Club 80-90 Forums

Hi, got an oil leak on the r/h cover on my 2.0 Aircooled. Previous owner had the thing slathered in a clear sealant of some kind.
The new cork gaskets won't seal properly... there's a small gouge in the mating surface on the head. Say, < 0.5mm, not going all the way through the face either.

What's a good way to deal with this? Ideally, a new head, I suppose.

So far, I've tried coating the cork gasket face in loctite SI 5980 "flange sealant"*. I let it sit for about 5 minutes before reinstalling it, on reflection that might not be the right way to do it.

It's also got new covers and wire, although the old parts seem reasonable.

It's also using 15w40 oil from halfords. According to the book, that should be OK?

But is there anything I can try?

* https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-e ... 99720.html

Generally, if faces are clean and flat, no sealant is needed, though it might help fill the gouge. Covers should be flat being new, so just wondering if it's really the rocker cover that is the source of the leak? Could it be that the push rod tubes are leaking? The oil ends up dripping off the edge of the rocker cover. The lower tinware and heat exchangers block the view somewhat, but worth giving the area a good clean and watch where the oil appears, engine running obviously. 
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Put a picture up of the damage, it's probably sealing OK aside from that so maybe some gasket stuff / sealant might sort it.

Rosie n' Jim wrote: ↑11 Sep 2021, 19:26 Generally, if faces are clean and flat, no sealant is needed, though it might help fill the gouge. Covers should be flat being new, so just wondering if it's really the rocker cover that is the source of the leak? Could it be that the push rod tubes are leaking? The oil ends up dripping off the edge of the rocker cover. The lower tinware and heat exchangers block the view somewhat, but worth giving the area a good clean and watch where the oil appears, engine running obviously. 
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It's coming down, on both sides, from the front of the engine. It doesn't look bad here, because the oil is new, but it stinks to high heaven! I can see some seeping from the pushrod tubes, so I'll see if I can address that, although it does look like someone has put sealant around some of them, so that's ominous.



 

Stesaw wrote: ↑11 Sep 2021, 19:54 Put a picture up of the damage, it's probably sealing OK aside from that so maybe some gasket stuff / sealant might sort it.

I'll take the cover off tomorrow, and take a pic. Will do the pushrod tubes first.

Normally with good quality cork gaskets a good thin layer of general purpose grease on each side of the gasket will make a good seal , as long as the faces of the head and cover are spotlessly clean ( brake cleaner ) 

cork gaskets are a one time only use tho …..

So in the end, I went with 100% Loctite black sealant, no gasket. Cleaned everything off with brake cleaner, got rid of any oil that might seep onto it while it's curing, and let it sit for 24 hours. Seals just fine at the moment. I don't know what's going on with this engine but I'm about done for now!

Have you noticed how much crankcase pressure there is? Too much will make you task much harder. Breather pipes could be blocked.

Having the same problem on the opposite side now.

Here's what it looks like after removal, with grease...


Layer of loctite black:



The gasket is distorting and 'swelling' and won't go back into position. I have an oil pressure reading at the filter, peaks at 3-4 bar on start up at idle, and drops to 0 bar while fully hot at idle (doesn't set off the factory oil warning light though, which I know for a fact is working, so there's clearly a pressure difference in the engine).

If the breather is blocked, how do I fix that?

I meant air pressure from combustion gasses passing get by the piston rings. If you remove the breather pipe running from the top  enter of the crankcase to the air filter,  you will feel a draft whilst it's running. This air is sucked out by the cars,  but too much will produce a positive pressure which will put stress on gaskets and seals.

Did you sort out your rocker cover leak, i have had the same problem on one side. Replaced gasket thought all ok then it started leaking again in same place, so replaced cover retsining clip and gasket but leak came back, after a drive.