nasty oil leak

[rootesmadnick]

every time I stop Myn she "relives" herself of a small quantity of oil form somewhere round the timing cover/no1 main bearing/sump area..

will be getting the axle stands out this weekend and getting underneath for a look to try see where its coming from...

I got to have the sump off anyways as the oil pump drive is bent and making the distributor misbehave

pics to follow for those interested!!!

[Dorsetflyer]

The front seal is the obvious cause, mine has dripped the odd spot or too after a run for the last three years or more.
With the oil under pressure and the cold weather it is the most likely time to show its hand.
In the summer months the seal is usually swollen being warmer, so doesn't leak much.
Unless there are other considerations for dropping the sump etc, then its worth just keeping an eye on it and clearing up the drips after each run until you have to do it.

[rootesmadnick]

the quantity of oil is fast flowing for a few seconds then nothing and its quite apparent, thing is it doesnt do it when its running as I can run it for ages with only the merest drips.

these engines dont have a timing cover oil seal (they use a centrifugal disc inside the timing cover) or rear crank seal (reverse machined scroll to draw oil back when running)so it is expected for a small amount of oil to be lost but none of my previous rootes leaked like this, I am thinking maybe its a failure of sealing on the number 1 main bearing cap when the engine was rebuilt, or maybe the corks have gone hard up the sides of the bearing cap.

other possibilities are maybe gasket failure between the engine mounting plates and the timing cover plates, but I will get her on the axlestands soon and see how it looks,

have even considered the posibility of the oil spray pipe for the timing gear being misaligned and firing in the wrong direction

every way I look at it, its a sump off job, maybe even timing gear strip down... or do I just lob in the 70,000 sceptre III engine I have but even then I have to remove the timing covers to fit my mk2 engine mounts...
AND the engine in Myn at the moment is her original as the numbers match the chassis numbers

[rootesmadnick]

well dropped the sump today as I had had enough of the "dancing flower" distributor, found the top of the oil pump had been badly fitted and is running off centre with enough skew to run the distributor from side to side, luckily the dizzy bearings seem ok which is amazing considering the abuse they have been suffering. Spare oil pump off one of my other engines is now in place and I have just to wait for rain to stop and I can get the sump on, on the subject of the oil leak from the front I think I have found the fault. the amount of silicon I have found on the mating surfaces of this engine is amazing and I reckon the three drain holes from the timing cover to the sump through no1 main bearing cap are blocked so will be attempting to "rod" them from the sump side before the sump goes back on as I think this is goiung to be easier than taking all the front covers/timing gear off etc

more updates to follow

[rootesmadnick]

dug a fair bit of red death out of the holes through the bearing cap and also from the inside of the sump pan? (like they had been wiping fingers on it)

found a fair bit attatched to the gauze on the oil filter as well so I think I have had a lucky escape..

second hand oil pump seems to be doing good, had a brief spell of 90psi this morning for a mile or so before it dropped to 10 then went back to 40 where it normally is, quic investigation at work at lunchtime revealed... wait for it..... bit of red silicon in the pressure relief valve, seemed norm on the way home though so hopefully theres no more of this crud floating about internally.........

they must have done the gaskets faces with a mastic gun judging by how much has squidged out inside and out

[rootesmadnick]

this puts me ina bit of a quandary to be honest..

do I pull the motor whilst all is well and strip it to make sure none of this is going to end up in the crank?
or do I hope the oil filter will catch it all and leave it well alone seeing as all is well...

[BeJay]

this puts me ina bit of a quandary to be honest..

do I pull the motor whilst all is well and strip it to make sure none of this is going to end up in the crank?
or do I hope the oil filter will catch it all and leave it well alone seeing as all is well...

Hi Nick,
,,,,,,,personally, it'd depend on whether I had a spare motor that I knew was OK ready to drop in, if I had I'd just drop the oil and put some flushing oil in, give it a good run up to really make sure it up to temp and then drop the flushing oil out, put some good stuff in again and just run it, knowing that I'd got the spare just in case.

.......................cheers, Jack.

[rootesmadnick]

ive started stockpiling bits ready for a rebuild of the mk3 motor to go into MYN when its done....
then I can strip anc clean MYN,s one properly and maybe treat it to some new bits !! knowing I have a good motor in the car while im doing it

[rootesmadnick]

well got on the phone to speedy again and decided to try and nip the other leaks in the bud as well...

first job... Tappet chest cover

this was the old gasket.. over tightened till the cover had pulled through it so had to get the dollies out and dress cover flat again...
tons of silicon everywhere again so that all got cleaned...


very small amount of blue to hold gasket in place then that was slapped on cover ready for refitting



changed gasket under oil filter body which was also so siliconed up it had slid out between the webs inside, oil pressure is now a constant 45psi as per specs which is really reassuring..

then just the rocker cover to sort as she will fill the plug holes with oil over a period of time



then found this...


must have done it last time I had the plugs out..
oh well its running ok so itll have to hold till I can get some plugs sorted..
right then im off on a road test, after idling for 10 minutes it hasnt dropped a drop on the floor (apart from the drips round where the nut is missing off the timing cover stud behind the crank pulley but thats a pulley off job to replace i think unless I grind a nut down)