**The E46 common oil/coolant/fluid leaks w/ pics and part numbers thread**

Originally Posted by 330ciandr6

Ok, I have decided to make a thread depicting all of the common oil leaks on the e46 (non m3). There are numerous threads on here asking where your oil leak is coming from so hopefully this will help. Best way to determine where an oil leak is if you can't tell from tracing the oil is to completely clean all of the oil off with brake clean or something similar and and wipe it down to where its completely clean.

This is very useful! Thanks for the detailed info!

Pic's very helpfull!

Originally Posted by Zell

Sticky!!!

+1


OP, great write-up!

Great post/thread.

Originally Posted by Alex323Ci

curious, did you ever figure it out??

My bad...

It was my windshield washer fluid tank leaking. It did this for a few days then stopped. Found the tank empty, filled it with water to see if that was it and Bingo!

Originally Posted by WOLFN8TR

My bad...
It was my windshield washer fluid tank leaking. It did this for a few days then stopped. Found the tank empty, filled it with water to see if that was it and Bingo!

Oh good, didn't think it was diff leaking

Thought i was leaking changed all of it! Except for the vanos hose. Prob should do that. But im instead burning oil, even more after replacing both Cats entire exhaust and o2 sensors.hate my life

Originally Posted by Arod0690

Thought i was leaking changed all of it! Except for the vanos hose. Prob should do that. But im instead burning oil, even more after replacing both Cats entire exhaust and o2 sensors.hate my life

These cars have a huge crankcase, so if you are burning oil to the point of it noticably disappearing on the dipstick, then that's probably burning quite a bit. Enough that I would think you would see evidence of an oily tail pipe at the very least, maybe even see some blue smoke in the exhaust. How much oil are you losing?

Yes sir. To all the above! Hoeever i changed the plugs twice in this past month and this last time i noticed they were sorta wet, one mechanic suggested i may be running rich. I unplugged maf, and it runs much better period. But I don't know if that will solve my oil burn.

This plug was removed two weeks after replacing it. It looks dry there but it was moist previously.

"so I just recently replaced my valve cover gasket because I was leaking oil. however it is still leaking. I usually have a lot of oil on top of my oil filter housing, do you think it is my oil filter gasket leaking? is there any other way to tell what the leaking is from. it is definitely the oil that is leaking as my oil is usually low."


**first time i did my vcg it leaked on other side down towards SAP and washer fluid, i torqued it down too much, u might wanna check your torques on the bolts, like 8lbs or thereabouts.

Originally Posted by turnerk2

"so I just recently replaced my valve cover gasket because I was leaking oil. however it is still leaking. I usually have a lot of oil on top of my oil filter housing, do you think it is my oil filter gasket leaking? is there any other way to tell what the leaking is from. it is definitely the oil that is leaking as my oil is usually low."


**first time i did my vcg it leaked on other side down towards SAP and washer fluid, i torqued it down too much, u might wanna check your torques on the bolts, like 8lbs or thereabouts.

Check your oil filter housing gasket.

Originally Posted by Mhnd

Check your oil filter housing gasket.

yeah ima do that this coming week, it looks pretty nasy down there, not lookin fwd to tearing all the other stuff away to get to it.. if/when u did yours did u use rtv or gasket alone?

Originally Posted by turnerk2

yeah ima do that this coming week, it looks pretty nasy down there, not lookin fwd to tearing all the other stuff away to get to it.. if/when u did yours did u use rtv or gasket alone?

No RTV needed for that one, gasket alone is fine. I just did mine about 4-6 weeks ago and it was a bit of a job. The old gasket was so brittle and cracked that I couldn't get it out with the filter housing on, needed to remove the coolant hoses and take it out of the engine bay to get a good angle and good light to get it out. Prior to my fixing it, the oil was leaking about a quart every 2-3 weeks, which is pretty massive. Afterwards, I thought it was still leaking because I was still seeing oil. But in reality, there was so much oil all over everything down there, that it was old oil still dripping to the ground. After a few days of driving it cleared up completely and not a drop now. Overall, maybe 4-5 hours, nothing extremely difficult to get to, and well worth the time.

Originally Posted by Itzed

No RTV needed for that one, gasket alone is fine. I just did mine about 4-6 weeks ago and it was a bit of a job. The old gasket was so brittle and cracked that I couldn't get it out with the filter housing on, needed to remove the coolant hoses and take it out of the engine bay to get a good angle and good light to get it out. Prior to my fixing it, the oil was leaking about a quart every 2-3 weeks, which is pretty massive. Afterwards, I thought it was still leaking because I was still seeing oil. But in reality, there was so much oil all over everything down there, that it was old oil still dripping to the ground. After a few days of driving it cleared up completely and not a drop now. Overall, maybe 4-5 hours, nothing extremely difficult to get to, and well worth the time.

hopin i have same results, crazy how much sludge is down in there

Originally Posted by turnerk2

yeah ima do that this coming week, it looks pretty nasy down there, not lookin fwd to tearing all the other stuff away to get to it.. if/when u did yours did u use rtv or gasket alone?

I did mine about two weeks ago, no need for RTV only used Gasket.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Mhnd

I did mine about two weeks ago, no need for RTV only used Gasket.

Good luck!

thanks! do u reckon maybe 15lbs torque will be ok for the housing itself?

anyone know why I would have fluid leaking onto my drivers side floor mat? I would guess it's brake/clutch fluid but do not know. I hope it's not the master cylinder? Could that get into the cabin ? I'd say it's leaking right below and between clutch and brake pedal. Thanks

it may be clogged sunroof drains

Originally Posted by scim459

it may be clogged sunroof drains

It's hitting my rubber floor mats and truly seems like a fluid vs. water. Water would dry up eventually and it hasn't rained in a while.