B58 engine oil leak (rear main seal)

hoohoohama · May 14, 2024

starting a new thread (originally mixed in with the transfer case oil leak thread) so I can document this particular issue and provide updates hopefully my issue will be fixed and this might be helpful to to others

I started noticing a slow oil leak about two weeks ago (my car only has about 800 miles on it). A small drip of motor oil showed up near the engine starter towards the back of the b58 engine. I tried to wipe clean everything, but a new drop of motor oil showed up again the next day. Also checked the engine oil level, and it was showing everything OK.

scheduled a service appointment with my dealer (which is about 1.5 hours away), after a week at the dealer, I was told that they thought the leak was coming from the rear main seal, and ordered replacement parts. but will need to remove the transmission to replace the rear main seal.

current ETA is by the end of next week.

Chadd7 · May 14, 2024

That sux

hoohoohama · May 22, 2024

called my dealer today and was informed that they are still waiting for replacement parts, and just escalated the order with Ineos. My grenadier has been sitting at the dealership for two weeks already. :-(

Dinaric Voyager · May 23, 2024

I have Volvo XC90 diesel as a daily driver, soon getting a Grenadier.
On XC90 I have an oil leek for a few months now. Only about 60.000 miles on it. It’s quite bad - a drop every few minutes.
I’m pouring new oil weekly.

Dealer wasn’t able to find where it leaks the easy way, so now they plan to disassemble the engine in hope to find it. Crazy!
So I really sympathise.

I mean, if it’s a very small leak like yours, you could probably just pour new oil and drive on and nothing bad would happen (for a while at least)… but that’s not really a solution

hoohoohama · May 23, 2024

Dinaric Voyager said:
I have Volvo XC90 diesel as a daily driver, soon getting a Grenadier.
On XC90 I have an oil leek for a few months now. Only about 60.000 miles on it. It’s quite bad - a drop every few minutes.
I’m pouring new oil weekly.

Dealer wasn’t able to find where it leaks the easy way, so now they plan to disassemble the engine in hope to find it. Crazy!
So I really sympathise.

I mean, if it’s a very small leak like yours, you could probably just pour new oil and drive on and nothing bad would happen (for a while at least)… but that’s not really a solution

It is still a new car and under warranty, I hope that my dealership would fix and cover the costs of repairs. if they cannot fix this issue after multiple attempts, there is also the Lemon law protection for new car purchase and I hope it won’t come to that.

I read from bmw forums that oil leak is a common issue with B58 engines, and I am okay to always carrying some motor oil in the trunk, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon.

Tinerfeño · May 23, 2024

Cam cover gasket? Powertrain is a little bit front up and top oil leak will show up at rear bottom of engine.

There need to be quite big leak before it will show at oil level. Min-max volume is typically about one litre.

hoohoohama · May 23, 2024

Tinerfeño said:
Cam cover gasket? Powertrain is a little bit front up and top oil leak will show up at rear bottom of engine.

There need to be quite big leak before it will show at oil level. Min-max volume is typically about one litre.

Leaks from cam cover gasket seems to be a common cause, but I was told by the master mechanic at the dealership that my engine oil leak is from rear main seal, which is a bigger job (or expensive) to replace since transmission has to come out to reach it.

hoohoohama · Jun 27, 2024

Here is how this story folds:

I initially brought my grenadier to the dealership on May, 8th, 2024 for this “slow oil leak issue” and then had to take a 3-hour long train ride back home since there wasn’t a loaner vehicle available at the time and the dealer needed some time to investigate this issue.

One week later I called the service department to check in and was told that they thought the oil leak was coming from the rear main seal and they had to order replacement parts from Ineos. another week goes by, and still no parts, but was told that they have escalated the issue to Ineos. Finally the part was received on May. 31st (apparently the seal only comes with the timing case cover, and they had to order them together).

On Jun 4th, I was told that a fix was made on my vehicle and they wanted to test drive the vehicle to confirm the leak has been addressed.

On Jun 8th (exactly one month later) I called and found out that my vehicle has been fixed. When I asked them exactly what was fixed, they told me that after they had dropped the transmission, they realized that the “leak” was from a large quantity of lubricant that was melted after the engine heated up, and they cleaned it up and didn’t have to replace the rear main seal as they originally thought

So after a very long wait, I have finally reunited with my Grenadier, but not sure how I feel about this whole process.

I am very happy that I have not noticed any oil leaks since then, see picture below. there was a small part got lost during this whole process (that black rubber vacuum cap), the dealer has ordered a replacement part for me, and it is on its way to me, perhaps in a month or so.

Tjhappel · Jun 27, 2024

Brutal man… sorry to hear that. Never fun or exciting on a brand new vehicle.

grenadierguy · Jun 27, 2024

hoohoohama said:
Here is how this story folds:

I initially brought my grenadier to the dealership on May, 8th, 2024 for this “slow oil leak issue” and then had to take a 3-hour long train ride back home since there wasn’t a loaner vehicle available at the time and the dealer needed some time to investigate this issue.

One week later I called the service department to check in and was told that they thought the oil leak was coming from the rear main seal and they had to order replacement parts from Ineos. another week goes by, and still no parts, but was told that they have escalated the issue to Ineos. Finally the part was received on May. 31st (apparently the seal only comes with the timing case cover, and they had to order them together).

On Jun 4th, I was told that a fix was made on my vehicle and they wanted to test drive the vehicle to confirm the leak has been addressed.

On Jun 8th (exactly one month later) I called and found out that my vehicle has been fixed. When I asked them exactly what was fixed, they told me that after they had dropped the transmission, they realized that the “leak” was from a large quantity of lubricant that was melted after the engine heated up, and they cleaned it up and didn’t have to replace the rear main seal as they originally thought

So after a very long wait, I have finally reunited with my Grenadier, but not sure how I feel about this whole process.

I am very happy that I have not noticed any oil leaks since then, see picture below. there was a small part got lost during this whole process (that black rubber vacuum cap), the dealer has ordered a replacement part for me, and it is on its way to me, perhaps in a month or so.

Thanks for the update! Sorry about your experience, but glad you got your Grenadier back. Would you mind sharing which dealer you have been working with to educate our group?

NQ94 · Jun 27, 2024

I feel sorry for the customer here. It sounds like incompetence from the dealer and poor warranty procedure from Ineos having a customer's car sit in a workshop for a month for a basic fault. With the large inspection hole in the bell housing and an easily accessible starter motor this should have been a very easy diagnosis, not more than a couple of hours, some spray solvent, a road test or run up in the workshop, maybe remove the starter and an inspection camera or mirror, get a second and third techs opinion if need be. If parts were a problem and the leak only minor, return the car to the customer, customer to monitor the leak and oil level and reschedule the job.

hoohoohama · Jun 27, 2024

grenadierguy said:
Thanks for the update! Sorry about your experience, but glad you got your Grenadier back. Would you mind sharing which dealer you have been working with to educate our group?

Curry Ineos of Danbury, CT

Zimm · Jun 27, 2024

the “leak” was from a large quantity of lubricant that was melted after the engine heated up

wtf does that even mean? what lube, and from where?

NQ94 · Jun 27, 2024

Zimm said:
the “leak” was from a large quantity of lubricant that was melted after the engine heated up

wtf does that even mean? what lube, and from where?

The only place I can think of is assembly lube for the seals or a rust inhibitor product like Tectyl used on the bare metal of the converter and flex plate for shipping and storage prior to assembly. Several companies I worked for overhauling commercial truck automatic transmissions the company and the factory new assembled transmissions used Tectyl or a similar rust inhibitor for storage of bare steel and cast iron components like converters and drive flex plates and most times it was never cleaned off (only the mounting faces) prior to assembly even for new auto transmissions being fitted to new trucks on the production line. With shipping and storage some assemblies may take months before they are installed into the final product. Some preservatives for external component surfaces melt with heat giving the false effect of oil leaks or the burning smell (the smell of success) when at the first decent run at operating temperature.

Zimm · Jun 27, 2024

NQ94 said:
The only place I can think of is assembly lube for the seals or a rust inhibitor product like Tectyl used on the bare metal of the converter and flex plate for shipping and storage prior to assembly. Several companies I worked for overhauling commercial truck automatic transmissions the company and the factory new assembled transmissions used Tectyl or a similar rust inhibitor for storage of bare steel and cast iron components like converters and drive flex plates and most times it was never cleaned off (only the mounting faces) prior to assembly even for new auto transmissions being fitted to new trucks on the production line. With shipping and storage some assemblies may take months before they are installed into the final product. Some preservatives for external component surfaces melt with heat giving the false effect of oil leaks or the burning smell (the smell of success) when at the first decent run at operating temperature.

I'm assuming if its like a wax and "melts" it also "hardens" when it cools. Kinda not at all like motor oil. Seems like a drastic diagnosis.

NQ94 · Jun 28, 2024

Zimm said:
I'm assuming if its like a wax and "melts" it also "hardens" when it cools. Kinda not at all like motor oil. Seems like a drastic diagnosis.

It was just a thought as we encountered similar problems with long term stored and imported parts, trucks and equipment, some were genuine leaks and others, once cleaned, never looked like a leak again. Some of the preservatives, like you said, are waxy and tacky and will harden up when cooled while others were oily and liquid and gave the impression of leaks after some run time. I don't know if Ineos uses any transport or storage preservatives for export vehicles.

Tazzieman · Jun 28, 2024

I always though the waxes etc were to ensure a vehicle transported across the high seas doesn't end up at the dealers with surface rust. At least that's the way it was back in the 70s and 80s.
I'm sure there is a coating on parts of the Grenadier underside.

ErnieB · Jul 20, 2024

I had a check engine light come on yesterday so I crawled underneath to do a visual inspection to see if anything was out of the ordinary. Sure enough there was a small amount of oil on the starter as well as on the front side of the transfer case. 3600 miles, 6 weeks old. I hope this is not a rear main seal leak and does not become something I have to deal with repeatedly. I'm a little frustrated and I hope the dealer can easily diagnose the issue and that it's something simple. Fingers crossed.

hoohoohama · Jul 27, 2024

ErnieB said:
I had a check engine light come on yesterday so I crawled underneath to do a visual inspection to see if anything was out of the ordinary. Sure enough there was a small amount of oil on the starter as well as on the front side of the transfer case. 3600 miles, 6 weeks old. I hope this is not a rear main seal leak and does not become something I have to deal with repeatedly. I'm a little frustrated and I hope the dealer can easily diagnose the issue and that it's something simple. Fingers crossed.

Have you heard back from your dealer? The check engine light could be related to the fuel cap issue as discussed on this thread, you should buy one of those OBD2 readers and check it yourself. if you post a picture about your leak on the car, perhaps I can tell if it is similar to mine at least. I park my grenadier on a steep driveway btw, that might have caused the oil drop to show up and collected near the engine starter.

ErnieB · Jul 29, 2024

The check engine light I was told was due to the computer glitch as it has to convert from liters to gallons. The system flash will fix this when it comes at the end of August. The dealer cleaned the oil around the starter and told me to drive it another week so they can pinpoint where it's coming from. It looks to be a rear main seal weep. We'll see. The problem is no parts availability.

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