hey folks,

I have just replaced my oil sump which was badly rusted and leaking, as well as my rocker gasket which had a minor leak.... all was well I thought until I noticed a couple of days ago some new drips under the car.

I have traced it up to a part of the engine I am unfamiliar with - its on the left hand side right next to the plastic timing belt cover, a metal block that sticks out - there is oil on that ledge which I think is coming from a seal - I can see what looks like the black sealant bulging between that and the main part of the engine.

Could somebody tell me what this bit is called and what's involved in resealing. It does not seem to be a serious leak, but enough that I want to get it fixed. As the oil is new and clear it's a little hard to tell exactly the point of origin, but that's the general location.

Thanks
/Simocento

Thats the head gasket area, but shouldn't have sealant coming out. Are you sure its not coming from behind the cam sprocket. Pop the covers off the cam belt to check.

Also check that the cam breather is properly affixed.

Cheers

SPD

rallycinq said:

Thats the head gasket area, but shouldn't have sealant coming out.

Click to expand...

I will try and get a photo of the area as that may help. It's not a horizontal seal like the head Gasket, it's a vertical one.

rallycinq said:

Are you sure its not coming from behind the cam sprocket. Pop the covers off the cam belt to check.

Also check that the cam breather is properly affixed.

Click to expand...

I have no idea what these parts are so will try and find them in my tech manual so I know what I'm looking for. Thanks

how much of oil you loose between oil change??? mine is eating around 1L between oil changes, together with small leak (what I seen, I didnt seen car without oil-covered engine

Simocento said:

I have no idea what these parts are so will try and find them in my tech manual so I know what I'm looking for. Thanks

Click to expand...

The camshaft sits inside the top of the engine driven by the belt under the plastic covers.

There is a sprocket on the end of the cam that takes the drive belt. The camshaft passes through the housing to get to the sprocket and passes through a rubber seal. It could be this seal that has failed.

Cheers

SPD

Diwiak said:

how much of oil you loose between oil change??? mine is eating around 1L between oil changes, together with small leak (what I seen, I didnt seen car without oil-covered engine

Click to expand...

Hmm - well seeing this is the first time I have changed the oil since buying the car a few months ago (I did not see the point until I sorted the leaks, or so I thought) I can't really say. It's not like I change my oil every month, or even plan on doing so. At the high point of when it was leaking from my sump and and rocker cover I was having to add about .5L a week. Now it's just a minor drip and I can't imagine I am loosing hardly anything. It's just one of those things I would Rather sort out before it gets any worse, As well as being annoying after all the work I put in thinking I had fixed my leaks.

rallycinq said:

The camshaft sits inside the top of the engine driven by the belt under the plastic covers.

There is a sprocket on the end of the cam that takes the drive belt. The camshaft passes through the housing to get to the sprocket and passes through a rubber seal. It could be this seal that has failed.

Cheers

SPD

Click to expand...

Thanks RC - I will take a look at that this weekend.

my advice-dont take it too seriously, few drops at oil sump wont kill u

Simocento said:

Hmm - well seeing this is the first time I have changed the oil since buying the car a few months ago (I did not see the point until I sorted the leaks, or so I thought) I can't really say. It's not like I change my oil every month, or even plan on doing so. At the high point of when it was leaking from my sump and and rocker cover I was having to add about .5L a week. Now it's just a minor drip and I can't imagine I am loosing hardly anything. It's just one of those things I would Rather sort out before it gets any worse, As well as being annoying after all the work I put in thinking I had fixed my leaks.

Click to expand...

You should still check your oil every week, even if there are no visible leaks. Its a good habit to get into, and can show up warning signs if something is amiss internally.

Cheers

SPD

rallycinq said:

You should still check your oil every week, even if there are no visible leaks. Its a good habit to get into, and can show up warning signs if something is amiss internally.

Cheers

SPD

Click to expand...

Real good advice, also check before you set off on a long run...

If you discover that the level is going up rather than down, it means somehing bad is wrong, and probably Petrol is running down the cylinders into the oil sump...

Undetected no main or big end bearings soon.

Noel

I think maybe there is some confusion between checking and changing oil, as I have not been referring to checking my oil, which I do on a regular basis.

Diwiak's original question was based on how often I change my oil. "how much of oil you loose between oil change"

I have not mentioned checking my oil at all. Tho I did say I was adding .5L a week which of course implies I was checking my oil every week anyway.

the sealer you are seeing by the cam cover could be from a waterpump change

Hey folks, well I just took some photos of my oil leak:
This picture is of where I spotted oil running down to the bottom of the car, the section just above the oil filter is where I meant when I referred to the sealant I could see. I am not sure what this part is - tho I feel I should



The next pictures are from after I took the top of the cam cover off. It did not appear to have any oil coming from around the area where the sprocket joins the camshaft - tho maybe you can see something I cant. I did also notice quite a bit of oil down the back as you can see on the photos.





Any thoughts and ideas are appreciated.

/Simocento

You might still get oil drips even after changing the sump and cam cover gasket, oil will still be on the engine and due to gravity, it always goes down

give it some time for the excess to drip off, in the meantime keep an eye on your oil level, am sure after a few days or a couple of weeks it will start to dry up

levemir said:

You might still get oil drips even after changing the sump and cam cover gasket, oil will still be on the engine and due to gravity, it always goes down

give it some time for the excess to drip off, in the meantime keep an eye on your oil level, am sure after a few days or a couple of weeks it will start to dry up

Click to expand...

Good point, and I hope you're right. Guess it could mean I have been worried over nothing. I will keep an eye on things over the coming weeks.

Thanks

I would take the covers off the cam belt and degrease in behind so that any new oil leak is apparent.

Cheers

SPD

Hi S

Is there any oil on your cam belt?

Noel

Pep0 said:

Hi S

Is there any oil on your cam belt?

Noel

Click to expand...

Not that I noticed, it's pretty much as I posted in the photos - tho there could be down at the bottom - I did not take the lower cover off.
Tho saying that the top looked clean so I guess it's all ok.

What are you thinking?

Oil degrades the cam belt.

Cheers

SPD

cinq is just leaky b*tch - resealed camshaft, rocker cover, oil sump, new waterpump and still small leak from under rocker cover and oil sump too(its right under alternator, small drops-is there anything else where could it go from??). eh :bang::bang: