Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[The Barge Captain]

I expect the answer is that there shouldn't be any, but would anybody expect to get air pressure out of the oil filler hole when the engine is running?  I only looked at this as the rocker box to head gasket has started leaking oil onto the exhaust manifold, and it smells bad.  The breather from cam cover to throttle body is clear as I did the AIC recently, so that probably leaves the breather at the back of the engine, or failing piston rings.

[Auto Addict]

It will be the breather at the back, you would be amazed how much crud that will collect.

[mr des]

mine breathes heavy as well i bypassed the rocker cover to air intake pipe and vented it down under the car, i think my engine is probably not too far away from going bang in a big way

[Marks DTM Calib]

FOr some reason the 2.0 4 pots wear on number 1 cylinder, never managed to work out why...

[The Barge Captain]

Well, i've checked the breather pipes from the cam cover - all clear, compression tested the block - all reasonably balanced at around 190 psi after 3-4 revolutions with no significant change when 10cc oil introduced to the pot.  When I removed the cam cover to check inside all was nice and clean, however No.3 & 4 plug wells were full of oil !!  

If i run the engine without the pipe connected from the back of the cam cover to the sump(?) there is pressure from both the cam cover and the sump

The cam cover gasket feels as though it has hardened, so that wont help any leaks and needs replacing.

Can anybody suggest anything i might have missed?

[andy625]

I have the same problem with my 2.0. I noticed it when investigatin a cutting out at idle problem which I fixed by cleaning out the breather tube that goes to the throttle body just underneat the main throttle butterfly. Appart from the cutting out, the car runs fine, performs well and mpg is ok. It uses a small amount of oil but nothing out of the way for a 125k mile car.

I did a head gasket change on my last 2.0 omega and I know that the cam cover gasket is pretty flimsy. Its basically a small rubber strip, not very thick and goes in a cutout in the cover (which is plastic). The torque setting for the cam cover bolts is very low, so if your covers been over tightened in the past it will have distorted and will leak. The cam cover gasket goes in a ring around each plug position, so it will leak into the plug hole wells very nicely if its not sealing perfectly. It may be worth changing yours, but it is a bit fiddly cleaning off the old one if its been put on with sealer.

On the last omega I had an oil leak problem caused by the breather at the back of the engine being completely blocked, however that showed up as a sump gasket leak which flicked onto the exhaust and stank. That car didn't have the square flame trap thing on the top of the tube before it goes into the back corner of the cam cover. Dunno if that makes a difference.

To be honest I cant remember if the engine on that car pressurised the cam cover or not. I suspect it did as it was around the same mileage as my current car.

I had 2.0 Sierra a few years ago. That had a pressurised cam cover too, and it went on for years like it. As long as you keep the breathers clear, I don't think it should be too much of a problem.

I don't know if any of this helps!

PS. I have a whole load of pictures I took of my last car when I did the head gasket change if you're interested.

[nixoro]

PS. I have a whole load of pictures I took of my last car when I did the head gasket change if you're interested.

Sounds good any chance of a How2 on HG replacement for the 2.0

[andy625]

Hmm not much of an author I'm affraid. I just went from the Haynes book. I'll see what I can do.

This is the link to the pictures anyway:

http://photos.yahoo.com/agw625

Any questions feel free!

[nixoro]

Hmm not much of an author I'm affraid. I just went from the Haynes book. I'll see what I can do.

This is the link to the pictures anyway:

http://photos.yahoo.com/agw625

Any questions feel free!

Just watched the slide show very helpful, I must say though the head was cleaned up very nice, bet it purrs like kitten now.

Fortunately my car seems ok touchwood but would be good to look at if I ever had problems.  

[andy625]

Hmm not much of an author I'm affraid. I just went from the Haynes book. I'll see what I can do.

This is the link to the pictures anyway:

http://photos.yahoo.com/agw625

Any questions feel free!

Just watched the slide show very helpful, I must say though the head was cleaned up very nice, bet it purrs like kitten now.

Fortunately my car seems ok touchwood but would be good to look at if I ever had problems.  

Thanks. I was really nervous about doing the job at all when it first went wrong, but I thought after being quoted £600 from a garage I had nothing to lose. I've done a few head gaskets before, but not on anything with so much electronics! I had the head lightly skimmed just to be on the safe side, hence the nice finish.

The old gasket failed right at the back on no.4 between the cylinder and a waterway. When I put the new head bolts in, the one right near there didn't "feel" quite right - almost like the thread was starting to strip. It torqued up ok right up to the step before last in the sequence though, so I put it back together. I wasn't about to get the block re-threaded!

Anyway when it was back together, to my amazement, it started 1st time. Only thing was the temp gauge didn't work, which was due to the wire not being put back on. It ran really well and I did 2-3k miles in it, then I traded it in to a garage near here for a 1995 Ford Thunderbird (4.6 V8). I know the garage owner so I told him all about the head, bolt and thread etc. He wanted the car for a loan car and was happy to take it.

About 6 months later I went to the garage for a look around and they told me that someone had had my car on loan, not noticed that the engine was overheating, and seized it! I was gutted and really wanted to know what went wrong, however the car was "moved on" before I had a chance to find out. So I'll never know if the head gasket went again, if it was due to the bolt letting go, or if it was something completely unconnected. All my hard work, new bits including cam belt tensioners etc all wrecked.

The job was really hardly worth doing on a cost basis as it cost me from memory nearly £400 in bits and pieces (head skim - £60, gaskets and bolts - best part of £120, a few tools, being the main cost), and I only got £600 trade in. However I couldn't bear the tought of scrapping the car and I really enjoyed doing it.

Thats the way things go I guess....

[nixoro]

  story mate but atleast you managed to get a good 2-3k out of it before selling on.