Re: Head gasket leak - advice needed (archive)

I would say clean off the area in question and then immediately do the dye test and see what you find. If it is leaking really badly you should be able to spot where the leak is coming from almost instantly, but if not, I would drive it and basically every few hours check to see if you can see where the oil is coming from. I also agree to make sure you know where the leak is coming from before you take the motor to pieces.

Rob
M535i SIG Chief Technical Advisor
www.m535i.org

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I am now not convinced it is leaking from the gasket. Anyone have a more exact way to determine if the leak is actualy from the tensioner or chain cover area? Should I just have the dye experiment repeated?

Hello all-

I have had a slow oil leak, which has been traced using dye/UV to the front passenger-side corner of the head gasket. My mechanic
whom I trust is advising doing nothing until it gets worse, then replace gasket, which he says could run $1500 (15-20 hours labor). I
have no other symptoms such as white or blue exhaust, discolored oil, oil in coolant or disappearing coolant. It barely leaks when
parked over night, just get a few drops worth on floor. In fact, they couldn't find it after running the car for 90 minutes, so I had to drive
it a few days. What prompted me to bring it in was I used a quart of oil in 2k miles. Yes I drive it fairly hard, lots of short trips (no
track). Car has 80k miles on it. I would appreciate any advice on: 1. should I just sit tight and monitor it? 2. should I do any other tests
now (compression)? 3. Is this common in the S38 at this mileage? 4. might the head be warped or cracked? 5. Assuming it is the
gasket and I have it done at some point, does 15-20 hours sound right, and what else should be done while it's pulled. THANKS a
million for any advice.

http://www.m535i.org

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