Oil seepage between head and block

[James Crivellone]

Hey guys, have a small oil leak between the head and the block, on teh front oil return passage. I know this is a VERY common leak on M20's, in fact every M20 I have seen seeps around here.



Far upper left hole, front of engine.

Either way, does anybody know a good way to correct this issue? I don't want to really pull the head as the headgasket is around 1600 miles old, maybe an easy way to seal it? its pretty annoying having a nice oil drip down the side of my block.

[screamingbmwe30]

should have used copper spray friend had the same prob. that cured it

[James Crivellone]

should have used copper spray friend had the same prob. that cured it

any non pulling of the head options? high temp sealant or something I can stick along the edges?

[screamingbmwe30]

do what my boss says:

"don't let that bother you"

but seriously, check head bolt torque. if good, either replace/spray or dont worry about it. seriously it will find its way around the silicone

[nando]

I only have ~1500 miles on my head, but it doesn't leak yet. I know the original head leaked there.. it was never enough to worrk about though.

also, there is no way to check the head bolt torque AFAIK.. torx head bolts are set with a torque angle, not a ft-lb measurement like most other bolts. once it's done, it's done.

[cthulu703]

Copper coat or halomar HPV (sparingly).

[joshh]

We talked about this at the last meet. I just put a brand new head on my E and I have the seep as well. Once the gasket is on and set theres not much you can do from the outside to stop it. Maybe that should be our next project meet?

[EtaSport]

James, did you check the cam seal before putting the head on? Not just the inside of the seal, but the orange o-ring seal that goes around it. I thought the head was leaking at the same spot yours is, but when I pulled it off to do my swap, I had the cam out and saw the o-ring was cut in two.

[mikeedler]

just what i wanted to say. Alot of times its not the head gasket, but the cam seal on the front cover. It leaks down and runs along the edge there of ther block/head. You could try to put a little more torque on the head bolts, worked for a friend, but i would never do it to my motor in fear of the head warping. just deal with it, cause silicone anint gonna do crap.

[arsevader]

All good ideas, but one thing that you should also check is the exhaust manifold stud at the front of the engine. I beleive that like the M10, this stud passes through an oil tube. Mine leaked until I removed the stud, cleaned it out and put some hylopmar in there.

James

[James Crivellone]

Thanks for the feedback so far guys.

Its Def coming from that area, I replaced the cam seals, and they are bone dry.

I guess I can keep it clean, it sucks, loosing about a QT every 1000 :(

[screamingbmwe30]

thats alot. you sure you arent burning any? are you using synthetic? if so switch to organic.

[Jordan]

Welcome to my club, been leaking there since I built my stroker. Only cure is to replace the headgasket. Its a very common seeping spot, less common to have a full blown leak, but that is fairly common as well. Just about every original m20 I see come in at work is seeping/leaking to some degree in this area.

Swap out the headgasket. With asistance it can be done in 2hrs. Unbolt the head, hoist it up with a cherry picker, pull the gasket out, clean the surface, and put another one in there. Make sure you get the headbolts tightened down properly. There is some speculation this might be a problem on recently replaced headgaskets because of the installer not tightening with the correct degree angle.

[Sean]

Welcome to my club, been leaking there since I built my stroker. Only cure is to replace the headgasket. Its a very common seeping spot, less common to have a full blown leak, but that is fairly common as well. Just about every original m20 I see come in at work is seeping/leaking to some degree in this area.

Swap out the headgasket. With asistance it can be done in 2hrs. Unbolt the head, hoist it up with a cherry picker, pull the gasket out, clean the surface, and put another one in there. Make sure you get the headbolts tightened down properly. There is some speculation this might be a problem on recently replaced headgaskets because of the installer not tightening with the correct degree angle.

I'll be rebuilding my engine this summer, hence putting in a new head gasket.

Will i run into this problem, too? Why does your stroker leak if you have brand new everything in it? So, do you basically wear it in, then put in another new head gasket?

Just trying to understand this. I don't see how installed the headgasket right the first time (something I'd assume you did correctly) would cause you to have to install a new one again.

[Kilomph]

There is some speculation this might be a problem on recently replaced headgaskets because of the installer not tightening with the correct degree angle.

I saw in a write up somewhere a guy using some sort of protractor torque wrench, does anybody know what this is called? Where can I find one?