Technical Oil Loss

[usafstud]

Hi,

Well, after having the car for about 700 km, I'm getting oil leaks.

First, I think I may have help the leak by using Mobil 1 Syn 15-50.

I first thought it was leaking from the oil pressure sender, but from closer examination, I realised that the oil leak was coming from above the sender. From the look of things, it looks like I need to replace the head gasket.

I'm guessing this could also cause loss of compression. At a 500 meet, a mechanic heard my engine run and told me it sounds like it is low on compression.

So i'm guessing I should replace the head gasket, valve gasket, piston rings, and maybe the valves. Anything I'm forgetting? Any tips or guides?

Thanks,
Frank

 

[oopsadaisy]

If your head gasket is suspect, then there are usually tell-tale signs of exhaust gasses leaking from the two hollow bolts on the front and rear of the cowling over the cylinders - that's what they are there for, as a kind of early warning system for head gasket failure and to prevent exhaust gasses being potentially pumped into the interior of the car via the heater.

Favourite leaking points for oil are rocket cover gasket, and then pushrod tube seals.

From you photos I suspect it may well be one of these two culprits.

Only way is to take the cowling off and have a look.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[usafstud]

Thanks oops. My friend thinks it is the valve cover also, i might have tightened it too much.

I bought a new valve gasket, head gasket, and carb rebuild kit. We'll see what happens after I get some work done.

 

[alfatastic]

used to run my old Alfa on semi synthetic, and it leaked a lot more than it does now on mineral oil, several old car sympathetic mechanics have said old car prefer older style oil, the modern thin stuff just oozes out. Different tolerences I think. Since change car has needed no top ups between yearly services, as opposed to a couple of litres before.

 

[hudsonhenry]

Quite often they can leak from the dipstick, due to pressure from the crankcase.

It can be difficult to tell if a leak originates from here but the best way to check is to do a good clean-up then, using a spring to secure the dipstick under a downward tension to stop the dipstick from moving up when the pressure builds at high sustained revs.

If after a good run there is no new oil leak then its sorted, but excess crank case oil pressure in a standard engine can be a sign of wear.

 

[usafstud]

Update.

The oil was leaking from the old valve gasket that I tightened down. It rip and was dripping down. So I rebuilt the engine. I cant believe the car was running back then because I had a broken piston ring, broken head gasket and compression leak on the exhaust valves.

I got about 30 km since the rebuild yesterday and it is running much better. There is fluid leaks but I hope it is from the solvents i used to clean the engine and not from the engine/trans seal because i didnt take the engine out during the rebuild.