Oil Leak... head gasket!??

[mc_tinrib]

Hey all... ive got a 1.4 w reg clio sport. Its had an oil leak for a little while now but is gradually getting worse. Its now found its way onto exhaust (im assuming) as after driving for 10 mins or more light smoke is coming from engine bay as the oil is burnt off from whatevers its on. There is no obvious sign of the oil leak, but looks very wet under oil filter side of engine block. At first i thought it was oil filter which i changed but still leaking so took to a garage who said its the head gasket and quoted £400 parts n labour to fix (inc. cam belt and head skimming). The engine has never over heated even after driving 400miles round-trip to wales n back. Im not losing water, theres no brown goo around oil cap and no other obvious sign that its the headgasket other than the oil leak. Is this common amongst clios or maybe this particular model. Could i continue to drive until another symptom of a head gasket failure occurs then i know for sure thats the problem or am i better listening to garage and getting it done. £400 sounds quite high as my previous saxo only cost £220 but that was from a friendly garage who i knew. Thanks for advice...

 

[mr.pink87]

If it is dripping on the exhaust manifold, it´s more likely that your valve cover gasket is leaking.

 

[Tigger]

How much oil is it loosing......say in 100 miles would it drop from max to almost the min line?

 

[mc_tinrib]

If it is dripping on the exhaust manifold, it´s more likely that your valve cover gasket is leaking.

Im not 100% sure if its on manifold or exhaust, im sure garge said its leaked down and onto around the cat but not sure hows its got down there unless its just from driving and air has forced along there???

How much oil is it loosing......say in 100 miles would it drop from max to almost the min line?

Nah I wouldnt say im losing that much. My trip to wales which was 380miles prob lost about 2 thirds of oil. With whatever is burning off the oil and making engine smoke could it be damaging anything??? I'll try and get sum pics later and upload them.