I took off my battery today and had a look behind the engine, this is what i saw.

note the red circle is an oil trail

Then i saw this.

Pipe is split so i changed it with a fresh one and inserted the spacer from the old. This is where it came from.

I thought i got lucky and maybe this was where the smoke was coming from but sure enough i went for a test drive and its still smoking around that area.

 

The rocker cover gasket doesnt seem too oily but then again i cannot really get a good look at the other side of the cover.

any ideas people?

as i want to book it in to have the oil leak fixed but i want to be sure where its coming from first....

are you sure its not the residue burning off?

i thought of that.

but it seemed to be burning for a good while after.

i thought of that.

but it seemed to be burning for a good while after.

 

I have had a few oil leaks from mine, I have had the plenum off twice firstly replacing/resealing rocker covers , secondly replacing the pcv pipe as I thought it was the rocker covers. I have also done the cam seals.

 

With regards your leak I have circled in yellow a part that looks like oil, its gonna drip down with gravity. I used to get a lot of smoke coming up at the battery as well but its a nightmare to see.

 

Cheers John

Thats the rocker cover gasket then???? but it deosnt seem very oily and vertically down from that its dry? unless the oil is burning off with no trail of any leftovers.

It could be running down onto the manifold and burning. When my cam seals were leaking on the n/s outer cam, the oil ran down the plate at the back of the timing belt and it also gathered along the rocker/top part of the head and dripped albeit slowly at the rear of the engine, more so when I ran the car for a while before I repaired it. Do u have oil dripping on the air cond compressor as well?

 

Cheers John

i have oil just infront of the throttle cable housing. im sure its on the plate behind the timing belt too. Do you think these are separate leaks? i didnt think that oil from the front could travel all the way to the rear?

i havent looked at the compressor yet, where is it?

The compressor sits on the pass side under the engine so to speak. Its right below the pass side rocker cover. I could see oil dripping onto mine.

 

Cheers John

Mate there isnt a dry spot underneath the engine so i can say yes these is oil on it.

I have a spray at work called amber clen I think. Its like brake lec, it evaporates when it dries. I use it to clean oil in gearbox plugs etc. Sounds like u need to try and clean the area around the rocker cover as best possible to see if u can see exactly where the oil is coming from rather than wash it with a power wash. I had oil running down the inside of the plate at the back of the timing belt, to feel the oil I had to take on of the intake hoses off, remove the plug from the CAS on the pass side of the engine and with difficulty put my hand up the back of the belt plate and viola it was wet with oil. Its ok saying there is oil everywhere but u need to try and determine where its coming from.

 

Cheers John

Here is a pic of the passenger outer cam seal with the plate removed.

 

Cheers John

your right. il have to clean up all the oil with some of that stuff. then find the source of the leak just like you said.

but i think there may be two leaks so il have too look that bit deeper...

I dont envy you, I dont mind pulling the car to bits, well I have twice lol, but its quite time consuming. The cam seals come out easily, the outer rocker cover (outer are silicone sealed, inner ones are sealed with a seal) on the pass side has the dipstick bracket on it, I found that a pain to get started, other than that just mark everything with tipped before u remove it.

 

Cheers John

Here is a pic of the passenger outer cam seal with the plate removed.

 

Cheers John

 

I have a look just like you said 2mow.

so if it is the cam is there a way it can travel to the rear?

do you recon you could make a list of the possible culbrits?

1.rocker gaskets

2.cam seals

3.pvc

 

sorry dont want to sound daft but what is the pvc pipe and where is it? pic?

do you recon you could make a list of the possible culbrits?

1.rocker gaskets

2.cam seals

3.pvc

 

sorry dont want to sound daft but what is the pvc pipe and where is it? pic?

Jimmy

 

Its the hose you have off on your third pic I think it is. I have put yellow arrows on it below. I made a pipe from a bit of hose and that ended up being one of my oil leaks. There is a penny washer in it as well with a pinhole. The pipe goes from rocker cover to pcv valve on plenum. Best to get the proper pipe.

 

Cheers John

3.pvc

 

sorry dont want to sound daft but what is the pvc pipe and where is it? pic?

 

That's PCV btw - Positive Crankcase Ventilation.. not Polyvinyl Chloride (which is what kinky outfits are made from).. :rofl:

Jimmy

 

Its the hose you have off on your third pic I think it is. I have put yellow arrows on it below. I made a pipe from a bit of hose and that ended up being one of my oil leaks. There is a penny washer in it as well with a pinhole. The pipe goes from rocker cover to pcv valve on plenum. Best to get the proper pipe.

 

Cheers John

 

 

yeah i put that penny washer back in the new pipe i put a clamp so it wont move.... and a touch of supaglue.... ;) bodge.. who me?

yeah i put that penny washer back in the new pipe i put a clamp so it wont move.... and a touch of supaglue.... ;) bodge.. who me?

 

 

Bodge is the name of the game :cool:

not a lot of oil comes out of that tho? its only ventilation.

and how many are there? is there one on the back too?

There are pipes on each side of the plenum into the outer rocker covers. I will take a pic of the can of cleaner I use as it has a nozzle to spray it accurately. Will post it on this thread.

 

Cheers John

There are pipes on each side of the plenum into the outer rocker covers. I will take a pic of the can of cleaner I use as it has a nozzle to spray it accurately. Will post it on this thread.

 

Cheers John

 

cheers buddy your a star. :nana2:

cheers buddy your a star. :nana2:

 

Anytime bud not very often I can help people with the zed.

 

Pics of the cleaning fluid can attached as well.

 

Cheers John

any other products similar?

Brakelec or similar cleaner would do. As I said this stuff has a small nozzle like the straw on WD40 so it can be aimed at where the leak is.

 

Cheers John

i recon intake cleaner would do the trick, thats stuffs lethal and you can empty the contents of it in less than 5 seconds.