Chrysler Repair: Oil Leak: Is it the head gasket?: Chrystler Neon, coolant system, head gasket

Question
I have a slow oil leak in the front end of my Neon, they told me at a local garage that it was my head gasket.  My father is not so sure, he said that the head gasket should not cause an oil leak. I'm not sure what to do, i don't want to pay 1000.00 for something I dont' need.  I was hoping you could give me a little insight on the situation.

Answer
Hi Tammy,
It is possible for a headgasket leak to only be an oil leak, though that is usually rare. There are three types of leak sources: the oil passageways, the coolant passageways, and the combustion chamber, and the manifestation of the leak depends upon whether the leak is between the sources, or just between one source and the external surface of the block. Often you would find coolant coming from the exhaust pipe (excessive white smoke), coolant in the oil (frothing), or pressurization of the coolant system (exhaust gas), depending upon where the break in the gasket occurs. One possibility if it is just an oil leak from the side of the engine is that the gasket is not broken but rather the torque on the head bolts is not sufficient to seal the oil passageways. I have had some success in that situation in the past by removing the valve cover to gain access to the head bolts, then using a torque wrench loosen the bolts one torque level from the final stage spec, and the re-tightening all the bolts to the final stage specification, being sure to follow the bolt tightening pattern in reverse when loosening and as specified when tightening.
I would first look at the head and try to wipe away the oil from around the head and then run the engine to observe if the leak is indeed coming from the edge of the head at the head/block interface or from some other site. If it appears to be from the interface and you find the leak to be fairly slow, then try the bolt retorqueing approach. You would have nothing to lose but the effort or cost of doing that, which is not very much I suspect. You didn't say which engine it is, but usually it is a fairly simple task to get to the head bolts.
Ask your father to help you look for the site of the leak, and discuss with him what I am suggesting as an alternative to authorizing and paying for the removal of the head and installation of a new gasket. I have done this on small BMW and VW engines. The head bolts do loosen up and so you can get a leak without having the gasket actually develop a void.
Roland