Serious oil leak

[MazterDizazter]

Hey guys,

So I picked up a '91 318is a few weeks ago, drove it 3ish hours from Bangor Maine to Hooksett NH and parked it at my friend's body shop so he could fix some blemishes and repaint the car. Well, he sent me a picture yesterday after getting home from a 2 week vacation:

That's a lotta oil!


He said it looks like it's coming from the front of the engine. I noticed the front main seal looked a little sludgy when I first looked at the car, but is it really possible for the oil to just drain itself out that badly? I'm just glad the engine didn't sustain any damage on the trip down.

Not being able to get there for another week, I'm unable to confirm that that's the place it's exactly coming from but my friend does know what he's talking about, so... I thought maybe the drain plug or the filter weren't tightened down enough, but I guess that's not the case. I wasn't sure if anyone had a similar experience; I've never seen that much oil just drain out of the car from a seal before.

[ttrousdell]

wow looks like half the oil came out of the engine. Im sure once you get home and have a look under the car it shouldnt be too hard to see where its coming from. Considering the car has been sitting and the oil level is way below the crank seal it makes me think a loose oil pan bolt or maybe your friend joy rode it while you were gone and put a nice crack in the pan.

[MazterDizazter]

Good point. Do these cars have oil coolers?

[bmwman91]

No oil coolers.

The only way for THAT much oil to come out after sitting / not running for 2 weeks is to have a hole in the oil pan or a seriously messed up drain plug.

[irish44j]

I"m gonna go with cracked oil pan. The way the oil sits the only way it could leak in that amount is if the pan was cracked or the plug was out.

[irish44j]

my friend does know what he's talking about, .

If your friend knows what he's talking about, it should take him about 30 seconds to locate where the oil came from if he jacks the car up and looks underneath.

[MazterDizazter]

Haha, touché, sir.

[Jboss12]

Might need a professional oil spatter analyst.. Dexter could figure this out

[Cronopoulos]

Errmahhhgerddddd

[MF DOOM]

ill sell you a pan and plug. pm meh broseph

[TobyB]

Or if the pan's ok, look at the oil filter housing... those can go, too.
Either from improper filter installation (mine had 3 o- rings in it)
or at the base, the gasket gives up.


t

[MazterDizazter]

I'm hoping to make it up there either tomorrow or Thursday, so I'll follow up then. Thanks, guys!

[2l2ltq]

Skid plate??? haha. But i agree that the only way that could happen sitting is the oil pan.

[mr ilia]

Any update on that broken oil pan?

[MazterDizazter]

Oh yeah, it was a cracked pan alright. I didn't see the hairline crack until I cleaned it inside and out with brake cleaner. That would explain how I made it the 3hr drive without the oil light coming on, and how it slowly leaked out over the course of 2 weeks. There was still oil in the sump, but it would've all been gone eventually had I not discovered it. I replaced the pan and gasket, and cleaned the front timing covers off and replaced the upper and lower timing gaskets and front main seal. Hopefully no more leaks!