Technical Cinq Sporting oil leak thru rocker cover?

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Technical Cinq Sporting oil leak thru rocker cover?

wolvescinq

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Hi all

Have lately been noticing what appears to be a persistent oil leak through the rocker cover ('97 Cinq Sporting). The rocker cover gasket was replaced and oil changed at the same time as the head gasket was replaced in June of this year. Can the rocker gasket have gone already? How long are these things good for? For months after the head gasket job there was hardly any oil coming out - now it's definitely worse. Any ideas?
 
Check that the breather isn't clogged. They don't last for too long, and there are a few tricks to making them oil tight.

First is absolute cleanliness (clean up all the surfaces as well as you can with acetone or spirit wipe (aka panel wipe).

Second, use a gasket sealant. I use silicone, but others say it's not a good idea for these. FIAT usually use a black one, but I'm unsure of its composition.

I like to just clench the bolts up, allow the goo to go off, then tighten down to torque. Whatever you do, don't overtighten.
 
Thanks for that! Where might I find the breather though? And when you say they don't last long do you mean the rocker gasket? The garage who fitted it didn't use a sealant by the way.

Also, might the fact that the bottom portion of the plastic cam belt cover is missing be making things worse? Mind you, I think it was leaking pretty badly even before that parted company completely so I guess not....
 
Cam belt cover missing won't make any difference. Opinions differ as to their utility!

Yeah, the gaskets don't last forever. The breather is the pipe (3/4" or so) near to the filler cap which goes to the airbox. There's a little flame trap in there that gets clogged with oil over the years. Leaving it for half an hour in white spirit or degreaser and then flushing water through it (off the car, of course!) usually renders them as good as new.
 
You might be interested to hear that my garage's diagnosis was that the oil needs changing again, as the old oil has thinned and therefore finds it easier to leak through the gasket. Anyone agree with this?
 
But how come I went from June this year to November without a noticeable oil leak? It always seems to be the cambelt side of the engine where it's worst, too - never seems to leak anywhere else.
 
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