Hi,

Well, to my dismay last night, I noticed my 103 engine weeping from what seems to be the front of the Cylinder Head, on the right hand side. Head Gasket likely...
Is it usually possible to eliminate this weeping by tightening the head bolts in that front corner,
or is it time for me to weep as well and get into replacing the Head Gasket ?

Thanks in advance for your Ideas.

Oops,.....I always seem to do this -
Engine's right side - from the drivers POV
Left side ofcourse if you are facing engine, as most of us do when we discover leaks...
thanks again

I have made several attempts to attach a photo - Heck, I will try again.

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Success at last - so here is another photo....

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I can't tell much from the pictures, but it is more likely the timing cover that is leaking and weeping along the seam between head and block.

The timing covers are a common leaking area on these engines. When they do leak it is typically a VERY minor leak as appears in your pictures.

I would recommend that you clean the area thoroughly and drive it a week or so. You will then be able to tell more about where it is coming from.

BTW, if it is a leaking head gasket, tightening the head bolts will do no good. In fact due to the fact that these are stretch bolts, you could cause problems by tightening them. There is no need to do anything about it as long as it is only a minor oil leak. If it is a head sealing problem, don't mess with it until it gets to a point of oil in coolant, coolant in oil or loss of compression.

I wouldn't get too amped up about it just yet.

Good luck,

Larry speaks the truth!

Typically the head gasket leaks form at the rear of the head, but that might be the M104-series.

For the M103 motor, I believe the first sign of doom is oil in the coolant tank. But the front of the head leak is indicative of the timing cover seal, as Larry suggested.

I would contend that the head gasket problem manifests itself slowly, so just keep an eye on it.

If it makes you feel better, I have been watching my rear head leak for three years now...it's only a matter of time, and I just keep putting pennies in the jar to pay for the inevitable.

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Pictures don't always tell all...The leak is not totally minor (as obviously cannot be seen in the photos) It is quite wet.It does leak along the seam as you say Larry, but quits along the way and goes gravity down the block (ha ha). Actually the oil pan is quite wet, which is how I noticed it to begin with. In the picture however, the oil just makes the Block appear nice shiny and dark.
I did suspect the timing chain cover but could not detect the leak in front of the engine even after cleaning and waiting a couple weeks before approching the forum on this.
I will try looking again and do hope it is the timing chain cover, rather than Oil & Water. I will gladly not get too amped about this just yet, but
In any event this unfortunately does not appear to be a three year waiting in the wings kind of a leak.

Thanks Larry and G-Benz. Allways a pleasure.