Technical Oil found around air filter

[JonOld]

So, this is my 1st post! woohoo.

bought a punto mk1 t reg a couple of months ago. everything looked fine (doesnt it always?!) and i was assured it had regular oil/filter changes and never needed any major work. except the rocker cover seal being replaced. "not bad" i thought.

the main reason i bought the fiat was:
1 - cheap to run, insure, etc
2 - loads of used car forums said "steer clear - they are always breaking down"! which suits me down to the ground cos i want to teach myself how to sort out mechanical problems on a car. what better place to start!

anyway, i think he did a bad job on the rocker cover seal as it seems to still trickle a little oil here a there.

but i was also starting to smell oil when town driving and quick aceleration but only when there wasnt much fuel in the car!

I checked the air filter whilst looking around and found a little pool of oil just where the air filter box clips on - on the inside.

Im a bit worried one of the piston rings is on the way out and its blow back and iv made a terrible mistake.

what im really hoping is that maybe the hose at the bottom of the engine is clogged and needs a good clean - but i think im being a bit optimistic there!

any ideas before i delve into Haynes?!

many thanks

 

[Mdeko]

Oil gets into the throttle body through the oil breather pipe, Give it a through clean and keep an eye on it.

What is your oil level? if its overfull it will cause more oil being sent through the breather

 

[JonOld]

Give it a through clean and keep an eye on it.

What is your oil level? if its overfull it will cause more oil being sent through the breather

Thanks Mdeko, when you say "through clean" do you mean flushing the engine? Im not sure about this as the engine is a bit old (unclogging cr@p/gunk and blocking the engine when flushing?)

To be honest, iv checked the dipstick and i cant get a decent reading on it. iv checked loads of oil levels and you can see a clean mark between min and max - but mine just looks oily all over!

Is it normal for oil to be sent through the breather? I find that odd as surely that would just ruin the air filter. i dunno.

if it is overfull should i drain some and if so how?

Im going on a 400 mile trip next weekend - do you think i have anything to worry about?!!!

really appreciate your response to this,

many thanks

JonOld

 

[01goddak]

though i have no answer to your problem my car seeps oil onto my air filter through the breather piep its been doing it for the past 6000 odd miles and still drives perfectly .. i just wipe it up from time to time and clean the air filter if i know i wont be needing the car for the day!

 

[1383matt]

while you are cleaning the throttle body pop the breather hose off and clean it too, old oil sits in it.

 

[JonOld]

thanks 01goddak for ur advice - will try that- ur car looks damn good - how did you tint your back windows? (im getting ambitious now!!!)

1383matt - now uv stumped me! bear in mind i sit in the evening and get abuse from my missus while reading the haynes manual without doing any proper work! what does "cleaning the throttle body" mean? and which breather hose should i pop off and clean (top/bottom?)?

thanks guys i REALLY appreciate this.

many thanks

Jon

 

[1383matt]

1383matt - now uv stumped me! bear in mind i sit in the evening and get abuse from my missus while reading the haynes manual without doing any proper work! what does "cleaning the throttle body" mean? and which breather hose should i pop off and clean (top/bottom?)

Jon

yeah i get that with reading the haynes and sitting on here!! she hates it, oh well. back to cars!!
okay read the haynes and remove the throttle body, then operate it using the cable bit on side by hand and spray carb cleaner through it. the breather hose im on about is above the oil filler cap pull it off the rocker cover.

 

[JonOld]

remove the throttle body, then operate it using the cable bit on side by hand and spray carb cleaner through it. the breather hose im on about is above the oil filler cap pull it off the rocker cover.

women! trouble is, their bodies are better than any styling kit iv seen!!!

not sure why doing that would stop blow back? am i missing something?

maybe the key is the breather hose - but what am i looking for? sorry. why would checking the hose to the rocker cause anything wrong to come back up to the air filter?

thanks mate, really appreciate it - ur the only one iv found!

Jon

 

[01goddak]

it could be sitting in the pipe .. perhaps when it was last filled with oil there was a little to much and now whats getting blow up is juts what was clingin on the the edges .. do you have the standard air box/filter? if you let us know or even give us a pick we can give you step by step instructions so you can get it done!

 

[Mdeko]

The breather pipe is designed to take away any gasses from the top end of the engine and release the pressure, allowing the engine to breathe, else it would keep blowing seals as the pressure in the rocker cover would be too high. These gasses are then put back into the air intake and burnt off during combustion.

Some oil is also sucked up through the breather pipe and through the air filter housing into the thottle body. It mostly misses the air filter as the breather pipe enters the air filter housing behind the filter.

If you take the air box off, (2 screws and 1 clip) you will see the throttle body and the other end of the breather pipe, Track the pipe back to the rocker cover where it is held on by a cable tie. Cut the tie off (taking care not to cut into the pipe) and pull it off towards the back of the car, Wipe the pipe out best you can with some kitchen roll. Then put it all back together using a fresh cable tie to attatch it to the rocker cover. Take off the throttle body and clean it out as already described if its oily (i suspect it will be).

While you have the air box off, check all around the rocker cover to see if it is leaking any oil around the seal (this is comman and easy to fix if it is), give the rocker cover a good clean and check the condition of the air filter, by removing the screws in the top of the filter housing, if its dirty you may aswell replace it while your there.

The put all back together