GT is coming out of its coma:attention Stuart :-)

adamskibx · Post by **adamskibx** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:28 am

Thanks Ken

Much appreciated.

stuart_hedges · Post by **stuart_hedges** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 3:10 pm

My home computer's not working, so I was offline all weekend!

That looks absolutely fantastic Adam, can't wait to see it in the flesh. Fingers tightly crossed for the MoT on Thursday!

adamskibx · Post by **adamskibx** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:28 pm

Right. You are dead right David. One O/S indicator lens found

Im going over to the car in a bit to fit it after ive somehow got it started! Fingers crossed! The one thing im not going to be able to do for the MOT is the oil leak as I cant get to GSF on time now, but ill fix that the following weekend whether its passed or not. It was horribly rainy yesterday so hopefully it was that that was causing a problem.

RichardW · Post by **RichardW** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:31 pm

Providing it's an engine or gera box oil leak, you shouldn't get an MOT fail on an oil leak - there's no part of the test that looks at this

If it was really really bad, they might fail it on poor / dangerous general condition, but i can't see it - or they might refuse to test it, if it was leaking oil all over their workshop. How bad is it anyway?

adamskibx · Post by **adamskibx** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 1:35 pm

Hi Richard. Towards the time I had the accident, it was very bad, and I thought it was the distributor camshaft seal, but its now actually leaking from the back o/s of the engine from the sump, but obviously its hard to see whether it is actually the sump because the engine is so oily, also, the oil in the engine wouldnt be as high up in the sump as the gasket, apart from when accelerating and braking etc, but it lost about two table spoons in the time the engine took to get to operating temp yesterday, and when under load on a motorway, thats going to translate into several litres on a 100 mile journey, so yeah, its very bad, and it was getting dangerously close to the disks when I last used it because it was flowing down the suspension arm. Its really not a useable car till I sort this out.

Post by **docchevron** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 1:41 pm

It's not uncommon for oil to leak from the sump gaskets.
Infact it's not uncommon for oil to leak from pretty juch anywhere on them!

Good luck sorting it out mate, it sounds like you have Rolls Royce syndrome: "If it doesn't leak oil, theres no oil in it"....

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:04 pm

Its often worth trying to tighten sump securing bolts - I've stopped a number of leaks over the years and know that some forms of gaskets shrink with use.

Most will be small bolts securing a pressed tin sump. Overtightening will snap them or worse - bend the edge of the sump after which it will have to be removed, the dent dressed out and the thing refitted with new gaskets. The correct tightness is probably a good twist with a NORMAL screwdriver.

Post by **docchevron** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:13 pm

Too true, overtightening is the enemy usually.

If you've got the time and a new gasket, drop the sump, apply plenty of silicone sealant to both sides of the gasket, sit the gasket on the sump and leave it for 20 mins or so before fitting it up.

mnde · Post by **mnde** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:14 pm

I've found the same with the fuel pump and the heater tap to matrix joint. Tightening the screws/bolts stopped the leak and I didn't need a new gasket.

Mark.

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:28 pm

adamskibx wrote:the oil in the engine wouldnt be as high up in the sump as the gasket, apart from when accelerating and braking etc,

Ordinarily, I'd agree (in fact I removed the sump from a Jag XK140 last week, with all 7 litres of oil in it, changed the gasket, and put it back on still with it's oil. Who needs to drain!) But in the case of an XU, the engine is at such an angle that the oil line is infact over the gasket line at the back of the engine by a fair bit. Any weepy bit of gasket here will leak oil permanently. Obviously slower when the engine is cold, but it will drip all the time.

Sounds suspiciously like the gasket is shot. Not a big job to drain the oil and change the gasket.