M44 - Cylinder Head Cover leak (?)

[jonco]

During a routine oil change this week I noticed I had an oil leak running down the front driver's side of the engine. I suspect it is from the profile gasket (part number 11121721876) but not definitely identified yet. Looking at the TIS it's a straightforward change.
The TIS makes reference to using a sealing agent `Drei Bond 1209' - any ideas as to what the `high street' equivalent is? copy of TIS extract attached ( I hope).

Any other hints or observations welcome.

 

[Brian H]

Loctite do a gasket sealant which can be bought at halfords.

Loctite 5910

HTH

 

[jonco]

Thanks Brian

 

[vintage42]

During a routine oil change this week I noticed I had an oil leak running down the front driver's side of the engine. I suspect it is from the profile gasket (part number 11121721876) but not definitely identified yet...

That is the valve cover gasket.
http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=CH73&mospid=48091&btnr=11_1562&hg=11&fg=15&hl=6
Before ordering it, check that the oil is not coming from the oil filter which is right in the location you describe. Google bmw 1.9 oil filter leak

 

[zedonist]

Loctite do a gasket sealant which can be bought at halfords.

Loctite 5910

HTH

Yes Brian is right the loctite 5910 is the alternative to the drie bond, if it is the gasket, i would change it as they do go hard and stiff, do you have any oil in the plugs?

If you do change it get a friend to help as access at the back is not good, i struggled on my own, but got it right on the third attempt, as you need to get the half moon shapes to locate correctly, otherwise it is oil all down the back of the engine.

2nd edit, if you do do it take a picture of the internals, mine was lovely and clean, but if run cold they do gunge up

 

[jonco]

Thanks guys - I need to have a closer look to confirm leakage point but from path I could see I can only think it is the cover gasket.
Vintage42 - oil filter joints checked after the change and Ok.
Zedonist - plugs are ok - will take your point on access. Would you change the 3 internal ones as well - item 7 on OEM link.
If I do have to take cover off then I'll probably repaint it - what did you use on yours?

 

[zedonist]

If you change the gasket, do all gaskets, plus the oil feed pipe o ring. I used VHT wrinkle plus paint on mine, the red is not red enough for me though so will be doing again but in black.

 

[jonco]

If you change the gasket, do all gaskets, plus the oil feed pipe o ring. I used VHT wrinkle plus paint on mine, the red is not red enough for me though so will be doing again but in black.

Ok - thanks - good info. The red caught my eye as my body is hellrot so it could have been a good blend.

 

[zedonist]

Ok - thanks - good info. The red caught my eye as my body is hellrot so it could have been a good blend.

To be honest you can paint over the VHT in any colour, the cam cover does not get that hot anyway, so you could do it VHT plus helrot

 

[jonco]

Eventually found time to tackle leak which was from rear left end of head cover joint and also running down back of engine.
A few pics for info but also a few questions.
The rear cable duct is a pain to keep out of the way and makes access to rear cover bolts difficult - or am I doing something wrong ? I have removed duct mounting bracket screws and opened up the casing to give more flexing.
Surprised by the amount of fouling inside head cover - presume build-up from previous ownership as I have done regular oil and filter changes using good quality oil. Any comments/advice

 

[zedonist]

Yes the rear cable tray is a pain, ideally when replacing the cover you could do with someone to pull it up out the way, I struggled with it.

Looks like it has been used for a lot of short journeys prior to yourself, it should look like this:

I would give the cam cover a good clean, and try and scrape as much of the crap out the top, I don't trust engine flush, but I think Mike Fishwick discussed running for a few miles with a Diesel engine oil, don't quite me though, it may be in the wiki section

 

[EnthuZiaZT]

What type of oil are you using, Mineral or synthetic?

Mike

 

[zedonist]

Good point , it needs to be fully synthetic, i use Fuchs TITAN Supersyn 5w40 High Performance Fully Synthetic quite reasonable at £25 for 5 litres delivered free

 

[jonco]

Thanks for comments guys - the oil I have used for last 2 changes is Fuchs XTL GTI 5/40. Oil/filter and `O' rings were changed in January after 5700 miles and twelve months from previous - still had 3 bars on SI.
I bought the car in 2010 with 53k on clock and had it serviced at an Indy - don't know what they used. Gaps in service history indicated it had gone ~6 years and ~ 20k miles without a service. Service indicator had 3 bars on it but that was not to be believed!
Car now has 69.5k on clock. I have considered an oil flush addition but having read arguments for and against on various forums decided against it for now.
I will clean it up as suggested by Zedonist spray the outer head cover with VHT and then no doubt do some Basil Fawlty impressions trying to get it back in position past that cable duct.
Cheers
Colin

 

[EnthuZiaZT]

Looks to me like a previous owner wasn't quite so particular about oil changes intervals or the type of oil he used.

Mike

 

[jonco]

Job done and no leaks (well not yet) .
Main gasket seemed ok but bolt seal/vibration rubbers were very hard. Also `O ' ring on oil spray was well cooked and shattered when I tried to remove it - more like Bakelite than rubber.

 

[zedonist]

I replaced all mine Jonco, including the oil spray ring, not a huge cost, well done anyway, getting the cover back on with those half moons at the rear is real challenge.

 

[vintage42]

... I bought the car in 2010 with 53k... Gaps in service history indicated it had gone ~6 years and ~ 20k miles without a service. Service indicator had 3 bars on it but that was not to be believed!...

What reason is there to not believe the Service indicator? Are you saying that it was reset without an accompanying oil change?

 

[jonco]

............Are you saying that it was reset without an accompanying oil change?

Possibly - 3 bars left after 20k is pushing it a bit but having found that the previous `maintainer' had removed the airbag bulb then inserted a section of tube filled with black silicone to hide the back-up makes me doubt a lot of things.

..........getting the cover back on with those half moons at the rear is real challenge.

Agreed - I cheated slightly by bending the cable duct brackets upwards to give more clearance and then wedging duct in raised position. I then did a number of `dry' fits to find best technique and fortunately `wet' fit went in first time.