Engine oil leak

zudecke

Hi guys,

I'm a complete novice, so bear with me.

An engine light has come up on the dash while my car was in for bodywork repairs after someone hit me on the road.

The garage have said there's a 'large' oil leak that has gotten into the spark plugs and ignition coils and contaminated the drive belt.

I'm awaiting a quote from them, but would be grateful if anyone could give me a heads up on what I'm expected to be hit with here?

Also wondering if this could have been the result of the damage caused on impact during the accident? If so, then then I can make a case that the third-party insurer would need to foot the bill for that as well? I guess it's unlikely even though the light wasn't on before.. But I guess it's just cruel coincidence.

Any tips appreciated!

many thanks,

Bugsy

liltzero

What car is it? It'll need a new engine so expect thousands of £££s

Jackmydad

Why a new engine? :question:
Unless I'm missing something that is.
Assuming the engine hasn't been run with no oil in it, then it's just an oil leak. Possibly from the cam box cover. Possibly the shaft seal(s)
Could be from elsewhere of course, and that could get expensive. Impossible to say without knowing more.

The oil leak will need to be fixed, belts changed (which could be fairly expensive) and other parts will need to be changed or cleaned as appropriate.
Can't see it being down to the accident but who knows. it was OK before. . .
Also shows the need for more than a cursory check under the bonnet at least every week.
Knowing the type of car might well help.

Strider590

Is it a Ford? and does the filler cap seal properly?

Ford engines have always breathed heavy, take the cap off when running and it blows oil vapour into your face at high velocity, remove a breather hose and it sprays oil all around the engine bay.

But any non-ford engine can do this if not serviced to schedule as clumps of old oil bung up the breather hoses and under heavy load can somes blow one off with the same effect as above.

BeenThroughItAll

Jackmydad wrote: »

Why a new engine? :question:
Unless I'm missing something that is.
Assuming the engine hasn't been run with no oil in it, then it's just an oil leak. Possibly from the cam box cover. Possibly the shaft seal(s)
Could be from elsewhere of course, and that could get expensive. Impossible to say without knowing more.

The oil leak will need to be fixed, belts changed (which could be fairly expensive) and other parts will need to be changed or cleaned as appropriate.
Can't see it being down to the accident but who knows. it was OK before. . .
Also shows the need for more than a cursory check under the bonnet at least every week.
Knowing the type of car might well help.

Ignore it. It's half-term so Darkmatter101 is back with us again for a visit. He's not even trying to pretend anymore, the last couple of times he's used the same username - liltzero.

Zudecke_2

Thanks for your responses guys.

It's a BMW 335i 2009.

Its last serviced back in August and was apparently a-ok with no mention of an oil leak or anything untoward.

I don't want to unrealistically suggest it could have been caused (or exacerbated) by the accident, but if there's a remote possibility then I'll be stupid not to make the case. The damage wasn't (to the untrained eye) anything particularly alarming, but I was hit toward the front, so I guess physics plays a part in this regard.

How would I go about making this case, if at all plausible?

(still no word back as to root cause nor quote)

BeenThroughItAll

An oil leak contaminating the plugs is likely to be caused by a cam cover gasket failure. Pretty unlikely that's to do with an accident unless the engine was impacted fairly heavily, which could move the cam cover relative to the cylinder head, and break the seal of the gasket.


An impact which would do that much damage would I have thought be significant enough that you'd know it was likely to have happened. I'd be amazed if the average traffic shunt would cause it.

Jackmydad

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

An oil leak contaminating the plugs is likely to be caused by a cam cover gasket failure. Pretty unlikely that's to do with an accident unless the engine was impacted fairly heavily, which could move the cam cover relative to the cylinder head, and break the seal of the gasket.

Assuming it is the cam cover gasket, a search online for "BMW 335i valve cover gasket" gets quite a few hits, which would seem to indicate that it's a not uncommon problem with that car.

Zudecke_2

Damn its gonna hurt the bank then.

vikingaero

Definitely sounds like the thermoplastic cam cover. If you are very lucky you'll get away with replacing just the gasket for it. Bit more often than not it will crack. It's a BMW only item and not worth getting a secondhand one as this will eventually succumb. Some of the later ones were redesigned. I'd avoid a main dealer and go to an reputable independent BMW specialist.

zudecke

Thanks for that!

I'll post the quote up on here for your feedback, when I get it