Major oil leak

[k10]

Hi all again.
My new D plate 325 saloon has a major oil leak. It was leaking a bit from the oil cooler circular gasket so I replaced that.

However this did not stop the major leak. I'm losing perhaps 1/8 of a litre of oil out of her every day, whether the enginre is on or not. Other half not happy with oil on drive!!

Have had a good look underneath when I replaced the rubber washer mentioned above.

No leak from the oil filter or sump plug. Passenger side of the engine block seems dry, but drivers side is wet with oil and so is the front of the block.

A lot of oil every where, generally running and dripping off the steering rack, (manual rack).

I thought it might be the sump gasket. I tried the sump bolts and they were a bit loose. Not major but a few turns with a 10 mill spannner. Is it possible for these bolts to work loose due to engine vibration?

Anyway, took the car to a jet wash and tried to wash off 50% of the oil from the bottom tray, block and rack etc... Not sure for definate if it is the sump gasket, their is some oil from slightly above the sump gasket on the drivers side but this could be due to the wind?

Does anyone know of any other leaks from the driver side, nearer the front of the engine. By front I mean towards the headlights.

Also because the engine is transversally mounted the sump runs underneath the steering rack and other front suspension bits. Does this all have to come off to put a new gasket in or is it possible to drop the sump enough to squeeze a gasket in without having to take 1/2 the car apart??

Anyone done a sump gasket before?

Cheers AGAIN? Hopefully I'm on the home straight.
K

[Jon_Bmw]

Make sure the sump/gasket is leaking before doing this job as its a pita.

Hmm i can advise you about the sump gasket a little. The bolts shouldn't be tight, in fact not a great deal tighter than hand tight to be honest, not sure why exactly just the way it is.

Changing the gasket is a pain in the arse messey job if you don't have access to car ramps(by this i mean a 2 or 4 poster).

First you have to take off the bellhousing cover, its 4 male torx bolts, but you can use an 8mm(iirc) normal socket and they'll come out. That exposes the whole sump bolts, there is a fair few about 24 in total i think.

Take of the earth strap and the connection to the oil level sender
You can now undo all of those bolts, the sump will drop but i can garentee you it won't come out. It catches on the subframe and the oil pickup pump. What i did was to loosen off both engine mounts and pull the engine up, this gives you just about enough room to slide it out.

Clean with petrol and rag, get ready to get messy though.

Fitting is reversal of removal, remember to tighten that earth strap good and proper.

Also make sure the sump is crack free before refitting.

[k10]

By the bell housing you mean the cover bit that is in between the engine and the start of the gear box? 4 slightly bigger bolts than the sump bolts? Whats an IIRC?

Also where else could it be leaking from, any other points near the front / driver side of the engine?

So you think my tighterning up the sump will not stop / reduce the leak?

Thanks for your response

K

[Jon_Bmw]

By the bell housing you mean the cover bit that is in between the engine and the start of the gear box? 4 slightly bigger bolts than the sump bolts? Whats an IIRC?

Also where else could it be leaking from, any other points near the front / driver side of the engine?

So you think my tighterning up the sump will not stop / reduce the leak?

Thanks for your response

K

Yes those 4 bolts. IIRC=if i remember correctly
pita=pain in the ass

I don't think it will leak less by tightening the bolts, best bet is to have it steam cleaned by a garage then have another look a week later.

These m20 engines leak from all over the shot, but another common one is around the join of the block and the cylinder head near the front of the engine, so this may be your problem.

[k10]

Cheers again.
Pissed off with geting oily so I think it's going to be a visit to the garage, the leak is too serious not to sort.

K

[gcorky]

another place k10 is the camshaft seal which run from inside dizzy cap and down to o/s of engine and obvoiusly down the front.to check remove dizzy cap and inspect for oil.this is easy to replace ant the seal housing can be removed by two 13 mm bolts.this is a cambelt replacement time job or now if its that bad!

[k10]

when it stops raining I'll venture out for a look under the distributor!

K

[koos]

My 320 leaks there, did the camshaft seal and o'ring but no luck, it;s leaking from the headgasket, put up a thread a while back and a few people have had this problem, M20's and oil leaks, seems common!!

[gcorky]

yeah h/gakset is below this though and should be easy to identify.

[daveyw]

mine leaks from the.............erm let me think............... the bit that the oil filter and oil cooler pipes go into. technical phrases or what??!!

[Jon_Bmw]

mine leaks from the.............erm let me think............... the bit that the oil filter and oil cooler pipes go into. technical phrases or what??!!

Oil filter housing is about as technical as it gets

[jamesc]

Mines leaking from the pressure relief valve on the back of the oil filter where the pipes go to the oil cooler. You can get a replacement valve and washer from the dealers for 5 pounds - I just have and will be fitting it this weekend.

James