Chasing down an oil leak

[Chamelion]

Hi there,

There has been oil leakage down the passenger side of my engine that I've put down to being the head gasket. A mechanic confirmed it as the case.. However, upon being under the car to change out a faulty coilpack today I noticed that there is oil on the bottom of the intake manifold along the gasket. It's right above the starter motor, so towards 5 or 6 cylinder I'd say.

Firstly, is it meant to be anywhere near the intake manifold gasket? Secondly, is it a hard job to do?

Cheers

Matt.

[stiddy]

Well considering the manifold is bolted to the head.... and the head gasket is leaking.... yeah I'd say theres a slight change of oil in that region??

Hard job to change a headgasket, if you have an idea of what your doing, no not really, take about about 45-60mins to take the head off, another 30mins or so to clean up the gunk off the head and block, 45mins-60mins to bolt the head back on.
(well thats how long it took me with normal hand tools) faster if you have air ratchets and stuff.

1. pop the bonnet (make sure car is cold and hasnt been run for a couple of hrs)
2. disconnect the battery
3. undo exhaust manifold bolts and place into a container of some description
4. curse and swear cause manifold bolts are a pain, undo power steer pump.
5. undo inlet manifold bolts and radiator hoses.
6. get frustrated go have a smoke and a couple of stubbies.
7. think about it, then remove spark plug leads AFTER you number them 1-6.
8. undo rocker cover bolts and remove rocker cover.
9. undo the thousand rocker bolts (feels like thousands doing it by hand) remove rocker gear.
10. zip-tie the shite out of the cam gear and timing chain so they can't move.
11. undo the big cam bolt infront of the cam gear and slide of cam gear with chain
12. lift out cam and laugh at it because its so small
13. have another smoke and a couple more stubbies
14. under the headbolts and remove head (may need to slightly tap with rubber mallet)
15. curse and swear beause you forgot to get new gaskets.
16. clean, blow dry, whipe, scrap, clean the head and block.
17. put on new gasket. and sit head in place

THEN, follow steps 2-14 in reverse. DONT forget to torque down the headbolts.
Generally fairly easy and simple process.. like I said if your faily good with your hands you could get the job done in about 3hrs..

Kick it over let it idle for a few mins make sure no leaks and stuff.. IT will run rough because you had the computer disconnected but it will sort its pms out fairly quickly.

People have varying ideas how 'running in a head gasket' I say just drive the thing normally, how you always do, it will be fine. I actually went for a full load, redline run down the highway for a few mins, came back and not a drop. IF it didnt break then it wasnt going to.

Hope this helps,
cheers,
Matt

[waggaclint]

id be double cheaking thats it s not just the inlet manifold gasket they leak all the time its looks like oil but its a fuel stain not oil.....its pretty easy to replace and cheaper than pulling the head off...

[superroo]

If the intake gasket is leaking it shouldn't leak oil, it will be fuel if anything. You'll be able to hear that it is leaking due to the vacuum in the motor, this is why it shouldn't leak.

Cheers

[Chamelion]

Oh, I see.. It did look a little dark to be the oil, which is rather golden after about 5,000km.

That does rule out it being the cause of the oil on the side of the had though. I was hoping it was just dropping down.

A lot of leaks for a 5 year old car... o_O

Matt.

[au2sw]

dont worry matt, mine was the same, there is light at the end of the tunnel. a good way to check for inlet manifold leakage is to get your watering can and poor water slowly over the manifold. the motor will change note as the water covers the leaking area (yes some does go into the motor, but not enough to cause concern) if this is the case, its not a hard job to do, more of a pain in the *** job.
BTW stiddy, you forgot to undo and remove the air intake ducting and and box to make things easier for your self and dont forget the fan belt!!!! lol also exhaust man. bolts are a pain to get to if you havent removed the heat shield in the first place

[Stav]

Originally Posted by Chamelion

Hi there,

There has been oil leakage down the passenger side of my engine that I've put down to being the head gasket. A mechanic confirmed it as the case.. However, upon being under the car to change out a faulty coilpack today I noticed that there is oil on the bottom of the intake manifold along the gasket. It's right above the starter motor, so towards 5 or 6 cylinder I'd say.

Firstly, is it meant to be anywhere near the intake manifold gasket? Secondly, is it a hard job to do?

Cheers

Matt.

A ford that doesnt leak oil is probably not a real ford!! Oil is very tricky to spot. On the drivers side I have oil leaking there as well.However mine is leaking fron the timing case and following the crease of the head gasket t,then trickles down at the back. If the car is going good..degrease the sites of leakage,dry it and then hit it will silicone sealant. Doing a head gasket is a big job.Also..try tightening the head gasket bolts by 1/8 of a turn.It may work.

[stiddy]

Originally Posted by au2sw

BTW stiddy, you forgot to undo and remove the air intake ducting and and box to make things easier for your self and dont forget the fan belt!!!! lol also exhaust man. bolts are a pain to get to if you havent removed the heat shield in the first place

HAHA you do have a point, but the way i see it once you start undoing stuff anyway these things tend to fall off anyway?
Maybe he has extractors and no heatshield? :

LOL my bad man, just a few minor details

[FGII-XR6]

if you want the head gasket to last you must get the head machined this is madatory for all alloy heads don't try to save $ as it will cost more in the long run

Originally Posted by Stav

Doing a head gasket is a big job.Also..try tightening the head gasket bolts by 1/8 of a turn.It may work.

these headbolts are designed to only be tightened only once and re tightening will cause a weakness with the potential for them to break. never re tighten AU headbolts they also must be replaced when doing a head gasket.and before someone says I did it and it worked if any of you out there have re tightened your headbolts and gotten away with it you were lucky

[Chamelion]

Cheers all.

Incidentally the leak was rather minor until the car dealers mechanic thought it wise to re torque the head bolts. It's only since then the ammount of oil leakage has increase by approximately five times.

[au2sw]

in that case, new gasket and head. they may have cracked the head if they havent weakened the bolts. we do exchange heads at work, a lot cheaper in the long run then just skimming the original. also comes with new head blts and vrs kit (all gaskets required for the job.) again, we may be able to offer the loan car for you if required, just let us know.

[Chamelion]

I shudder at the thought of the expense though.. I'm rather certain the dealer and his mechanic will be required, by law, to see to it. I've got no issue with going through the motions to save myself a grand (or more?).

[EvilChief]

is it oil or is fuel? intake manifold gaskets on falcons are common to leak if not regularly tightened. it leaves a brown sticky residue underneath the intake manifold.
alternative a leaking oil pressure switch can leave quite a mess under the intake manifold.

i just havent seen too many oil leaking HGs in a while

[Windsor220]

Originally Posted by stiddy

9. undo the thousand rocker bolts (feels like thousands doing it by hand) remove rocker gear.
12. lift out cam and laugh at it because its so small

If your not getting the head machined then you dont have to do these 2.
Unless your upgrading your cam. :

[stiddy]

No, but while your there its good to have a look and make sure everythings still in good condition and working order.
Ive seen cam's out of the I6 with dirty great big groves around the lobes.. and the shine/lusture was worn off..
Plus I did put a new cam in mine lol.

[Chamelion]

Originally Posted by EvilChief

is it oil or is fuel? intake manifold gaskets on falcons are common to leak if not regularly tightened. it leaves a brown sticky residue underneath the intake manifold.
alternative a leaking oil pressure switch can leave quite a mess under the intake manifold.

i just havent seen too many oil leaking HGs in a while

Based on what I've read the leak I'm looking at here would be fuel from the intake manifold.

However, my head gasket is also leaking too. It seems to be coming from right near the front above the aircon compressor. There is a little bit of the head gasket sticking out, well, from right in that corner area.

My oil pressure sender did crap itself a month or two ago and spat oil out all over the place. I replaced it and gave the engine a good degrease. So the oil I'm seeing now is new.

So, two leaks.. One oil, one fuel.

There is also a knocking type sound.. It's not always there and doesn't seem to follow much of a trend when it comes to engine temp. Hot, cold.. whatever.
I took a recording but you can't really make it out. I'll upload it anyway, I guess it's most noticeable at around 23-26 seconds on the recording. I could however hear it constantly when I was making the recording. It was most noticeable between 1200 and 2000rpm.

Matt.

[V8falcons]

Originally Posted by Chamelion

B
However, my head gasket is also leaking too. It seems to be coming from right near the front above the aircon compressor. There is a little bit of the head gasket sticking out, well, from right in that corner area.


Matt.

Matt

It looks like my minor leak has developed to a major leak at this stage now it looks like it may be same as yours from the timming case/under the head on the a/c compressor side,I resealed the tensioner bolts but that did nothing so my next step is the timming cover : : ,
Its a pull the sump off,crank pulley,radiator out job ,FFS if I can get out of it easier I will,but I dont want to half remove the engine and not rebuild every thing I remove in the mean time,so it may be getting an interim engine whilst I rebuild the original now as it got 250ks on it.............

see what happens

[Chamelion]

Here is the video/audio clip... Ignore the squeeking, that's just my idler pulley screaming.. Listen out for when I get to about 1700rpm +-200rpm and I think you can hear it around 24sec into the clip too. It's must more noticeable in real life.

http://roflbox.net/albums/userpics/10003/engine.avi

EDIT: I'LL HAVE TO GET A BETTER RECORDING. YOU CAN'T HEAR MUCH IN THE ABOVE ONE.. SORRY.