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[sneakypenguin]

afternoon all, went to check my spark plugs earlier but because I didn't have a big enough extention bar couldn't get them out, but when I pulled the bar out there was a bit of oil around the top of the socket wrench. Took the car for a run to the local dump to get rid of some old engine oil and when I got back and parked up there were a few drips of oil on the right hand side of the engine (when looking head on, drivers side on left) midway between sump and oil filter (I think) Could this be the rocker gaskets?

Also, got stuck in some traffic on the way back and the gague was constantly on 96 even when the cooling fan kicked in the the a/c on. Then for no apparant reason the traffic master lady did the whole speech about licence being expired even tho I did not touch or was anywhere near the buttton. Any Ideas?

Lastly, I have a coolant leak somewhere, no visible signs of any leaks so I'm thinking it's at the back, coolant bridge? Having said that when the cam belt was done in feb you could see dried coolant so I changed the hbv but not made a difference. Any Ideas?

Sorry for the long post, hope I've been accurate enough to give you an idea. If anyone lives in London (I'm in wandsworth) and would be willing have a look then there are beer tokens on offer 

sp

[Zuffenhausen]

Sounds like a rocker cover gasket to me.

Check for "Mayo" on the inside of your oil filler cap to help eliminate head gasket as the cause of your coolant loss.

[sneakypenguin]

Thanks Zuffenhausen, sometimes there is mayo on the filler cap and sometimes there isn't, but there has never been any on the dipstick

[Andy H]

Not my picture but you can see here that the combustion chambers are surrounded by the water jackets.

If the head gaskets fail on these engines you tend to get either combustion products pressurising the cooling system or coolant running down the outside of the block.

Oil leaks tend to be from the cam covers and start because the crank breathers are blocked and the crankcase becomes pressurised.

Mayo on the filler cap is quite common as the filler neck is a cool place where vapour tends to condense. Mild cases are just indicative of short journeys, severe cases are likely to be due to oil cooler failure.

[sneakypenguin]

Thanks Andy H, think it is going to be a plenum off jobby to see whats going on. If any one is in/near london and wants a few beer tokens, any help would be greatly appreciated