Oil leak help please..

[spamking98]

hey guys, its been awhile since ive posted anything here... I seem to have a oil leak on my X....a slow leak and it looks like its coming from the bottom of the X so maybe the oil pan gasket or something... any ideas..? is it common to change the oil pan gasket at this amount of miles on it..? anyone here ever change one..? Pics or tutorial...ive already checked the tutorials and none their for changing the oil pan gasket... heres my specs for my X

2002 x5 4.6is
85,000 miles
just had the thermostat and water pump changed.

[alpac]

How do you know it is coming from the bottom? At that mileage the usual culprit would be the valve cover gaskets leaking.

[FSETH]

Originally Posted by alpac

How do you know it is coming from the bottom? At that mileage the usual culprit would be the valve cover gaskets leaking.

Could be leaking from anywhere. It all runs downhill.

[primetime]

Valve cover gasket most likely..
And that means you need to at least inspect your oil seperator/Crankcase since that is most likely the actual reason why your VCG is leaking..

[TwinsPoppa]

If you can't easily determine where the leak is coming from (like get the X up on jack stands or something and inspect it from underneath) then take it to a shop to get it diagnosed properly.

Then you can better assess the situation. No matter what they say try and verify for yourself that the leak is actually coming from where they say.

If its the valve cover gasket, you could check the oil separator too. However, if you're not in an area where it gets really cold (in Cali) then maybe not. Of course, we don't know the actual history of your car so ...