Help!

Tightening the nut reduced the leak but I was unable to stop it. Slackening off the nut resulted in a (much) more dramatic leak so I'm convinced that this is the problem. The washer is very thin so I've got some replacements on order.

Looking at the first picture, could someone please tell me what the two black metal pipes are than run along the centre of the rocker - I can't find them in any diagrams. These are the pipes that are supported by the bracket where the leak originates and also what the blue pipe that runs over the top of them is for?

Cheers.

youve got 2 steel pipes for heater ,1 rubber pipe goig to a centrifugal oil seperator from breather ,check tappets and valves are fully opening correctly ,quite possible engines worn out and breathes too heavy unless breathers blocked

sp00k said:

Tightening the nut reduced the leak but I was unable to stop it. Slackening off the nut resulted in a (much) more dramatic leak so I'm convinced that this is the problem. The washer is very thin so I've got some replacements on order.

Looking at the first picture, could someone please tell me what the two black metal pipes are than run along the centre of the rocker - I can't find them in any diagrams. These are the pipes that are supported by the bracket where the leak originates and also what the blue pipe that runs over the top of them is for?

Cheers.

Click to expand...

The two black metal pipes carry coolant to the cab heater matrix (try following them to see where they came from/ go to).
The blue pipe seems to be some sort of an abortionate attempt at an oil breather system, which returns oil fumes back to the sump. It suggests to me that the engine is breathing too heavy i.e. fooked.

Now I'm getting worried. When I was running the engine to check the leak today, I noticed that there is a distinct hissing sound which became noticeably louder once the engine was up to temp. It seemed to be from either the nut where the oil is escaping or from the dipstick or possibly both.

I've not cleaned the breather yet - do I need to eliminate that first or is there something more serious going on.

PS. Thanks for all the help guys - just trying to learn about these things.

Ok, I cleaned the breather - the bit that the oil cap at any rate - not sure if I'm supposed to clean anything else? It's made no difference. I've tried new washers but I'm getting oil and blue\white smoke leaking from the centre rocker nut. Engine fires on the button and appears to run normally but I can hear a sort of chuffing noise - sounds a bit like a traction engine

If I remove the oil cap\breather just after running the engine, I get the same blue\white smoke coming out of it.

Any pointers on what to check next please?

Blueish/white smoke and a chuffing noise could mean that the head gasket is leaking and blowing into the oilways.

Thanks seadog. I guess the chuffing could also be the exhaust gasket - it seems to be from that side of the engine. I think it's also using coolant as I've filled the expansion vessel to the halfway point twice - but equally it could have a small leak in the cooling system or simply not have had enough coolant in it.

Before you start getting yeh nickers in a twist sort your oil leak out !!

Them rocker covers are a right bitch to stop leaking, oil will be coming out of oil breather filter (o ring/sealant or new unit if it's bent), rocker bolt's /nuts (new washers/sealant) and the rocker gasket that will probably be made out of cork that don't like being used twice.

I would'nt worry to much if it's breathing heavily it will still go on for years

What colour is the oil in your sump? If it's turning milky, it would probably be the head gasket! When you take off the oil filler cap is there any sign of white, soapy emulsification in there? Once again, that would strongly indicate the head gasket.

The chuffing might be from a single port from the exhaust gasket blowing, but I have found that when it does that it's more of a roar than a chuff, as the others blow out at the same time!

Oil is only coming out of the centre rocker cover nut - no where else. There's no sign of the oil becoming contaminated and there was no contamination on the oil cap - just oil

The oil that I took out was just dirty - nothing remarkable.

I've surrounded the bolt hole with sealant and used it to stick down a small piece of rubber, followed by the heating pipes bracket, breather pipe bracket, fresh washer and nut. I'll leave that for a few hours to dry and see what happens.

Looks like there is plenty of (old) sealant around the rocker cover itself which does not appear to have any leaks.

Just eager to get the landy back on the road - I had been using it as my daily driver up until the leak. I've yet to get it offroad and I can't wait but I want everything to be fit first. Once I can resolve the oil leak I can change the coolant so I can keep an eye on it.

Almost had it. No oil and just a bit of steam escaping for a few minutes then the oil came back. I'll clean it all off tomorrow and start again. I'm thinking I'll leave out the rubber this time and just but a 'bed' of silicone down, leave that for a few hours to dry and then put some more on and screw down the heating bracket etc.

All noises were greatly reduced in line with the leak but I could still hear a bit of a hissing noise from the escaping air/steam. Also, it's so cold it's hard to tell what's steam, hot air, smoke etc.

In my first photo, you can see the blue breather pipe running over the top of the heating pipes and finishing at a brown thing - does this also accumulate oil and need cleaning?

I was thinking it may be worthwhile removing the blue pipe to inspect it as it may be damaged around where the bracket fixes. It's so short I can't push it away from the bolt to eliminate it.

just my 2 pence worth, but if pressure in the rocker cover is this high there must be a blockage in the breather. something is not allowing the pressure to leave via the breather and hence it's finding another way. I'd remove the breather totally and see if it helps. I have and old td and it helped to replace the pipe and route it away from the air filter.