Technical Oil Leak, Brake Grating Noise

[smithmr8]

Hey,
I recently had my car MOT'd (my first MOT). Everything passed, with a little work needed to realign the headlights and fix the exhaust hanger.

It had a couple of advisories, Front Offside Brake binding, and oil leak.

- I knew about the oil leak since I bought the car. Although, I didn't realise it was quite as much as it is. hehe. It had its oil changed last july, so it was full to the maximum. Now its just dipped below minimum. Its being changed tonight.
Just wondering where the most likely place its leaking oil is from..
I think I remember someone saying about the gasket seal or something. If this is the center part (excuse my lack of knowledge), then it seems to have oil marks, as if it was leaking from the block.

Is it easy to change the seal ?

- With the brake binding part. The first time I have ever head anything to do with my brakes, was when I was turning into the garage. It made this loud scraping sort of noise. It didn't sound healthy at all.
I've been hearing it more and more often now. It used it be only when I was braking and turning. But now it seem to be most times I brake.

I've tried a couple of suggestions from people, to see if it is binding.
ie. Trying to pull away using just the clutch, no gas. (did it fine). // Braking on a slight hill, and seeing if it stays there when you let go of the brake (it starts rolling).

So I don't think its sticking, but i would love to get it sorted.

Any suggestions ? Advice ?

Much Appreciated.

 

[smithmr8]

 

[bredsticz]

Jack the car up on trhe side the brake is supposed to be binding and turn the wheel by hand, should move freely and no noise. Binding if you hear it.

Oil leak yes look like rocker cover, very simple to replace.
Take off the airbox, unscrew all 4 bolts, disconnect the camshaft sensor if you have it and the black plastic cover for the timing belt.

Clean the surfaces properly, making sure not to get anything into the open engine. New gasket on, use some instant gasket around the corners aswell as the new gasket and bolt back up, don't tighten them too tight or it will leak again. Tighten just untill you get resistance then a third of a turn more. No more no less.

As for the leak on the right it could be the seal on the coil pack.
3 Bolts to remove the coil pack and then a ring seal on that, replace seal, maybe use a bit more instant gasket and that should be good to go again.

Should do your weekly checks! You'd know your oil was too low then! Could have blown your head gasket if left to go any lower

 

[red]

Your photos suggest some leakage from the camshaft cover (some call it a rocker cover but there aren't any rockers in there). This is prone to leakage, especially at the corners. Usually a new seal/gasket and some sealant at the ends will fix that. Rate of leakage may be consistent with going from max to min over 10 months (I hope you were checking the level from time to time!).

As for the grating noise, there can be a few causes. Simplest is when a bit of grit gets trapped between the pad and the disc. Whipping the pads out to check isn't too difficult. While doing that, you can tackle a potential cause of binding - rust in the caliper making it hard for the pad to "throw off". I'll explain - when you release the brakes, the slight runout inherent in all discs throws the pad off a slight amount to give clearance and noise-free operation.

If the caliper has rusty pad guides, this throw off doesn't happen and the pad rubs on the disc, usually causing a squeak/squeal (OK, that's not a grating noise but it is a binding brake). The fix for rusty calipers is the scrape/clean the gudes and debur/clean the pad edges if you like (run the edge along a concrete curb if you don't have a file to hand). If available, apply a little coppergrease to the guides. Avoid contaminating the faces of pads or discs.

Another cause of grating is where the pad shield (the thin metal plate) gets bent and catches on the rim of the disc. Obviously, the fix is to straighten it. It may also be worth breaking any chunks of rust off the rim of the disc (I use a big screwdriver or metal bar while spinning the disc by hand).

If a brake were binding badly, it would generate much heat - try feeling the wheels after a run to see whether one is much warmer than the other (fronts will probably be warmer than rear - front brakes do most of the work). CAUTION - avoid the calipers, discs and drums - they can be too hot to touch.

red

 

[smithmr8]

I check it every week . Its just shot down over the last 24hrs, thus the lack of driving and a very speedy oil change today.

Where abouts can I get the new gasket ?
Also, where for the coil seal ?

A link would be ideal. How long would it take ?

 

[smithmr8]

Its probably more of a scraping noise to be fair. So just taking the wheel off and checking those things may rectify the problem ?
Phew! I'll have to do that.

I've tried the touching the wheel to see if its hot, and its not. Its as much as any of the wheels.

Where abouts would you be able to get a new camshaft seal / gasket from ?
Is it a long job ?

Is it something like this ? http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/F...7c050c4937bd22134f9b99e9212f1142a8f33096&HDST

 

[bredsticz]

Any local motoring shop will order 1 for you,
coil pack is where the ht leads all go to. its 2 bolts and 1 nut to remove it from the engine, then you can't miss the 'o' ring seal around it

 

[smithmr8]

Alright, cool.

But, just out of interest. Would I need to replace the entire gasket, or just the seal ?

 

[bredsticz]

The gasket is the seal. Are you thinking head gasket? because all the gasket means in that is seal aswell.

The rocker cover gasket is one big seal, the coil pack is a small ring

 

[DaveMcT]

When you do the rocker cover gasket tighten the screws evenly and do not use a silicone sealant. It works like grease and the rubber gasket can ooze out of the joint.

A leak that's really using the oil could be the sump pan. get underneath and check that as well.

When brake discs or rear drums are worn grooved, the pads/shoes make a scraping noise after the car has been parked for a few days. Within reason not dangerous but it is annoying. Discs and pads are cheap so no need to put up with it.

 

[smithmr8]

I'm probably thinking head gasket. Kept finding kits to replace the head gasket @ £30, with lots of small pieces of metal to fit together. Got a tad confusing.

Does that head come off as one big thing ? Planning to paint mine, to give it a fresh look, and could maybe do the seal at the same time. Seen them on eBay for a couple of quid.

---

Oh right. I think I read that somewhere else too. .
So sealant is a no-no ?

For some reason my brakes are sounding fine again. Tis weird. I'm thinking a piece of grit or something got stuck on it and was making the noise. If it comes back, will take the wheel off and have a look.

Fingers Crossed.

 

[DaveMcT]

Before I had the Punto I had a Seicento (basically the same brakes). At speed, the Sei would develop a squeal from a front brake.

Later it began to pull left on the brakes so I jacked it up and whipped off the wheels. The caliper is simple to lift up and release the brake pads. One of the brake pads on the squealing side had stuck in the caliper, the other was doing all the work so worn unevenly. The other side was not too bad but it got the same treatment.
I cleaned up the pad slots added a touch of copper paste and fitted 4 new pads.
No more squeal and no more brake pulling.

The job took one hour (working slow) and cost about £25 for the axle set of pads.

My Punto is now due for a brake service. Its getting new discs and pads all around and costing around £100 for the parts. Cheap as chips.

 

[smithmr8]

Good to know its not an overly expensive job to have done .

Mine doesn't really seem to be at speed. Because it normally happened when doing as low as 10mph. Braking when coming up to a junction ect..
Normal road braking when still doing 20/30 was normal. Only seemed to do it when it was coming to a halt.