cover gasket. The Felpro VCT circular gasket fit so tight into the valve cover that I had to tap in with a 2X4 and hammer. I also had to firmly press on the valve cover to push the new valve cover seals onto the Solenoids. When completed, the leak was worse. I took apart and found the vct Solenoid gasket had split in half. Maybe if I had lubricated the solenoids, this would not have happened. I went to the local Ford dealer and bought the OEM valve cover gasket. I was able to easily press the gaskets into the valve cover, and they pressed easily over the solenoids....and no leaks!
 
#20 ·
This is an old comment but I can vouch for this too. I too purchased the Fel-pro brand gasket and the leak was even worse from the VCT solenoid o-ring seals. Purchased an original Ford valve cover gasket that came with the VCT seals and haven't had any issues, installed way easier than the Fel-pro one too.
 
#18 ·
Looking into this now as last night I was changing my spark plugs on 2016 Focus ST and found that one of the VCT Seals seems to have a slight Oil leak, I'm at 49,000 mi. My question is can I just replace that seal without taking the whole valve cover off, or do you need to remove the whole valve cover to get to that seal? Everything else seems to be leak free, so ideally I would rather just change that but if I have to take the whole valve cover off I would just do all the gaskets then.
 
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