GreyWisent
Active LVC Member
My oil filler tube / pipe (the hole through which you add engine oil) has been bugging me for a while. It's been leaking for a good couple of years and sweating oil all over my LH valve cover and intake manifold.
Aside: I know there's some debate on whether or not to call them "cam covers" or "valve covers". I agree that it's the cams that they cover, but the manual refers to them as valve covers, so I will follow that.
I imagine most of you have this issue and just bear it since all your cars are almost as old as mine (2003, Gen 2 sport, V8), but no one talks about it. I dug through 22 pages of google search results and only found 5 threads on this topic. None of them really offer any solutions. There's nothing in the manual about this either. So the purpose of this thread is to log a definitive answer to this trivial, yet annoying nuisance. I can only talk about the V8, so if anyone has any info on the V6, please chime in.
I haven't done this yet, but will update the thread once I do.
The issue is that this tube has an o-ring seal at the bottom, which, like all rubber seals, dries up with time and leaks. I haven't been able to figure out if you can get that seal by itself, but I have some speculations (more on this further along).
The new tube (XW4Z-6763-AA) comes with the o-ring already installed and an oil fill cap for about $40. You can find it at Tasca (XW4Z-6763-AA), or at FordPartsGiant (2W4Z-6763-AA) for a couple of bucks more. The XW4Z-... p/n is marked as discontinued at FPG at time of writing, so try both numbers. (When desperate, I've had some luck with replacing the X with number from 0-6, or playing with the revision code - the last 2 letters. You just have to more research to make sure it actually fits your car.) Tasca claims that these tubes only fit both generations of the V8 (NOT the V6).
If you're looking for just the cap: 2W4Z-6766-AA (Tasca | FPG). Tasca claims that these caps don't fit the Gen1. This doesn't make much sense though, if it's the same tube.
You will have to remove your LH valve cover to do this, so it's great to have this ready when changing those valve cover gaskets. There are two claims (but looks like only one of them actually did it) in the other threads that you can remove the tube by turning it really hard. I would no do this with plastic parts, but if you want to risk damaging your valve covers and hunting in jankyards to replace them, as well as picking plastic shards from under your cam shafts, by all means, roll the dice.
And here's why: the bottom of the tube that attaches to the hole in the valve cover has two wings that hold it in place, and you would remove it by twisting it. However, there are two tabs that prevent this, as you can see from the images. Forcing those tabs can either make them buckle or lodge in harder and snap; my money is on the latter.
I have already changed my valve covers 2 years ago, but did not know what I was doing at the time and left this alone; hopefully people who do this in the future will be able to use the knowledge here and not make the same mistake. I will remove them again for the sake of getting this done.
Some poking around has led me to believe that p/n W705327-S300 (Tasca | FPG) might be the the o-ring I'm looking for (HM1 in the diagram), but at this point, this is pure speculation. I will buy one and report back.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THIS SEAL P/N IS ALREADY FAMILIAR TO YOU!
Only unmarked seal here is the one I need: Seal | FordUS
Other images of the filler tube: (Notice the locking tabs)
Top right and bottom left of the bottom opening have wings that hold it in place; 90 degrees ccw you see the locking tab I mentioned. To me, they don't look like they'd give up in a fight.
Other sources:
oil filler tube o-ring...
anyone remove the oil filler neck?
Leaking Oil Fill Tube
Oil filler tube stock part number ?
oil filler tube leaking
P.S. If you're looking for info on leaks from the VCT seals, the valve covers don't need to come off to change those. See these two threads:
What are these sensors that should not be leaking like this.
Oil Leak - Cam sensors? 03 LS V8
Aside: I know there's some debate on whether or not to call them "cam covers" or "valve covers". I agree that it's the cams that they cover, but the manual refers to them as valve covers, so I will follow that.
I imagine most of you have this issue and just bear it since all your cars are almost as old as mine (2003, Gen 2 sport, V8), but no one talks about it. I dug through 22 pages of google search results and only found 5 threads on this topic. None of them really offer any solutions. There's nothing in the manual about this either. So the purpose of this thread is to log a definitive answer to this trivial, yet annoying nuisance. I can only talk about the V8, so if anyone has any info on the V6, please chime in.
I haven't done this yet, but will update the thread once I do.
The issue is that this tube has an o-ring seal at the bottom, which, like all rubber seals, dries up with time and leaks. I haven't been able to figure out if you can get that seal by itself, but I have some speculations (more on this further along).
The new tube (XW4Z-6763-AA) comes with the o-ring already installed and an oil fill cap for about $40. You can find it at Tasca (XW4Z-6763-AA), or at FordPartsGiant (2W4Z-6763-AA) for a couple of bucks more. The XW4Z-... p/n is marked as discontinued at FPG at time of writing, so try both numbers. (When desperate, I've had some luck with replacing the X with number from 0-6, or playing with the revision code - the last 2 letters. You just have to more research to make sure it actually fits your car.) Tasca claims that these tubes only fit both generations of the V8 (NOT the V6).
If you're looking for just the cap: 2W4Z-6766-AA (Tasca | FPG). Tasca claims that these caps don't fit the Gen1. This doesn't make much sense though, if it's the same tube.
You will have to remove your LH valve cover to do this, so it's great to have this ready when changing those valve cover gaskets. There are two claims (but looks like only one of them actually did it) in the other threads that you can remove the tube by turning it really hard. I would no do this with plastic parts, but if you want to risk damaging your valve covers and hunting in jankyards to replace them, as well as picking plastic shards from under your cam shafts, by all means, roll the dice.
And here's why: the bottom of the tube that attaches to the hole in the valve cover has two wings that hold it in place, and you would remove it by twisting it. However, there are two tabs that prevent this, as you can see from the images. Forcing those tabs can either make them buckle or lodge in harder and snap; my money is on the latter.
I have already changed my valve covers 2 years ago, but did not know what I was doing at the time and left this alone; hopefully people who do this in the future will be able to use the knowledge here and not make the same mistake. I will remove them again for the sake of getting this done.
Some poking around has led me to believe that p/n W705327-S300 (Tasca | FPG) might be the the o-ring I'm looking for (HM1 in the diagram), but at this point, this is pure speculation. I will buy one and report back.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THIS SEAL P/N IS ALREADY FAMILIAR TO YOU!
Only unmarked seal here is the one I need: Seal | FordUS
Other images of the filler tube: (Notice the locking tabs)
Top right and bottom left of the bottom opening have wings that hold it in place; 90 degrees ccw you see the locking tab I mentioned. To me, they don't look like they'd give up in a fight.
Other sources:
oil filler tube o-ring...
anyone remove the oil filler neck?
Leaking Oil Fill Tube
Oil filler tube stock part number ?
oil filler tube leaking
P.S. If you're looking for info on leaks from the VCT seals, the valve covers don't need to come off to change those. See these two threads:
What are these sensors that should not be leaking like this.
Oil Leak - Cam sensors? 03 LS V8
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