Help/thoughts on "oil leak from timing cover and breather"

[GDamv8]

Hi Guys,

After a full year of ownership and 2 years of reading on PH (thank you all so much for your inputs and sharing your passion / knowledge !!) it is now post time …

Proud owner of a 4.7 V8 Vantage (my09) I have been told during the annual service at main dealer that:
1) the car has a “heavy oil leak from timing cover and breather”.
2) it requires to “reseal timing cover and replace breather”
3) and it will be a 2,500+ bill to carry the repairs (12h+ labour)

I have read through a few posts on this forum for what seems to be a “common issue” and wanted to have your thoughts.

The "heavy leak" has never been mentioned / noted earlier despite a few visits to the workshop (health check & last year service, sensors changed, new pads / tyres etc)

When asked if it is more a weep rather than a leak - Is it slowing seeping or actually dripping dealer said:
"It is not visibly leaking but there is some fairly notable oil staining"

What would be the best way to address this ?

I understand the 2.5k bill is mostly labour and it would require getting the engine off the car and so on … but I struggle to see how urgent / important / critical this is to do.

Does it really need to be resealed and replaced ? Surely a nice invoice for them … but does the car actually need it / there is no other fix ?

Below are photos to show the timing cover oil leak staining before cleaning and then after cleaning + road test.

Many thanks in advance for any good ideas / advices !!

Before Cleaning:


After Cleaning and roadtest:


Many thanks in advance for any good ideas / advices !!
Best, Greg

[R129 300SL]

Would personally leave it and keep an eye on it.

Not a lot of oil loss to my eye. May stay like that for a long while.

[Jaybmw]

2500 at Aston is surly 4 or 500 at an Indy

[Cold]

It's a very labour intensive (but straightforward) process to replace a relatively low value set of gaskets and seals. If you're not leaving dips on the garage floor then I'd be tempted to wipe it all down and keep an eye on how much it is actually leaking. Visual checks on the area and regular inspection of the oil level.

As you mention, it's not exactly unheard of for them to leak from the front cover and it is an expensive fix but there is a possibility that drive/alternator belts becoming contaminated. Unfortunately the fix isn't always permanent either and you may well end up with similar symptoms a few years down the line if you do mileage.

It might be worth ringing around the Indies to see how comparable their prices for the job might be. Somewhere like McGurk, or AHM are the first couple of Google hits in my area and those two pages give a brief look at what's involved.
A specialist of your own preference should be able to inform you of the potential costs.

[dbs2000]

I agree with what the others have said, call an Indie to get a rough price.
Also, rules are rules, first post so photos of the car, not just the underside

[anonymous-user]

As you mentioned it is a common fault. I think I had mine replaced when it was at BR for decat and service. As mentioned above the costs was much less. I think the breather unit was less than £800+vat, could always give mike a call / email.

[BamfordMike]

Cold said:

It's a very labour intensive (but straightforward)

Unfortunately the fix isn't always permanent either and you may well end up with similar symptoms a few years down the line if you do mileage

.

The labour intensive part of what you say is correct, the straightforward comment is sort of correct for an equipped and dedicated brand specialist workshop, but the job would no doubt intimidate a ‘lesser’ specialist garage in the way a dedicated brand aston garage might be intimidated by similar job on a Ferrari?
There are only 2 choices to remove the front cover. Either the lower subframe is split off the upper frame, which is fraught with doom should the heavy duty fixings strip / snap (as they normally do if attempting to fix with engine in place), meaning it’s better to never split the subframe, therefore the only other approach to the job is engine removal (whole subframe with engine in it removed from the tub).

If a front cover is removed to renew the main seal, I don’t think it’s correct to say the fault returns, is it? There are cars I’ve seen 100k plus miles which are as dry as a bone, so although the leak rate on a leaker might worsen with mileage, mileage is not the original trigger factor.
The main trigger / cause is the sealing front cover face to block is a cast not machined surface finish. The problem is that the cast surface can have irregularities from production meaning the depth of seal groove to the cover face can be too tall for the seal to accommodate, hence a leak. Knowing this, the fix should include flatting off of the cover face high spots and together with a new seal and the correct hand made tri joints sealed correctly, the problem should never return again?????

If the problem is cam cover to front cover, which someone might address without taking the front cover off?? Is where the job in the order of 12 hours and a “straightforward” comment might come from? Because if it’s engine removal and correct level of attention to detail so the problem doesn’t occur again, the job is typically in the order of 30hrs

For the OP....
the leak rate looks nowhere close doing anything other than cleaning. The after pic might look worse than it is because what might be confused as oil fluid leak, is probably left over wetness from whatever was used to clean the sump with (which I hope wasn’t brake cleaner! as that will only eat the seal!) so I very much doubt the you need to fix the problem just yet.

A good go / no go rule to decide whether to fix is... if mileage since last cleanup <3k and subframe cross bar underneath the engine is dry - leave well alone. If the cross bar has streaks of oil and mileage >3k since last cleanup, then fix. In you before pic, Because the oil is on the vertical face of the front cover, I’d suspect a simple dry sump pipe work seal or cam cover seal before suspecting the main seal because underneath looks clean.

[sundayjumper]

Main Dealer said:

“heavy oil leak from timing cover and breather”

<snip>

"It is not visibly leaking"

A heavy leak that is not leaking ? That kind of backpedalling when questioned makes me nervous.

[V12JDC]

Hi

Where about do you live? I had an independent quote me much less for the same issue on my v12

[Paul.458]

Hi guys, well as to this oil leak. My car just went its service on Wednesday. They said the service would take about 5 hrs so I waited and went for look around shops. About 2 hrs later I get a call from Aston Martin Brentwood to say the car had the same problem, oil from breather. I ask would it be done today, the service manger said yes I have a guy spare and he can jump on it. 3 hrs later job finished. Service free, as the car is 4 years old 21000 miles on the car. So cost of the work £1800 pounds, so how you explain the cost I do not know. Happy no.
Regards to All
Paul

[GDamv8]

I guess it depends on the model. If yours is 4y old it's a newer one (2nd century platform - by opposed to older VH) which might be less of a pain in the *** to get to that part. In the v8 vantage you had to pretty much strip out the engine to get there - hence the extensive labour cost. Glad you got it sorted within something which seems acceptable to your budget. Happy driving this weekend !