Oil Leak

[H8Rain]

So my sons E30 has been leaving a large puddle of oil under it (about 8" dia overnight).  The engine has 190K on it.  The engine was a mess with oil so I figured I just start from the top and replace seals.  To date I have replaced the following:

- Valve cover gasket and rubber bolt grommets
- Upper and lower timing chain cover gaskets
- Crank seal
- Upper and lower oil pan seals (along with dipstick o-ring)

I was very thorough in my work, cleaning everything and torquing everything to spec (I've done this type of work before).  I am certain that my work is not leaking and the leak has greatly reduced, down to about a 1" dia overnight.

So the question is, what's next?  I thought perhaps the chain tensioner?  It has a slight "wet" look to it but it's not dripping wet.  The only other thing I can think off is the oil filter housing gasket?

If the gasket between the block and the chain case were bad what would leak, oil or coolant?

I'm so close........

[DesktopDave]

If the timing chain gaskets were going you'd see oil.  The only exception is the profile gasket under the head.

My vote is the upper o-ring in the oil filter housing.  The paper gasket is also prone to leaks.  Mine has a pretty good leak there, but nothing like your son's seems to!

If you pull that oil filter housing off, be sure to squirt the bolts with a lot of PB Blaster...they're long and exposed, and have a nasty habit of seizing and snapping off at the threaded end.

[deansweet]

Mine was leaking at the oil filter housing as well.
Getting to it wasn't too bad either?
Remove the cap, filter, etc
Remove the alternator,
Remove the upper toward firewall poly bushing in the alternator bracket.
This allows you to get to all 4 bolts that hold the alternator bracket on. <-- i'm with Dave on this one, coat heavily beforehand with PB Blaster or the like.
Once the alt base bracket is removed.
Remove the clip to get the sensor plug off.
Then take it easy on the bolt holding housing on aren't very tough.
Once all the bolts are out just give the housing a bit of a spin and a slight tug.
The o-ring portion of this housing goes in to side of block.
Clean up the housing and block surface with nylon scraper.
Replace the o-ring, and I used a very little amount of blue rtv on gasket to hold it in place when re-inserting.
Torque specs are 7.1 FtLbs/89 InLbs on the housing.
I just tightened the alt bracket to what I thought was sufficient? I couldn't find specifics on them.  


Parts you will need:
Gasket VICTOR REINZ Part # B32324
O-ring 24mmx3mm (15/16ths x 1/8th)

Prolly take an hour or so to complete?  Nitrile gloves highly recommended.

[Bimmer805]

check your oil pan for any cracks. once i went crazy looking for a leak that came from my car, turns out it had a small crack. the smallest hair line crack can cause it to seep little by little.