Quote:
Originally Posted by BavariaTexan
Has the temperature where you lived warmed up lately? My theory - I would leak in the winter here in Texas because the gasket would compress in that weather, in warm weather the gasket would expand keeping fluids from leaking.
I have a 2001 4.4 e53 as well. I have had it since late 2004. I have done most of the work on it, unless it was a major item that I didn't want to spend the time doing. For about 2 years I would have occasional leaking of coolant/water mix. Sometimes the AC condensation on mine is extremely heavy but I know that is not the cause.
I have finally completed all coolant leaks, for now. The leak that I had in the exact spot you are talking about ended up being the Valley Pan gasket. One day that thing finally blew out and leaked everywhere. Another spot for a leak right there is the heater hose clamps.
The oil in the area above the spark plugs for me was a mechanic put the spark plugs back in after removing them for a repair of something on the engine without replacing the crush washers. I had oil leaking which I thought was a gasket but after putting in new spark plugs and cleaning that entire area out, the leaking stopped.
If the rear compressor for the rear suspension has not been replaced be ready for that as well as the air bags for the rear suspension to leak.
I have 228,000 miles on mine and its running like the day I purchased it.
I will continue to look at the thread, but feel free to PM me about any thing for that '01 4.4.
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Hello BavariaTexan - thanks for the tips. It has begun to warm a bit here so maybe that's the problem. Any way to check for sure that it's the vp gasket? I watched a video on replacing it but he didn't go into diagnosing the issue.
As for the oil problem - I changed the plugs a couple weeks ago. If the plugs came with crush washers on them then I kept them on. I really don't remember for certain. I may pull one of the easier ones to make sure. I also can't remember if the PO had the washers on them. It's mainly the passenger side that had a considerable amount of oil in the valley.
What do you know about the vanos gasket leaking? I do get a little noise once it's warmed up but nothing like I've heard others submit. Wondering if the vanos gasket is going bad and if replacing it will help.
Don't know about the rear suspension and bags. I'm guessing I will find out one day when they begin to leak down. For now it's holding air. How expensive and is it a DIY?
Thanks again for the help. I appreciate your offer to help via PM as well.