E30 Zone

Hi guys,

Whilst checking over my car last night, I noticed that the oil level has dropped a good 3/4inch on the dipstick over the last month and that the end of the dipstick had the dreaded milky sludge on it. The car hasn’t been overheating, but it has been steadily using a small amount of coolant (until now I had suspected this was a leak in the heater matrix).

If I’m right in thinking I’m probably experiencing head gasket failure, I’m going to start having a go at repairing it this weekend. My main worry is that the head gasket has been already been replaced by a previous owner - will a second head skim cause any problems?

A friend has told me I might as well just put in another M42 since it wouldn’t be much more expensive or time consuming, but I’m not sure I believe him! Any thoughts on this?

Cheers,
Jek

You won't have to necessarily skim the head anyway! If it hasn't overheated then the head shouldn't be distorted. You can carry out a flatness check on it anyway when it has been removed, to confirm.

If you do the headgasket yourself, it will be a lot cheaper than fitting a replacement M42. You also know the engine you have, and it's quirks. Sometimes it's a case of better the devil you know.

Ok thanks guys, I'll make a start stripping off the head at the weekend, and will get the flatness checked before I take it for a skim. Will most likely take me a good while as I've never done anything so involved on my car but it should be a good learning experience!

Cheers,
jek