How waffled am I? (s52 oil leak)

[ClausE30]

Hey guys, well with some progress comes setbacks.. I recently dropped my s52 in my car and hooked it all up and filled it up with oil.. I ran the motor for a little bit and I noticed an oil leak.. basically, how waffleswaffleswaffleswafflesed am i? and I'm not sure if the oil pan gasket is the culprit or the lower timing case? pictures below.. Thanks guys





and heres the amount leaked after engine was run for a minute.. what is weird is that the oil leak hasn't grown over the span of the day today, picture taken just now and not changed from how i saw it this morning.. I just need some incite on where to start. I did not touch the timing case gasket before engine was dropped in, just the oil pan..

[e30austin]

Did you silicone the corners of the oil pan gasket?

[EThirty318i]

Looks like the timing cover to me, but when you got it did it show signs of a leak? Did you tighten the oil pan in sequence and to the right specs? might as well replace both while you're at it, thats my .02.

[ClausE30]

yea i put a small dab right at the point of the triple junction.. now that I think about it I might have left it in blob form (not evenly smeared around).. Could that be my problem?

There was no oil in the engine when I bought it.. oil pan was tightened to spec and in order too

[EThirty318i]

that could have done it, maybe?, but even when you put the pan on it should spread out. then again it might not have made a complete seal or a strong one

[ClausE30]

damn.. Well It would suck if i resealed just the pan and the leak turned out to be the case.

[kid325e]

Sucks dude! Hopefully it's something that doesn't set you back too far.

Let us know what route you end up taking!

[kid325e]

Should've just resealed everything you could get your hands on while it was out. Just my .02.

That's what everyone buying used engines should be doing, unless you know for a fact that everything ran and held fluids the paranoia would kill me!

What was replaced as far as seals and gaskets go?

[e30austin]

yea i put a small dab right at the point of the triple junction.. now that I think about it I might have left it in blob form (not evenly smeared around).. Could that be my problem?

There was no oil in the engine when I bought it.. oil pan was tightened to spec and in order too

You are supposed to put it on all 4 corners on both sides. I didn't get it good enough on my passenger side rear and its starting to leak a little :(

[ClausE30]

What was replaced as far as seals and gaskets go?

pretty much everything but that front portion

You are supposed to put it on all 4 corners on both sides. I didn't get it good enough on my passenger side rear and its starting to leak a little :(

yea I did what the bentley said and put it in all 4 corners. I'm kinda leaning towards not applying the silicone around the corner and just leaving it at the one point.. that would be my optimistic outlook..

[e30austin]

I didn't do my timing cover gaskets when my S50 was out. They didn't leak. It's really hit or miss with an almost 20 year old motor.

I would keep running it and see if it gets any worse. Make sure it isn't coming from the timing chain tensioner and dripping down the block. I had that issue on both my cars.

[ClausE30]

after further investigation it appears to be leaking from where I indicated it below.. at the far corner of the timing case..

[DesertBMW]

you did not put proper amount of silicone on that spot, you should see it squeeze out some once the oil pan is all bolted up.

[ClausE30]

^ good to know! Thanks guys for the responses

[BenjaminButtton]

Pshhh, that ain't nuthin' but a thang! Oil leaking is just the cars way of protecting itself from rust!

But really, if its that small of a leak I wouldn't concern yourself much. Not saying to forget about it, looks like your car is very clean and you most likely want it to stay that way, but it certainly doesn't need to be at the top of your to-do list.

On a scale of 1-waffled, you are .5