Crossflow with oil leak(s)

[Ian D Smith]

I know this is unusual but it bugs me and its time to attack the problem. I plan to gunk the engine to get it clean and try and detect where the problems are. I bought the car about two years ago and it has little use for the previous 8/9 years.

 

Is it worth taking the engine out and replacing all the gasket sets? It will keep me active over the winter months.

 

Is there a shortlist of the likely issues? I know this is a bit like how long is a piece of string

 

Sorry for the numpty question

 

Up and running

[allen]

😬They all do that sir 😬

 

Seriously, some of the oily muck is from oil mist pushed out of the breather. If you have a real leak place some newspaper on the floor under the engine bay and see where the drips come from, this may track it down.

 

allen

[robert green]

My crossflow never leaked oil, so there is no need for them to do it. Perhaps vent the breather to a catch tank to prevent any misting?

[cskip]

If you have a cork sump gasket fitted that is very likely to leak.

 

Skip.

[Graham Sewell]

I lose about 0.25 pint over 12 months/3000 miles much of which exits from the oil filler caps to rust proof the engine bay.

 

I am seriously not worried about it until this figure rises.

 

Cheers,

 

Graham

---

Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

[ian.hoper]

Hi Each .

Got a slight oil leak to look at this winter on the X flow and a puzzler as I have a pit and seems the oil is coming out of the dipstick area where the tube fits or at the mechanical fuel pump area that I have a blanking plate for ready to fit when I remove it .Has a Facet pump so not needed.

Recently I modded the cam cover to the spec on Blat Chat some time back ,think it was a Roger King mod . Breather to front of cam cover and out to catch tank at rear of cam cover .

Think this may be a cause as now no oil seems to get deposited in the catch tank whereas before some did in the old crude single breather pipe set up .

Trouble is that even with a lit pit and peering up under the carb manifolds you can't see exactly where the leak is from . Any tips as dont want to strip the carbs off as taken a year to get the Webbers on song after the last strip down .

[Phil]

I believe that there is no PCV [positive crank ventilation] Valve fitted to the X/flow as Caterham decided to remove them with the basic pipe to the floor set up.

 

So I am asking if this will have some effect when changing to a better set up as suggested by Roger King.

 

 

Helping and encouraging others rather than putting them down.

 

[Sheds Moderator]

If you are *careful* you can pressure wash an engine. Leave it running and don't blast the ignition system. Leave 90% of the crud on a garage forecourt. Then if you have a compressor clean the rest off with a paraffin gun, if not Gunk it then hose off the emulsified guck.

 

If you can't be arsed with all this or your facilities are limited then bribe a backstreet garage to make with the paraffin gun and tell you where it's all coming from.

 

My money is on poor breathing and a bit of bore wear resulting in crankcase pressure and oil p*ssing out from everywhere ☹️. The cure is to clean it up once a wear and meanwhile drive the nipples off it until the engine wears out, then fit a Zetec.

[Phil]

BOSS

I did and I have fitted a Zetec

 

My advice is to remove the engine for cleaning, more insentive to buy a Raceline Zetec.

 

Helping and encouraging others rather than putting them down.

 

[Ian D Smith]

Interested in BOSS's comment about a bit of wear.

 

If I got hold of a compression tester I assume I would be able to detect issues. I have suspected some pressure in the crankcase because I have had a badly fitting oil dipstick that has allowed a mist of oil over the bulkhead under "thrashing the XXXXers off her" mode. Sealing the Oil dipswitch *nono*clearly wouldn't have helped 😬

 

Up and running

[Big Brother]

I always thought the reason that a Crossflow doesn't leak oil was that it had run out!

 

Steve

 

 

SE7EN-UP!

-----_{Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day.}

Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life!-----

 

[6speedmanual]

When I was an impoverished student running a seriously worn out engine, I clipped a hose to the top of the dipstick tube and routed it into a catch bottle to avoid flooding the entire engine bay / underside of car / road with the oil being ejected . When the bottle filled up, I just emptied back into the engine. This method got me through several terms without having to rebuild the engine in the kitchen of the digs ❗ 😬

 

 

6SpeedManual

*tongue*There's no such thing as too much BHP per Ton 😬