Sump gasket leak?

O

oldgitdave

Senior member
 Derbyshire
After parking up in my garage every night for the past 10 weeks of ownership I noticed 5 drops of engine oil on the garage floor yesterday :o . So today I've had her up on the ramps to investigate.
20171016_122600.jpg
Had to knock up some ramp extensions though!
20171016_122822.jpg
So the bottom of the dump is totally wet with oil on the UK drivers side. Looks dry above the sump flange though.
20171016_122952.jpg
The passenger side also shows signs of oil on the sump.

Do you guys reckon this is a sump gasket failure or should I be looking elsewhere? I've never noticed any smell of hot oil while driving. She's a 3004 E85 3.0i & had an oil & filter change on 2nd August btw.
 
I dont think sump gasket failure is very common. Could be oil filter housing or rocker gasket and then finding its way
down. If I were you I would clean everything up run car and then reinspect to find where it is coming from. From my experience leaks like this never seem to come from the area where the oil is evident.
 
def. Oil filter housing gasket, a common culprit.
underside of the oilfilter/alternator is also wet.
exhaust side engine mount is still dry; thats usually the side the rocker gasket starts to leak as its the low side.

Its a feature thats part of bmw's underside rust protection system.



for a proper diagnose clean the engine and trace the leak. There are some other components in that area (on/above the oil filter housing) that can leak like a vanos hose (banjo bolts), vanos relais (copper washer), temp/pressure sensors (copper washers etc) but those are far less likely, unless you've had a recent repair on that.
 
Thanks guys :) . I did wonder about the oil filter housing gasket & I guess it could take a few weeks to leak enough to drop oil on the floor? Reckon I'll pop it back to my local mechanic & get it on his ramps. Should be a lot easier to see. I'll report back in a few days all being well.
 
OK, I couldn't wait :P so I've been out & had another look at this. Oil filter housing, vanos banjos & area nearby all look clean as a whistle viewed from above.
However, from underneath the area around the ccv & associated pipework looks wet. Probably not that surprising given what it does. Could it be related to the ccv? No symptoms when running, in fact she drives like a dream. Really hard to get a pic but you may be able to see it just beneath the white label.
20171016_123204.jpg

It's a poor pic, sorry about that. I'll try & get a better pic in daylight.
 
MAybe clogged ccv AND cracked ccv housing?
Normally when the ccv goes bad it dumps the oil in the engine (blue/whitish smoke)
 
Hi Oldgitdave. Having recently replaced my CCV system I can tell you that is definitely what is covered in oil in your photo. Mine was exactly the same. It's such a crappy Heath Robinson affair....not BMWs finest hour ! The lowest right angle union and rubber pipe carrys oil from the CCV separator to the dipstick tube and back into the sump. I would bet that your CCV is shot and/or blocked somewhere and instead of the oil returning to the sump it is leaking out and making a mess. :thumbsup:
 
Mike6 said:
What mileage has car done. Do you get much exhaust smoke
Click to expand...

GuidoK said:
MAybe clogged ccv AND cracked ccv housing?
Normally when the ccv goes bad it dumps the oil in the engine (blue/whitish smoke)
Click to expand...

Just over 87k miles & no sign of exhaust smoke that I've ever noticed. I do keep an eye on what's vanishing behind me in my rear view mirror :D. Thanks for the heads up though I'll keep eye on that.

patriot66 said:
Hi Oldgitdave. Having recently replaced my CCV system I can tell you that is definitely what is covered in oil in your photo. Mine was exactly the same. It's such a crappy Heath Robinson affair....not BMWs finest hour ! The lowest right angle union and rubber pipe carrys oil from the CCV separator to the dipstick tube and back into the sump. I would bet that your CCV is shot and/or blocked somewhere and instead of the oil returning to the sump it is leaking out and making a mess. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Hi Patriot66. I've been reading up on the CCV & it certainly does look a crappy affair, designed to fail almost :thumbsdown:. Some have said it's a common failure between 80k & 90k miles so at 87k miles it'll have to go on my to do list. Looks a PITA to do though :(
 
It's not too bad a job actually Oldgitdave, it's just quite convoluted as you need to remove all the induction system inc. MAF meter/boot, throttle body, inlet manifold and fuel injection rail etc so that you can get good access to the CCV system. My car is May'03 build and has only just passed 70,000m but I was shocked how brittle/hard or cracked most of the CCV pipes/unions had become. Whilst your doing I would also recommend replacing any gaskets and O-rings as these may also have hardened/failed with age. Additionally I also replaced my oil filter housing gasket as it was just starting to weep a bit. All good now :thumbsup:
 
Patriot66, glad you got yours sorted. Thanks for the tips :thumbsup: . I'll start getting a list of parts together. I'm going to SORN her at the end of the month so it's something I can hopefully sort during the winter months. Be able to get the engine all cleaned up underneath too.
 
Well, in the end I decided to let my local Indy do this yesterday at the same time she was in for MOT. Not too bad really, 2 hours labour + genuine BMW parts. It turned out the system was blocked & leaking oil just as patriot66 said above :thumbsup: .
MOT passed btw so all good now, thanks for the info. :thumbsup: :D
Next job is VANOS & anti rattle rings which I'm definitely going to do myself. Leaving work in just a few months so will have plenty of time on my hands. Mind you the 'job list' my missus has given me is just getting bigger :wink:
 
Glad you sorted it - Mine is on my list as that's what it looks like underneath.. Only had the kit on the shelf since Oct, when I bought one for another car and thought I'd do mine too :(

I see a LOT of M54 engined cars that look like this underneath, and owners have never even noticed it due to the covers underneath..

Mike

PS - When you do your VANOS, you don't actually need to to do the anti rattle rings, unless there is a lot of play in the hubs - I've done M54 engines with 200k on them and no play.. The consensus seems to be that the wear only really happens if you are running non OEM cams, which a lot of the USA owners do, and I think those rings were developed specifically for their market.

Mike
 
Ducklakeview said:
Glad you sorted it - Mine is on my list as that's what it looks like underneath.. Only had the kit on the shelf since Oct, when I bought one for another car and thought I'd do mine too :(

I see a LOT of M54 engined cars that look like this underneath, and owners have never even noticed it due to the covers underneath..

Mike

PS - When you do your VANOS, you don't actually need to to do the anti rattle rings, unless there is a lot of play in the hubs - I've done M54 engines with 200k on them and no play.. The consensus seems to be that the wear only really happens if you are running non OEM cams, which a lot of the USA owners do, and I think those rings were developed specifically for their market.

Mike
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike :thumbsup: . Yeah, all my covers have gone. I've just bought one off fleabay... they must be there for a reason.
I only bought the kit with the anti rattle rings as I can hear a slight ticking sound at idle. It's by no means bad but I thought it might be those? Figured that if I had the VANOS apart I might as well fit them, or maybe not now reading your reply? Other than the methods advised on besian systems & x8r is there anything else I need to be aware of? I realise I'll need to jack up the engine to slide the unit off the studs on my 3.0, is it just by a few mm?
Will give you a bell in the summer months, fancy a back box & new key :D

Dave
 
oldgitdave said:
Ducklakeview said:
Glad you sorted it - Mine is on my list as that's what it looks like underneath.. Only had the kit on the shelf since Oct, when I bought one for another car and thought I'd do mine too :(

I see a LOT of M54 engined cars that look like this underneath, and owners have never even noticed it due to the covers underneath..

Mike

PS - When you do your VANOS, you don't actually need to to do the anti rattle rings, unless there is a lot of play in the hubs - I've done M54 engines with 200k on them and no play.. The consensus seems to be that the wear only really happens if you are running non OEM cams, which a lot of the USA owners do, and I think those rings were developed specifically for their market.

Mike
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike :thumbsup: . Yeah, all my covers have gone. I've just bought one off fleabay... they must be there for a reason.
I only bought the kit with the anti rattle rings as I can hear a slight ticking sound at idle. It's by no means bad but I thought it might be those? Figured that if I had the VANOS apart I might as well fit them, or maybe not now reading your reply? Other than the methods advised on besian systems & x8r is there anything else I need to be aware of? I realise I'll need to jack up the engine to slide the unit off the studs on my 3.0, is it just by a few mm?
Will give you a bell in the summer months, fancy a back box & new key :D

Dave
Click to expand...

You'll need a low range torque wrench that does down to about 6nm, also needs to work for left hand threads.. The two T30 torx bolts fixing the pistons to the cam hubs are LH threads, and their torque is critical as they are easily snapped. If it's the first time you've done one, I would advise buying two spare bolts from BMW/i6/X8r and having them to hand, just in case..

I remove the airbox and strut braces, this allows you to raise the engine by about 70mm, which is JUST enough..

Make sure you undo the bottom radiator hose from the thermostat, or you WILL break the thermostat housing, either by raising the engin a fraction too much or by trying to slide the vanos assembly out past it..

Mike
 
That's great advice, 70mm eh, that's a lot! I assume all the other interfaces (exhaust, fuel lines, auto box, will take that amount of flex?) Not done one before but I am used to delicate fitting skills & left hand threads. A couple of new bolts is a good call though. Thanks again Mike :thumbsup:
 
oldgitdave said:
That's great advice, 70mm eh, that's a lot! I assume all the other interfaces (exhaust, fuel lines, auto box, will take that amount of flex?) Not done one before but I am used to delicate fitting skills & left hand threads. A couple of new bolts is a good call though. Thanks again Mike :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Yup, when you get to about 40mm the alternator hits the airbox, and at about 55mm the top rear of the intake hits the NS strut brace, so removing it gives you that little extra touch..

Mike
 
Hello guys,

I discovered this post looking for a solution to my oil leak. After reading through this thread, I guess my CCV is shot too. My car has done 95k miles and is a 2003 3.0thumbnail_IMG_20200906_111519.jpgthumbnail_IMG_20200906_111140.jpgthumbnail_IMG_20200906_111614.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom