An 88 Ranger with the 2.9L 6 cyl...104,700 miles. After driving it for a while you can smell like oil burning and it will smoke under the hood a little. It looks like oil on the passanger side front of the motor. Is there any common oil leaks, or any place where it may be leaking. My dad said it might be rear main seal, but not sure. I just bought the truck, so I'm not sure how bad the oil leak is or anything. Someone please help.

Absolutely. Because of the design of the heads on this engine there seems to be rather poor seal on the valve cover gaskets and they tend to leak after a while. This is a common complaint with the 2.9 engine. Replace the gaskets with the rubber ones and a tiny bit of rtv sealant. Be cautious not to over torque the valve covers back on or the gasket will squeeze out of shape and you will have leaking again right away. Also, make sure to replace the retainer washers in the exact place they were removed from as they apply pressure to the cover in a specific manner to prevent warping of the covers... If you wash the engine down first you should be able to detect this as the probable cause. If its cold where you are, do not wash the engine if is below freezing and then drive it out before the engine is dry as you can find that the sudden cold reaching the engine can cause warping of the manifold where any water may have seated and crystalized during washing. (Unfortunately I have learned this the hard way..lol) in other words, wipe it down where you can and then let it run a few minutes to dry up any wet residue on the engine. If it is not the cause, take the vehicle in for inspection to look for a more serious issue. hope this helps :) john

Thanks for the reply but I forgot to post a reply until about not getting the truck, until I got the email letting me know someone replied to the post. The deal I had on the truck fell through, so I ended up not getting the truck afterall. Bought a 92 Ranger 4.0L instead.

np.. I hadnt noticed the age of the post either..lol not paying close enough attention. Would have assumed you had an answer by now if I had...