Top end oil leak ??

G

gedo

Member
 Alloa, Central Scotland
I've noticed that the last few times I've had the car out that once parked up I can smell the distinct smell of burning or very hot oil. If I pop the bonnet I get some smoke from the top left area of the engine near the exhaust heat shield (looking from the front of the car). It comes and goes very quickly and tends to start approx. 2 to 3 mins after the engine is switched off and starting to cool. It lasts for 30 seconds and then it's gone.

I've checked the garage floor and it's bone dry with no oily patches. To me it looks like some oil is getting onto the exhaust manifold but I also wondered if there were any breathers over in that area. I've checked oil levels and no significant drop...

I took the plastic rocker cover off but I can't see anything as it's all a bit tight.

Anyone got any ideas ?? Should I be worried ??
 
Thanks for the quick reply. Is it a winter project or something I should be looking at sooner ? I'm planning a trip to Skye in the next couple of weeks then the car will be off the road until next spring.

Z4M-2006 said:
Will be the cam cover gasket..

Very common area for it to leak...
Click to expand...
 
Well what you can smell is hot oil dropping onto the exhaust manifold....

I would get it sorted....Its not an expensive job.
 
It's not a major problem, mine was doing it for a good whipe before I realised.

Quite a simple job, probably take you a couple of hours if you go slow, so easy to do on an afternoon.
 
I've watched a couple of vids on You Tube and it looks a fairly straightforward job. Going to wait until the car goes off the road for winter and tackle it then. Amazing how brittle this gasket appears to turn with age, becomes more like hard plastic than rubber !!

ben g said:
It's not a major problem, mine was doing it for a good whipe before I realised.

Quite a simple job, probably take you a couple of hours if you go slow, so easy to do on an afternoon.
Click to expand...
 
igeak691 said:
Talk about coincidence

[youtube]rXXzsVah6UM[/youtube]
Click to expand...

Uncanny, that's exactly where I get the wisp of oil smoke on mine, obviously very common as per Z4M-2006's post at the beginning of this thread. Will be the 1st job on the list when the car goes off the road at the end of the month.
 
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