Exhaust gastket leak????? pics

[quickplymouth]

I think i have an exhaust gastket leak. However, It seems abit wet around the area. sorry about being vauge, but anyone have any ideas. I can get more pics if you need it.

 

[bmwisthekey]

looks like its valve cover gasket leak that leaks down near where its oily in the pic

 

[paranoidTSi]

Your exhaust gasket is down below where the downpipe connects to the O2 Sensor Housing, the spot that looks like is leaking is the head gasket...which isn't hard to replace at all nor that expensive.

Check your oil make sure you are not low also, that looks like a good sized leak, the only reason you probably aren't getting puddles is cause the exhaust manifold is burning it up.

go to your local auto store and pick up a head gasket, pull the valve cover, put oil on your new gasket put the new one in place of the old one, tighten down the valve cover, it is VERY important NOT to overtighten the valve cover you will crack it and will be left with a mess..not to mention a $100+ to spend on a new one.

 

[zippy]

Valve cover gasket, not head gasket.

 

[paranoidTSi]

bleh, my bad.

 

[CanadianTSi]

Haha yah I think paranoid got a little confused there.

Have you tried tigthening the bolts on the exhaust manifold? also you could tigthen the bolts on you valve cover(but not to tight or it will crack) to make sure that it's not leaking either.

Also spray down the area with brake cleaner so everything is nice and clean so then you can tell exactly where the leak is coming from. Also you should really put a heat shield on.

 

[paranoidTSi]

yeah, not my day today damn it..getting everything wrong.

 

[quickplymouth]

heat shield is off for the pics, it will be back on. I will check the bolts, and probably just replace the valve cover gasket, clean it up, and start from there. won't get to it unitll this weekend, but i'll post the results. Thanks guys. I hope it is this simple.

p.s. don't scare me with the head gasket confusion.