Oil leak and engine stalled

[Perrier]

2004 X5 3.0

Driving in cold weather (-10c) and car was driving normal but with a clear smell of burning oil. Got off the highway and car stalled at the traffic light. Check Engine light came on and engine will not turn. Checked under hood and there is oil around the (alternator?) on the front passenger side of the engine.
Checked oil level, very low, filled 3quarts. Engine still will not turn. I checked oil level 4 days ago and it was within limit on the dipstick. Oil light did not turn on.

Any suggestions on where to start, or anyone with similar experience?

By the way, towed the car to dealer only to find out there lot gate was closed and had to tow it home. I don't understand why would they have a drop box for the keys if I can't leave the car, but that's another story.

[Ricky Bobby]

CCV froze and blew out the VCG? Pressure has to go somewhere

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

CCV froze and blew out the VCG? Pressure has to go somewhere

I should patent an oil cap with a pop off valve and go pitch my invention to the Sharks on Sharks Tank.

[Perrier]

Now that the car is in my driveway. Where to go from here, how do I begin the repairs?
Replace the gasket and CCV and start it up?

[David.X5]

Sounds like the classic frozen ccv to me too. If it is, the intake is probably full of oil. Spark plugs might be fouled. Look at these things, if you find lots of oil, work through it all and clean it up. When my cv froze last year, there was about 3/4 quart of oil in the intake.

[upallnight]

Sounds like you hydrolocked the engine if it doesn't turn over. remove all the plugs and see if the engine spins on the starter. I would put something to cover the plugs holes so you don't get oil all over the place.

Most likely if it's was hydrolocked you also got oil in the Cat Converters.

[Perrier]

Ok so it is hydro locked. I took the CCV and throttle body off. Throttle body was full of oil, so a assuming intake manifold and cylinders are full of oil. How can I clean them up?

For cylinders, I will take spark plugs out and crank the engine to spew the oil out of the cylinders. Is this enough?

How to clean the intake?

What do I need to do with the cat converters?

[David.X5]

There is some chance you have blown a head gasket due to the unusual pressurization. Even greater chance you have blown the valve cover gasket (which is a much smaller job to replace). When this happened to my 4.4, the VCG started seeping a little, but it ran fine like that. The car was OK after removing the intake and really cleaning it and replace all the parts of the CCV system. I think you have a choice of "cold weater" version of the CCV on the 3L - there are threads on that. I didn't do anything in particular for the cats.

There was oil freakin everywhere on mine - took gobs of paper towels and cleaners and hours of time. Brake cleaner is OK for parts you can remove and dry when done - don't spray it somewhere where it will sit and get pulled into the intake later. Don't spray it on anything with an electrical coil or motor in it as it will dissolve carbon brushes. The auto parts stores sell cleaners intended for throttle bodies and for MAF sensors (if oil got that far). Engine cleaner on the outside before you get it all apart (don't want to get that inside the engine either) will clean things up and help identify sources of leaks later.

[cn90]

- Remove all 6 spark plugs. BTW, I use NGK Iridium if you want to search forum for that.

- Place a rag in each spark plug hole (to prevent the mess), then do a few quick cranking (2-3 sec each time) to expel the oil from the cylinders.

- Then do compression test in each cylinder, hopefully you didn't blow the head gasket or worse bent a rod.

- If nothing abnormal, then do the CCV overhaul (info in forum): basically new Oil Separator, and all associated hoses.

- Don't forget to add oil later.

[upallnight]

Once you get the engine to run, if the engine is blowing a lot of smoke from the exhaust, your cats are toasted. Oil Contamination of any type will coat the catalyst and render them useless as will using any Teflon or Silicone based products on any exhaust parts or assemblies as they will contaminate the oxygen sensors and cause the miscalculation of the fuel trim.

In the states, you can not buy a used cat from a junkyard, since there a a federal law against the sale of used cats. Looks like a LOTUS (Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious).