Oil leak?

[Captain Jack]

Been lurking around my engine today and found that there's some small puddles of, what looks like, oil around injector number 4. The whole area around it seems a bit manky, which I cleaned today. Any ideas what it could be? I remember having this on my 2.1TD but I think it was diesel rather than oil but never had it looked at.

[eoin27]

Looks like theres not enough oil there to worry about it. I'd say that you should check the seals around the manifold where the intercooler pipe is connected. Although i have a 90,(without intercooler) i have leaks around this area too. Im going to do a big job soon and get it sorted for once and all.

[eoin27]

Looks like i could be right. See the black around the manifold and you can see some oil all the way if you follow the white line down the where you described where you found the oil.

1. Get a new gasket from a dealer (only a couple of quids)
2. Prepare for a painful job of replacing it.
3. Make sure you use sealing paste for the EGR part of the L - bend when replacing the gasket

I did mine quite badly. It needs to be re-done but i'll know for sure this time how to do it. Be careful you don't round the two torx screws (if its similar to the 90HDi, it looks different from here)

[Captain Jack]

Blimey, looks like a big job. I'll have a look again, but you may be right, as there was loads of goop around that area. Since I cleaned it up, I probably won't see it so I'll check after I drive around for a bit.

It does look like I lose a little bit of oil and will need to top up a bit after 5500 miles (or is that normal)? May get this done as part of a major service in a few months (cambelt etc).

[legoless]

Theres also a breather pipe tucked under the inlet ducting which also weeps oil. It goes between the ducting and the top of the camshaft cover. It's only pushed on . On my 110 I put a jubilee clip around the fitting and its been dry since.

[Captain Jack]

Hi,

I looked yesterday and the oil leak is there again. It looks like it's coming from the camshaft cover seal from a corner (just below the L bend in the image above).

I looked in the HBoL and it seems to be a relatively straightforward job to remove/replace it - is it really?

[teamster1975]

The rocker cover gasket is an easy job, basically remove rocker cover, clean off old gasket and replace!
Make sure you get all the old gasket off both mating surfaces!
I need to replace mine too, another job for the list

[Captain Jack]

Thanks teamy - will do this on one sunny evening.

Another very odd problem I've found today is er... chalk powder on my engine! I have no idea where it's coming from but it looks like cocaine! It pretty much covered my fuel pump, power steering pump and a few other bits. I cleaned it off but a bit of it came back.

The only thing I've done yesterday, is top up the engine with some oil (that oil leak is actually draining a little oil) and fitted a capacitor on the alternator. Could it be the capacitor oxidising or something as it's covered in aluminium...?

I am starting to really dislike my car.

Oh, and there's some rumbling noise too when the engine is under load in low revs. Like a blowing hole in the exhaust or something...


Arrrghhh! A whole project this thing is... Not as bad as mjb's but not something I expect from a 72k miler...

[Welly]

but not something I expect from a 72k miler...

Serpently not, Cap'n - rev the motor slightly from idle and if it lurched forward by more that 20mm then the rear mounts' shot. This will lead to the exhaust flexi downpipe blowing and sounding a bit gruff (also this can lead to the intercooler hose blowing if you leave it like I did).

Also check the rear eggsauce pipe for holes at the rear hanger bracket near the rear 'beam' thing and at the swaged flange of the rear silencer (the joint/clamp before the box).

White powder? maybe road works or something on your travels?

[munfred]

are you sure its oil and not diesel.
I had a leak there aswell, it was 1 of the injectors that had worked loose. I carefully tightened it with the engine off, and touch wood all has been fine since.

[Captain Jack]

Pretty sure it's oil - it doesn't smell like diesel and it doesn't seem to be weeping from the injector.

I revved the engine from idle and it really didn't move much. But on ground, it's not really under load

[lofty]

My hdi 110 leaks in exactly the same place as yours mate!

the two end "troughs" of the head were quite oily when i first bought the car, cleaned them all out and washed off with brake cleaner and kept an eye on it.

It aint too bad but i reckon its the rocker cover gasket - a job for the next service i think!

[Captain Jack]

Hi,

I will be ordering the gasket seal (along with clutch slave cylinder) soon from either Pug stealers or ECP, depends on who is cheaper!

What kind of sealant should I use when replacing the gasket? Also, should invest in a torque wrench or shall I be OK with "normal" tools? What else.. er.. oh yeah, what's the sequence that I need to tighten the bolts in? HBoL only mentions the 2.2HDi engine but I am guessing it will be the same?

[Captain Jack]

Ordered all the bits (outside temp sensor, rocker cover gasket and slave clutch cylinder) = £57

If the weather is good next weekend, I'll attempt to swap the bits over and do some how-not-to's.

[mjb]

Ordered all the bits (outside temp sensor, rocker cover gasket and slave clutch cylinder) = £57

That seems a lot, considering the cylinder's only something like £19 inc!