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[longdog]

My lovely 2.5 v6 auto estate. 69k miles clocked. Recently spent £1400 on a load of work including rocker covers and gaskets, water pump, cam belt , MOT, tyres and loads of little bits and pieces. Sadly still got a major oil leak. Lost app a half litre in 500 miles over the weekend. Garage now say head gaskets and maybe even heads need to be shaved. Recommending engine out and almost a full recon job if I want to keep the car. Another 3 or 4 days and loads of £££'s which I don't really have right now. Are there any other real options or likely causes of the ongoing leak. Can we be sure its head gaskets without actually taking the engine out ? No other common symptoms as far as I can see. Not overheating or using lots of coolant. Exhaust is dry, doesn't smell unduly and not spitting out anyhing it shouldn't be. Only leaking whilst driving.

[Marie]

ouch and i thought i had spent loads on my beast.

as for your head gasket why dont you attempt it yourself using the how2 guide on here. (i think there is one ) someone with way more knowledge then me will be along soon im sure.

[toller]

Any garage that has taken £1400 and still not sorted your problem is not worth bothering with and are probably just clutching at straws now.

You can almost certainly discount the head gasket, they very rarely fail.  My money is on rocker cover gaskets.  I had a similar problem just before xmas where I was using about 3 litres of oil a week (no joke) and I was convinced it wasn't rocker seals.  I replaced them anyway with genuine vauxhall parts and torqued everything up properly and hey presto the oil leak vanished.

[Dazzler]

Any crude in the header tank?
Any oil on the floor?

[tunnie]

as mentioned, any oil in the header tank?

Basics are:

Oil in the water = oil cooler

water in the oil = hg

[Entwood]

Its very easy, when doing the passenger side rocker gaskets to "catch" the gasket as you put the cover on, due to the proximity of the cable run, which makes access tricky.

The cover can look and feel perfect, but it will leak badly, depending how badly the gasket was caught.

It needs taking off, the sealant cleaning off, and start again.

I know .. been there done it !!

In my case the gasket was reuseable as I had used th correct torque and it was only on a few hours.#

Not saying this IS your problem .. but it's certainly a possibility  

[Marks DTM Calib]

Is this oil loss as in a leak or oil burning?

Oil burning wont be head gaskets so god knows where they got that idea from the muppets!

[albitz]

if leaking rocker gaskets arent done properly they will leak again.i would spend some time investigating exactly where the oil is coming from before going back to the garage

[longdog]

Wow - so many responses already. OK - more info - oil loss is not due to burning - it is definitely a leak. Its all over my driveway. No sign of oil in the water. Whats my easiest way to establish if there is water in the oil, bearing in mind that I am not particularly good at this stuff - oh - and I've only got a few spanners, mostly for simple indoor plumbing work and building IKEA boxes. Rocker Covers and Gaskets all replaced last week and no signs of leaking from them at all now. Signs of leakage in the engine compartment are in a different / lower down location now compared to last week. Seems that one leak is fixed and moved the problem to the next weakest point.

[v6man54deg Geffd]

Hi mate, I worked for the V6 engine plant on durability and warranty (see our website www.v6technicians.co.uk) - unlikely to be your head gaskets, firstly check your oil pressure should be 5 bar max  anything much over that and it will cause leaks - (the pump is capable of upto 10bar but is regulated by a spool valve that can stick)
V6 engines usually leak from the following places: oil pump, front crank radial seal, rear crankradial seal, cam-covers (only fit vauxhall seals aftermarket ones are useless or fit vectra cam covers )
camshaft radial seals, vent housing (liquid seal) oil pipes to heat exchanger, sump (older versions use gasket newer ones liquid seal)
oil cap / extension (O ring)

also are your breathers clear?
 
by the way the spec for oil usage is 3/4 of a litre over 750 miles

My lovely 2.5 v6 auto estate. 69k miles clocked. Recently spent £1400 on a load of work including rocker covers and gaskets, water pump, cam belt , MOT, tyres and loads of little bits and pieces. Sadly still got a major oil leak. Lost app a half litre in 500 miles over the weekend. Garage now say head gaskets and maybe even heads need to be shaved. Recommending engine out and almost a full recon job if I want to keep the car. Another 3 or 4 days and loads of £££'s which I don't really have right now. Are there any other real options or likely causes of the ongoing leak. Can we be sure its head gaskets without actually taking the engine out ? No other common symptoms as far as I can see. Not overheating or using lots of coolant. Exhaust is dry, doesn't smell unduly and not spitting out anyhing it shouldn't be. Only leaking whilst driving.