Oil Leak with pic

[danswain]

Hi,
I have been going through a litre of oil a month since I checked it in December.

My mechanic told me to use 15w40 instead of 5w30 but I wasn't happy with that.

I recently had my manifold changed and after putting the heat shield back I cleaned the back of the engine.

Then I noticed after a few days some oil on the back of the engine (see pic)

Is this the rocker cover gasket as it looks to be from there :?:

 

[red]

It looks like it from the picture..

 

[danswain]

Cheers for the quick response I will order one today!

 

[Dal]

My mechanic told me to use 15w40 instead of 5w30 but I wasn't happy with that.

So your "mechanic" told you to use a thicker oil so it wouldn't seep out as fast rather than the correct oil for the health of the engine?
I wouldn't be going back to him!

 

[danswain]

So your "mechanic" told you to use a thicker oil so it wouldn't seep out as fast rather than the correct oil for the health of the engine?
I wouldn't be going back to him!

But he is very very cheap & local

 

[Patch]

Cheap ain't always the best

 

[yippeekiay]

I had a bit of oil in the same location and cleaned it off a few weeks back. When I changed the rocker cover the other day that spot was still clean. I suspect your rocker cover is indeed leaking but is probably elsewhere as I believe mine was. Only takes an hour or so to do a change so worth the time and effort imo.

Well, I say that, I just hope my leak has actually stopped now....lol.

 

[ScubaSteve]

do not use 15w40 in your engine, your engine has nikkasil lined bores and the incorrect chemical mix of oil can damage the bore lines, once these are damaged your engine is basically a write off

 

[danswain]

I changed the rocker cover gasket 12 days/70 miles ago and gave the car some proper stick this morning and everything seems fine, cheers guys.

 

[yippeekiay]

Gave mine a good run to Germany and back with a dozen laps of the Ring' mid point and my oil is the same as it was when I left. Should be considering the amount of gasket sealer I put on the bugger....lol

 

[goodnitegirl]

Mine is doing that and has been back to the garage 3 times now - it was perfectly ok till they advised changing it when the cambelt was done - it's back there now the last fix lasted 3 months and the driveway looks a bloody mess at home. I've had a rant at them and they say they are going to change it AGAIN, and try to find what is causing it to fail, I think its obvious ! they can't fit gaskets properly as the last time there was that much sealer in it I could have gone around my bath with it, it was a joke. I will report back later this week with the result. :x

 

[zedder]

When I bought a rocker cover gasket from local Ford garage I asked what kind of sealant I should use with it. They told me that you should not use any sealant. Only if rocker cover is somehow bent of otherwise damaged then it is necessary.

Last week I replaced my Puma´s rocker cover gasket (there were oil leaks on exactly same places as on the picture that thread starter posted). There was some silicone sealant which indicated that previous owner had reused old gasket when got cam belt replaced. I scraped it off and cleaned both surfaces. It is little tricky to put the cover back in it´s place correctly because gasket does not stay in its groove and you can´t see the front of the gasket. Alternator´s upper mounting makes things more difficult too. Anyway, it seems I succeeded because there is no any visible leak from top of the engine anymore.

Oil is cheap and easy to fill up, but I wanted to get rid of the smell of burning oil which was caused by oil leaking from faulty gasket to hot exhaust manifold...

 

[goodnitegirl]

Having gone back to Halfords and having the Rocker Cover Gasket replaced for the 4th time it still leaked, so I took into my own hands and had the plastic cover off to find it was leaking from the cam timing sensor (I think that's what it is front right as you are standing at the front of the car). It was sat loose and you could push it back in with your fingers. So it went back to Halfords and after explaining what the fault was they agreed to have it for a few days to thoroughly check that it was that and in all fairness they replaced it with a new one free of charge to make sure it didn't leak anymore. So hopefully thats the end of our messed up driveway :lol: :evil: :'(

 

[danielz000]

Well done you!

 

[slayllian]

The cam position sensor is sat on the top right front of the engine as you look at it. there should be a 8mm hex screw holding it in place. It has to come off to replace the rocker cover gasket, so if the gasket was replace this should have been found.