oil on Rad Hose? (pictures provided)

Attached are two pictures of the lower rad hose, which connects to the thermostat housing. There is an apparent oil leak, but difficult to see where it is coming from. Look familiar? Appreciate your thoughts....

If you also see oil leaking onto the exhaust mani heat shield then probably just vcg. Otherwise, you're right below the vanos solenoid...that film canister thing...and it has an o-ring in it. Could also be the vanos gasket...and if that, I'd say do vcg and vanos seals while you're there.

Clean it up best you can and try to find initial source better...but I'm pretty sure it's vcg/vanos (or some part thereof).

HTH

VCG leaking.
I had exact oil spot.

If not the vcg, I'd look at the cam sensor/oring. Pretty much the only things that can leak in that area are vcg, cam sensor, vanos solenoid.

330ciandr6.
















And op that's a very common leak I see in a lot of E46s. And good info 330ciandr6. Can you or someone else post part #s for the vanos solenoid o-ring? I think mine might be leaking. i looked on realoem before but couldnt find it...

Edit: nevermind i think i found it.. but it seems to be for the intake side. doesnt list for exhaust side. is this it? part#3


11361703713

Mango.















Will look up part# when I return from lunch.

I'm sure the o-rings are identical.

I wonder if that exhaust cps o-ring is the same as the IAT one...think I have an extra...and that seems like an easy thing to get to. Will have to look into that!


Nope, not the same...it's a 17 x 3 0-ring. IAT is 8 x 3...not even close!

Also, Mango, that solenoid 0-ring is listed as "quantity 2" so that's definitely it...as it doesn't show pic of exhaust side for that part's breakdown.

Yes, the o-rings are the same.

Maybe a dumb question, but it is black oil engine oil, right? Reason I ask is I've seen AC refridgerant leaks that leave an oily residue, but it's clear stuff. Not the engine oil stuff.

Definitely oil.

Many thanks for everyone's replies. Greatly appreciated. P

Thanks. becaue of this thread I ordered new camshaft position sensor o-rings and new vanos solenoid o-rings. I read somewhere I'll need special tools (deep sockets) for the vanos solenoids? can't use a wrench? Procedure different for intake and exhaust sides? I also plan to break them down and clean the suckers out. There's no documentation/pics on this so when I do it, i'll see if i can write something up.

I'll be replacing the CPS and Solenoid O-Rings soon as I found some oil on the back of my Intake CPS yesterday.

#3 (11361703713) and #6 (12141748398) in the diagram below.

Here's a good DIY with great photos:

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=358494

-Dan

Originally Posted by E46Mango

330ciandr6.












And op that's a very common leak I see in a lot of E46s. And good info 330ciandr6. Can you or someone else post part #s for the vanos solenoid o-ring? I think mine might be leaking. i looked on realoem before but couldnt find it...

Edit: nevermind i think i found it.. but it seems to be for the intake side. doesnt list for exhaust side. is this it? part#3


11361703713

vanos gasket is my bet. take out the fan and look or get a good mechanics mirror

As noted, my problem was vcg. Replaced months ago, with no recurring leak.

Yup, I've got the same problem and we've traced it back to the valve cover gasket.

Just a quick query to see if anyone has any updates on this topic. I replaced my vcg and rebuilt my vanos (besian) about 15K ago. I have the exact oil leak/stains as depicted on the images at the beginning of this post and they developed about 1K ago. Oil runs down the radiator hose and onto the ground. Having a hard time believing vcg given age and the fact that you can visibly see the vcg which is well above the leak area. Perhaps the vanos gasket...but again almost new. Leak appears to be immediately behind/beneath exhaust solenoid on vanos or from the set screws adjacent/beneath the solenoid.

Any thoughts would be welcomed.

is your exhaust cam position sensor leaking? check that?
also when you did Vanos did you put a new gasket between the vanos and the engine?

Thanks for the quick reply. This leak falls between the two CPSs so I'm pretty sure it's not coming from either of them (even though I'm considering replacing both). Yes...I replaced the vanos gasket when I did the vanos rebuild/vcg. I'm seriously contemplating a complete vanos replacement, but hate to go through the entiire vcg/vanos process again if it's just an o ring. I even re-torqued the vanos mounting bolts.

Originally Posted by kesukseeker

I have the exact oil leak/stains as depicted on the images at the beginning of this post and they developed about 1K ago. Oil runs down the radiator hose and onto the ground. Having a hard time believing vcg given age

Any thoughts would be welcomed.

Another thread documents that the Victor-Reinz VCG seems to be less than adequate if that's the one you've used.
I used one and it's leaking after 8000 miles in the same location of your leak.

Take a picture of your valve cover where it meets the head. I bet it's leaking. Did you use victor reinz?