Headgasket, valve stem seals or piston rings.

28th August 2014, 19:46

Looking for abit of advice. I've got a '96 1.1 saxo which was given to me by a family member. It recently failed the MOT on emissions (hole in the cat) and a bold tyre, I've put a new tyre on and replaced the exhaust system (cat and tailbox) whilst sealing the exhaust joins I noticed plenty of white smoke which I know is fairly normal for a new exhaust but I also noticed it coming from the downpipe. As all the motor factors are closed I thought I'd do a quick fix and put exhaust sealant round the downpipe to confirm the leak before getting a new gasket in the morning but I noticed that there was oil escaping the join to the downpipe so I checked the oil and water. Oil does not have any white sludge but the water looked abit dark and after pushing a tube into it I saw there was oil in the water but so far oil and water levels have not dropped, no flat spots or other obvious head gasket fail signs. Was going to flush the water system to see if it was crap left from the past but now I've noticed the oil in the exhaust it's made me wonder if it's worth flushing the system, as it's a 1.1 and the amount that's been spent on it already, if it turns out that it's an overhaul job I'll be looking at sending it to scrap

28th August 2014, 19:58

Leaking rocker cover seal maybe?

28th August 2014, 20:16

The rocker cover gasket was replaced a few weeks ago due to a slight leak on the corner. At the moment it looks as if the oil is being pushed out of the join between the downpipe and manifold, obviously the gasket on the downpipe needs replacing in the morning

29th August 2014, 20:32

The join between downpipe and manifold is not a place where there is any oil, any oil would be vapourised immediately the engine starts running. Is the oil dripping from higher up? are you certain it is oil?

29th August 2014, 20:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiger1983

The rocker cover gasket was replaced a few weeks ago due to a slight leak on the corner. At the moment it looks as if the oil is being pushed out of the join between the downpipe and manifold, obviously the gasket on the downpipe needs replacing in the morning

That gasket is a wire wool type thing(aka a fire gasket)no oil should be coming out of it,it's coming from higher up.

29th August 2014, 21:35

I had to take the car for its mot retest today so whilst there I had it compression tested to rule out internal damage, the mechanic said all was fine so when I got home and it had cooled I've stripped the rocker cover, manifold and downpipe off. The gasket on the downpipe was shot to bits, crumpled in my hand. The manifold gasket looked abit dodgy on the passenger side so decided to pull the rubber off the rocker and give it a slight bend and check any splits which I was surprised to find 1 in the corner seeing it was replaced a few weeks back so that corner has now been checked by myself and 4 other people to make sure there is nothing there causing it to split, I must of over tightened it when I changed it (the old 1 that was on there original must of been a good few years old)

My mate has taken the manifold away to clean up as much as he can and dropping it back in the morning which gave me plenty of time to get another rocker, manifold and downpipe gasket along with the sump gasket as I noticed that was leaking so hopefully tomorrow all will be back together and no leaks and I'll lose the white smoke soon