96 i30 Leaking coolant into timing chain area....thoughts....

[scottg8001]

Hello all, newbie here.

Have a 96 i30 w/186K+ miles. About a month ago I noticed an antifreeze smell after driving the car, but never any pooling of fluid under the car. I have been adding about a cup of fluid a week into the reservoir as needed. So I took it in to the dealer and they said the coolant is leaking from the "inner timing chain cover" and be $2 ,500 to fix.

My questions/concerns are...

is this a "terminal" diagnosis for this motor?

They said coolant will make its way into the oil and obviously thats bad, but as long as I keep an eye on the oil and get it changed more often than normal it will be ok....this sound right??

Could this be driven for a while with this issue? (I drive about 220 miles to work 4 times a month).

Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help and comments....

SG

[Beancooker]

A cup a week of coolant is a lot to lose, espessially in the oil. It would be a good idea to get it fixed. I would not call it terminal, but definitely a big problem. The reason the cost is so high, is that they have to pull one of the motor mounts to acess the timing chain. If you do have it fixed, since you are nearing 200k, I would have the timing chain replaced also.

You drive about the same mileage as I do per month. I drive 900-1000 miles a month. Personally I would not risk the possibilities of killing the engne, and would fix it. That's just my $0.02

[WDRacing]

I wish I knew more about the motor, sounds very odd though. Did they say what was leaking? I mean, if its a seal, then change it. If its a cracked block then ur fvcked. Also, if you smell it you're burning it. So its leaking into the combustion chamber etc. Are you sure its not a HG? What exactly did the dealer say?

WD

[MinisterofDOOM]

It could simply be a leaking thermostat or water pump if it's coming from the timing chain area.

[WDRacing]

Depends of if its the timing chain area or not. Water leaking into the oil doesn't sound like a stat issue. Unless the dealer is taking you for a ride.

[maxhopper]

The water pump is internal to the front timing cover on the VQ30DE, and driven off the timing chain. It could just be a leaking or bad water pump leaking into the inside of the front cover, and working it's way into the oil system through a bad seal. Unfortunately, the only way to really tell what's going on is to remove the front timing cover.