Oil in air filter, plus oil leak?

Wooscary · Post by **Wooscary** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 3:56 pm

So, I'm still getting through a fair bit of oil, which is probably meaning the underside of the car will never rust, but isn't obviously a very good long term way of doing things. How much of a job is changing the cam cover gasket? As that seems to definitely be where the oil is coming out.

Thanks

Martin

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:29 pm

Do you mean rocker cover gasket, or do you mean the camshaft oil seals? If it is the camshaft one's, which side?

If its the rocker cover gasket, then even i can probably do that, so on that basis, it must be easy

Wooscary · Post by **Wooscary** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:56 pm

I think I mean the rocker cover gasket. It runs horizontally along the top of the engine? Yeah, thanks for the terminology hints and tips, I'm not bad, but I've a long way to go. This is the first car I've ever really worked on.

1_1 by Wooscary, on Flickr

Number 1 is what I'm talking about. And I guess that putting a new one on is a case of removing 2, 3 and 4? All looks fairly straight forward, just allen key bolts and taking off some hoses.

What happens once I take the rocker cover off? And availability of the gasket?

Cheers.

(Oh yeah, I can definitely manage to take number 2 off BTW)

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:49 pm

Any motor factors should have the rocker cover gasket. Actually there aren't any rockers underneath so pedantically it should be called the cam cover...

Held on by three 10mm headed bolts (don't overtighten on reassembly) but there will probably also be a few hoses clipped to it and the breather hose connected to it.

You don't have to remove 2 (intercooler seal to remove 3 (intercooler), just flex forwards at the back and take out three allen bolts. At the front are three 11(?)mm bolts - a little tip to make it easier next time is to enlarge the holes in the plastic intercooler housing to slots, so that next time you have to take it off you can just slacken off the bolts rather than remove them completely (and run the risk of dropping one into the gearbox bellhousing - don't ask how I know...) Also make sure you don't lose the small D shaped seal between the intercooler and inlet manifold (the bit the intercooler is screwed to at the back).

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:49 pm

Yes, you need to take those items off, the gaskets are widely available from any motor factors, are there are lots of xud engines still on the road. You'll need to clean up the surface where the gasket fits onto the engine head, be careful as you don't want to damage the surface. Basically you need to remove the residual gasket glue after popping the cover off. Also, be very careful when tightening up the 4 bolts on top of the rocker cover, they can be stripped out very easily, how do i know this

Hopefully the techies can advise if i've got anything wrong & any tips in getting the gasket glue off & re-applying it, its on my list of jobs to do on my tzd.....

Wooscary · Post by **Wooscary** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 9:34 pm

That's fantastic. Thank you gents for your highly useful replies. I reckon this is perfectly manageable for even me.

So aswell as the gasket, I need gasket glue too, and I've got everything else tool-wise, so looks like all that's needed now is some dry-ish weather.

Thanks again.

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:04 pm

Gasket glue? If you're sparing with it you can't do any harm (too much and it oozes everywhere and can block oilways) but IMO if the gasket surfaces are in good condition there should be no need. Expecially with a rubber rather than paper gasket as on the cam cover, it can cope with a poorer surface than paper gaskets can.

Post by **Defender110** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:24 pm

Wooscary · Post by **Wooscary** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:03 pm

Well, I did it today, using some glue (don't worry, not UHU). Pretty easy job, only slightly like brain surgery. Hopefully it'll hold, tomorrow I'm going to try and clear all the leaked oil off the rest of the engine block so I can keep an eye on it properly.

Also, found at least two rubber hoses that need replacing - The small hose that comes from the front of the intercooler and the fatter hose that can be seen on the right of the photograph, they are both splitting at the end. Are these available/standard?

1_1 by Wooscary, on Flickr

Anyway, thanks very much for the advice

Post by **Defender110** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:37 pm

Can I ask how do you mark photos like that with the arrows and no.s?

Wooscary · Post by **Wooscary** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:41 pm

Very crudely with the paintbrush in Photoshop.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:52 pm

That fat one on the right connects upto the main oil housing where the dispstick is? If so, it always splits, i'm sure its still available from citroen, but watch out for the bloody clip at the far end thats attached to bottom of the black plastic cylinder. I tried replacing this pipe & managed to break the ruddy cylinder, so now i've got the hassle of replacing the whole thing

Wooscary · Post by **Wooscary** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 3:56 pm

Well, that gasket didn't last long! Had a look today to see if it was leaking, and the end closest to the cambelt had split in half. I'm not going to blame the gasket, probably installation error.

For now, I've had to put the old one back on, which to be fair didn't look too horrible at all.

Getting the gasket sealant off was pretty hard, so I've tried without this time.

Any thoughts/tips on successful gasket installation?

Mulley - cheers for the hose info, and I'll take in to account that clip. Any idea on what I ask for at Citroen?

Wooscary · Post by **Wooscary** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:36 pm

Old gasket still seeping, so I'm going to try another new one. The gasket sealant was the most revolting product I've ever used, so would it be ok to try without any sealant if the surfaces are nice and clean?

Any tips for gasket fitting generally?

Cheers

Martin

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:44 pm

Wooscary wrote:would it be ok to try without any sealant if the surfaces are nice and clean?

Yes. Just make sure the bolts aren't under or over tightened, and you can't go far wrong!