Oil leaks

ColdAudio said:

...it doesn't fully tighten and keeps spinning so I know either the pan or bolt is stripped...

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The pan is stripped. You'll need to re tap or move up to a larger plug and tap for that. Also, if your current pan bolt is spinning free but it's installed you might have a hard time getting that one out.

ColdAudio said:

...I've also got oil dripping down from the front of the transmission right by the oil pan. Is this the rear main seal?

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Yes.

ColdAudio said:

I ran the car for 5 minutes this morning and checked the oil level, it was about a quart low, but 5 minutes may not have brought it to operating temp (I'm unsure as almost all of my gauges don't work). How does engine temp effect dipstick readings, would hotter oil read higher or lower? Is it possible to just get a bigger bolt for the pan? Thanks in advance

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Engine temperature has no bearing on the amount of fluid inside the engine. If you start with 5 quarts and end up with 4, it's leaking out or going somehwere it shouldn't (like the coolant from a blown head gasket.) Oil itself usually takes about 15 minutes to warm up where as the coolant / engine only takes about 5 minutes to warm up.

Try a brand new drain plug from Ford first.

Years ago some idiot mechanic stripped the drain plug on my car.
When I removed the stripped plug,the threads in the pan looked good,like new.

I bought a new drain plug from Ford and it`s been on there ever since with no problems.I didn`t have to use a tap on the pan threads either.

The only explanation I can come up with is that the drain plug was made of softer metal than the threads inside the pan which saved the threads in the pan.

I always tighten both drain plugs with a torque wrench.

You can try a new plug first... Most of the time that is what strips. But if the pan threads are bad a tap can clean them up.

run your tap across a candle to help hold the shavings on the tap. You can also waste a quart of oil flushing out any shavings.... If you're scared about it though, take the pan off and do it.

ColdAudio said:

I ran the car for 5 minutes this morning and checked the oil level, it was about a quart low, but 5 minutes may not have brought it to operating temp (I'm unsure as almost all of my gauges don't work). How does engine temp effect dipstick readings, would hotter oil read higher or lower? Is it possible to just get a bigger bolt for the pan? Thanks in advance

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When the car sits overnight, the oil level reading is true (oil has drained down overnight). If you check the level right after having run the engine, the level (with the same absolute amount of oil in the engine) will read a little lower on the dipstick. That is why I check the level on a cold motor, for true, consistant readings.

As an aside, some motorcycles have you check the level after warming the motor to op temp and letting it sit for "2-5 minutes", and the level difference is noticable when checked at 2 mins vs 5 mins. This is annoying (esp when you have a sump holding 3.7 quarts for the motor and trans). I would remark the stick to reference a correct cold level reading so I could check it both ways.

Another thing to note is that many dipsticks were mismarked at the factory. My new full mark is above the original hashmarks.

Good luck.