27 replies to this topic

[chris_uk]

Went to the exhaust place to get my new exhaust and whilst the undertray was off i noticed a bit of oil dropping down from the crank wheel.. Peered round a little further to find sh** loads of oil everywhere..

So i went home and took everything to bits.

I powerwashed everything up so i got rid of all oil and went for a blast to see if i could see where it was leaking from but only a tad bit of oil was now on the crank wheel so i think it could be the crank seal..

I whipped the arch out and oticed my cam cover breather had a little mayo but there was a tonne of oil sitting on the chassis just below it so im almost certain thats where all the oil has come from (oil level is just under 1/2)

So i too the breather off and powerwashed that and just thought id have a look under the oil cap..

Well.. This is what i found





So i decided to take the cover off



But inside the actual engine it was fine



Had a quick look at the rockers from my previous nightmare to see if there was any damage and to my relief there wasnt but noticed the cams looked a little dodgy



The roller doesnt actually make contact with the full width of the cam so the darker bits never actually touch the roller so i assume they are ok, they feel dead smooth tho.



So 2 questions

1. Are the cams ok?
2. What could be causing the mayo?

Well i have some ideas for no.2

- short journeys too and from work (1 mile and the car doesnt ever get off choke before i get there)
- oil cooler knackered and is contaminating the oil
- head gasket going/gone

There is no loss of power at all and engine runs and feels sweet as once its warmed up.

[The Batman]

i think its oil cooler

[techieboy]

Ooooh, feck. I'd go with the oil cooler too.

[Nelly Vx]

Is the engine oil on the dip stick the same (Mayo) or is the oil in the sump clean ?

[Mike (Cliffie)]

That is a lot of mayo for just condensation in the cam cover. Is the water all clear? Oil cooler is a great first place to start but I would whip the oil filter out and have a look there. Should eliminate more serios troble. My feel is that the breather is blocked.

[chris_uk]

Engine oil in the sump is clean as a whistle

[Baron Von Scubadaddy]

oh my god !!! I wouldn't be able to sleep if I thought I had these sorts of problems you lot just laugh in the face of them

[pottsey]

mine is the same has been ever since i bought it even on the dipstick ,not as bad as yours as i was doing 3 miles to work then the same back ,always used to clear after a good drive getting the engine upto temp. so i'll say the short journeys

[chris_uk]

I never thought to check the water level, assuming if it is the oil cooler i should drop water in the tank?

[Nelly Vx]

Well that would rule the cooler out , is the coolant contaminated with this Mayo ?

[Zoobeef]

Whats the coolant bottle like? Oil pressure is higher than the coolant temp so it should really just be a 1 way transfer into the coolant with a cooler failure. What you can do is remove the 2 coolant pipes to the cooler and join the together. Then run the car and if oil comes out the cooler where the pipes were you know its that

[The Batman]

yeah level should drop actually when my oil cooler in the van went, my header tank filled up with oil rather than the engine filling up with water... too slow

Edited by joe_589, 16 March 2012 - 07:36 PM.

[chris_uk]

Actually looking a the top pic i can see the water level is below where i would normally leave it, but last time i topped that up was months ago so could be unrelated.

[chris_uk]

I will whip the pipes off the cooler tomorrow and check for contamination.

[Mike (Cliffie)]

Blocked breather??????

[chris_uk]

Breather is fine and clear, i suspect thats where all the oil was coming from.

[leevx2.2]

I would say driving it on short journeys is not good 1 mile allot of condensation build up in engine . Looks like either head gasket or oil cooler but you would deff notice allot more water gone than that . does water smell funny or has it changed colour ?

[Sutol]

my guess oil cooler mate - seen it before

[DarrylB]

Welcome to my world - its not fun. Check my project thread from a few months back. Oil cooler failure is the cause of the mayo mix...what caused the pressure to get too high and burst the cooler - that's the question you have to answer and what I'm currently fixing with a new oil pump. There is a relief valve on the pump it self and one in the oil filter housing. check they are working. Once you've replaced the oil cooler - Use a hose and air pressure combo to blow the majority of the mayo out from the heater and rad lines and then fill the cooling system with clean water and with a few washing powder tabs in, run the car to operating temp and then flush the system and repeat until the cooling system is clear of gunk. I also removed my sump and cleaned the pickup. If you have any questions let me know!

[vocky]

I suspect that is just condensation from too many short journeys or a blocked cam cover breather or an oil catch tank is fitted (which sc hate) The cams are too clean and oily for it to be the oil cooler, but worth checking it. Cams look ok, they are just wear lines from when the stupid valve springs decided to kill your first engine

Edited by vocky, 16 March 2012 - 09:39 PM.