M42 leaking oil from behind the crank pulley?

[nickmp0wer]

I thought i might have had an oil pan leak, but i just looked more closly and it seems like its comming from behind the crankshaft pulleys. All of the timing componets seem to have been replaced sometime so im thinking they fucked something up?

i will probably go down later today and clean everything up then check it agian in a week so i can better see where its comming from

[AdamF 88iS]

It's fairly common for M42s to leak from the radial seal where the crank comes through the front cover. Easy to replace if you can get the big crank bolt out.

[nickmp0wer]

yeah i think ive heard of putting a breaker bar and setting up a block of wood for it to hit when the starter is turned? then can i get the seal out and in with out taking off the front cover?
is it #3 in the picture?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=AF93&mospid=47305&btnr=11_2683&hg=11&fg=10

thanks

[DaN]

#3, yes

[nickmp0wer]

ha, its only like 1.88 from bma. I wonder if it could still be the pan though. I dont think this seal would explain the oil leakage that i find on the garage floor when its filled to the full line?

you know when you go really fast and then slow down a litlte and it feels like you are going really slow? well i was drivng on a road with some speed humps and managed to hit one at at like 40 or something. The pan hit and there are some big gashes on the fins of the lower pan. It happend many months ago, but im not rulling out that the pan could be cracked in the front

[kowalski]

ha, its only like 1.88 from bma. I wonder if it could still be the pan though. I dont think this seal would explain the oil leakage that i find on the garage floor when its filled to the full line?

you know when you go really fast and then slow down a litlte and it feels like you are going really slow? well i was drivng on a road with some speed humps and managed to hit one at at like 40 or something. The pan hit and there are some big gashes on the fins of the lower pan. It happend many months ago, but im not rulling out that the pan could be cracked in the front

if you hit it going 40 its probably a cracked pan... you better hope and pray its not though. atleast not the upper pan. did this only start happening after the hit? or did it happen before? id go with your first instinct and clean it all up and see where the oil is comming from...

[ak96ss]

What about the o-ring behind the oil filter housing mount, or the bottom of the dipstick tube? Mine was leaking in both places...

FWIW.

[nickmp0wer]

it deifianly looks like its comming from near the crank pulley. I havent taken off the bottom plastic skid plate yet, but that should help me better see where its comming from. If th pan is cracked depending on how it is i think i should be able to jb weld it especailly since it looks like i can take off the lower pan and do it from both sides.

[pig4bill]

What about the o-ring behind the oil filter housing mount, or the bottom of the dipstick tube? Mine was leaking in both places...

FWIW.

I've had an oil leak for months that I can't find. I replaced the valve cover gasket just in case, but it looked good when I pulled it off and it still leaks. Mine is high on the engine, because the oil runs under the intake manifold and burns. Could that be the oil filter housing mount? How hard is that to change?

[kowalski]

What about the o-ring behind the oil filter housing mount, or the bottom of the dipstick tube? Mine was leaking in both places...

FWIW.

our oil filter housings are on top of the engine beside the intake manifold.

[ak96ss]

our oil filter housings are on top of the engine beside the intake manifold.

Yes, they sure are, at the top front - mine was leaking, mostly out the back towards the intake manifold, but some was going down the front. Not sure how much came from there, and how much came from the leaking o-ring on the dipstick tube that the PO tried to fix with RTV. Some was going down the front of the motor, though, which is why I mentioned it.

[ak96ss]

Filter housing in place.

[pig4bill]

How hard was that to get to? It looks like you had to remove the alternator?

[ak96ss]

How hard was that to get to? It looks like you had to remove the alternator?

Not hard, but slightly time-consuming.

Yep, alternator, air cleaner, AFM, intake bellows all had to come off. Not too hard after that! :)

[pig4bill]

I just got back from taking mine to a shop. My leak was caused by a tiny plug in an oil galley at the back of the head. It's nearly impossible to see from above. It had backed out and was about to fall out. Had it fallen out, it would have dumped all the oil in less than a minute.