Oil Dripping onto Manifold

[EspritMiltonKeynes]

I recently had the car in at the Scottish Lotus Cars Centre to attend to a small oil leak that was dripping from the rearward most bit of the engine onto the bit of the manifold where the 4 pipes converge into one, very close to the turbo. It's not a serious drip by any means, and the dipstick levels are virtually unchanged. But it did cause a hell of a stink and copious amounts of smoke as each night's leakage was burnt-off shortly after start-up.

SO: They changed the gaskets, (the liquid gasket?) and struggled enormously with a ceased nut which had to be drilled out in the end. Apparently many many hours of labour were involved - but only 3 were charged for. The total bill came to (what I think) is a very reasonable price of ~

[trackmagic]

I had a similar situation and what it turned out to be was oil seeping from between the cam tower and cylinder head. There is no gasket in this area, only a sealant that is applied. Over time oil can wick its way through, usually around the time the valves need adjusting, and then you fix the oil leak because the towers have to be removed.

It will stop upon warming up the engine (usually) as the metal expands and seals the gap. Generally not serious, just annoying.

Best,

Jeff

[s4simon]

Had mine done some 5 years ago whilst getting a 'c' service done. Prior to this it was very embarrasing sitting at the lights seeing small atomic clouds occassionaly come thru the vents. No issues since. So there must be an ongoing concern somewhere with yours. The mechanics reckon it's a pretty simple task to perform and if the issue arose again I'd probably do it myself.

[Dave Freeman]

Just done mine, did it first time some 3 months ago and because I used the wrong sealant it leaked again. Re did it using the right liquid gasket and no leak. You should also check the cam seals, these are easy and cheap to replace.

Search on this site for my post, it tells the sorry saga.

Good luck

Dave

[matk]

Cam shaft O Rings? Very cheap if it is.............

http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EGuides/EM...haft_Oring.html

[Jonathan]

IMO yes it is worth getting sorted, mine has only got worse and needs doing as a matter of urgency now.

[internets]

My cam towers had been leaking for a while but always put it off for the C service which I did a few months back, if you look at exhibit A you will see how much oil was in the spark plug wells. It is important to get a decent anaerobic sealant, make sure both surfaces are clean oh and leave the sealant on the cam tower for at least 15 mins , see exhibit B, before assembling.

Now I can drive down the road smoke free

Edited May 19, 2009 by internets

[EspritMiltonKeynes]

My cam towers had been leaking for a while but always put it off for the C service which I did a few months back, if you look at exhibit A you will see how much oil was in the spark plug wells. It is important to get a decent anaerobic sealant, make sure both surfaces are clean oh and leave the sealant on the cam tower for at least 15 mins , see exhibit B, before assembling.

Now I can drive down the road smoke free

That is exactly how my spark plug wells looked at christmas when the back pressure valve had ceased-up. This is all starting to add up now..

[fightingtorque]

I am just putting the rest of the car back together after resealing these. Used the same stuff as in the pic, got it from SJ Sportscars.

I didn't use as thick a layer as that I don't think, but I coated both surfaces.

The oil in the plug wells seemed to cause a tracking problem as soon as any damp weather came on. I thought it was because the moisture condensed on the oil film creating a path from the plug ceramic/ boot area to the head. It has recently been pointed out to me that oil doesn't float on water, but I am still thinking about that because it definitely made it damp prone.

[Jonathan]

Just taken most of my car apart and can't really find the source of the oil.

I guess when the car is hot the oil runs thin and the trace cant be seen but my plug wells are full up and there is a lot of oil around the cylinder head behind the turbo -> engine heat shield.

So it's new cam seals for definate (so quick / easy to replace) - do them right away whilst its out.

Is it the seal between the rocker cover (red bit) and the valve train or the valve train to the head that is the problem ?

[EspritMiltonKeynes]

Is it the seal between the rocker cover (red bit) and the valve train or the valve train to the head that is the problem ?

Err.. think it's the latter - I seem to remember 'cam tower' being mentioned by the last mechanic to see it. It's now with Murray Lotus to have a few other things done to it as well - so they're going to sort whatever it is out. Will let you know the results!

[Jonathan]

I thought as much - well it'll wait another year or so - I'm not taking the cam towers off without changing the belts and thats due in a few months time so it'll have to wait !

[Cos]

I had exactly the same problem.

I figured out that is was my own fault. I had taken off the heat shield next to the turbocharger. The studs that hold on the heatsheild also hold on the camshaft housing rear cover.

If the studs are not tightend up correctly, then you get a small leak over no.4 exaust manifold. Smokes for a while, then stops smoking when its burnt off the oil.

After I tightened the 2 nuts up tight, the problem dissapeared.

Cost equals

Edited May 26, 2009 by Cos

[EspritMiltonKeynes]

Yeah Murray Lotus sorted it all out. Leaks all stopped now - they replaced 2 O-rings and sprayed a load of white stuff all over the engine bay to spot any further leaks. After an extended test-drive (150miles) over the weekend with their 'Head of IT', they then tested ECU - couldn't find any problems. But did clean out carbon-dust from stepper motor, which was caked up apparently. Changed electric mirror switch and relubricated electric window motors as well - and they're both now working as well.

[Jonathan]

Done mine last night, the old o-rings were bad and had all sorts in there - looked like they had been rolled in the dirt !

So I re-sealed them and also added a splodge of hylomar blue on there as well belt and braces, seems to be OK - wait and see.

[Advantage]

A while ago I couldn't stop mine from leaking. New O rings (twice) hylomar etc - nothing. Still used to get the odd drip onto the manifold post shutdown, which led to plumes of blue smoke when reversing out of the garage. Cured it by fitting a further set of O rings and fabricated some gaskets out of medium thickness gasket paper.

Job jobbed.

[Jonathan]

Yeah a solid gasket on there would be fairly easy to make, wonder why they never did that from the word go ?

[EspritMiltonKeynes]

does gasket paper expand at the same rate as the aluminium body of the engine when it heats up? - I've no idea...

Is hylomar the recommended brand of liquid gasket by Lotus?