TCPG While I'm in there...

[Samo318i]

It appears the TCPG on my new m42 e30 is bad, coolant is leaking from between the head/block where it is on the car and down the side of the engine finally dripping off of the AC.  I plan on doing all the gaskets associated with removing the head, and also the "Mess Under the Intake" (Thanks 'teh Phil' for writeup and 'tjts1' for easy access)  

Is there anything else I should look to do while I have the engine torn apart?  I don't plan on putting any serious money into the engine at this time, as this will just be my daily driver for the time being.

I'm seriously considering dropping the oil pan to check for anything in there that shouldn't be. and to make sure the bolts are all tight.

Other then that, anything I should look into?

[DPINEDA]

Did the car over heat and then start leaking?

If you are going to take the head off you might want to take it to a machine shop and have it checked for warpage/cracks. You don't want to do all that work and then it's still leaking coolant.

You can also check the two timing chain gears on top. There's a lot of posts regarding this.

[Samo318i]

I had planned on taking it to a machine shop to make sure it was true.  Don't think it overheated. I haven't personally seen it past the halfway mark, and never in the red.  Wasn't leaking when I initially looked at it, po even said he let it idle for 10-15 mins after the wreck, and said it didn't pass the half way mark.  

I took the intake/valve cover off today and had a peak inside, all seems to be where it should be from what I can tell.  Have referenced quite a few pictures of engines without valve covers.  Will look more into this just to be sure.


Should I drop the oil pan?  PO only had the car for ~1000 miles according to the previous registration/title.  The owner before that appears to have taken exceptional care of this vehicle.

edit: It also leaks a bit of oil, seems to be quite a bit, but I've only ever owned one other car that didn't leak very much oil.  Is it normal for these engines to seep oil out of damn near everything? Could it be caused by the weight of the oil?  I don't want to have to do a complete rebuilt of this motor if I don't have to.

[DesktopDave]

Mine leaks quite a bit of oil.  I'm not sure why, but it's definitely the leakiest car I've had in a long time.  Mine is leaking from the rear chain case/block gasket and transmission output/shifter seal.  It'll be a while before I get to those.

I do use really thin synthetic (currently synth 0w30 in the motor, synth ATF in the gearbox and synth 70w90 in the diff) so she marks her spot.  In addition I've drained the leaking steering rack, typical e30 problem.

So I took some time this year to drop the pan & fix all the easy leaks...dipstick tube o-ring, oil filter o-rings, sender washer, etc.  Happily the main seals are all OK.

[Samo318i]

When I drop the oilpan, I'll probably end up replacing orings on the dipstick/oil filter.  The dipstick one seems to be seeping pretty bad.  It's all pooling pretty good in the skid plate.  Probably makes it look worse then it really is.

[Not Sure]

check this out http://timthurber.com/tcpg.htm