Dying engine?

[Wonko_The_Sane]

I'm having ever more concerns with H870's engine (1.6 S). It's going through oil like the clapper..it IS covered in leaks, the worst of which is the crank seal. However..I won't get into a rant on that.

What IS worrying me is the oil smell in the car...especially when hot. I put it down to the oil on the block heating up, but I tried to reverse in Shrewsbury 2 days ago and seemed to be driving through a fog...from my own exhaust! :banghead:

It seems I'm burning oil. Heyho. I've had a quote for "top off, valve regrind and cam shimming, new oil seals" about £70...i'm wondering if it could be much else? It is going rather alarmingly. Is there any easy way of checking the crankcase breather works?

What with this, failing suspension, and little knocks, H870 isn't having a good month!

[E_T_V]

You need to decide where the oil is going. If it is leaking out then it should be fairly obvious by the puddles left on the floor!

If it is using it then you can have a fair stab at which bit of the engine is at fault.

If it smokes all the time or on acceleration then it is likely the piston rings/bore wear is at fault. If it smokes heavily on startup and when changing gear or after a period on the over-run then it is likely to be valve stem seals.

A compression test will give some idea as to bore wear or gross problems like a holed piston :o or head gasket failure!

What oil are you using in it at the moment. Perhaps you could try a 15w40 grade or perhaps even a 20w50.

[Jack]

Are you sure it's not oil dripping onto the exhaust (as you are getting odours in the car)?

Maybe give the engine a good jet wash (protecting the electrics) to clean it of oil and then take it for a run.

You can get this stuff you rub into joints which is supposed to seal leaks. Can imagine it actually works though.

On the oil front - I thought 15w40 is thinner (and therefore more leak prone) than 20w50. Is that not the case?

[SimonR]

I'm having ever more concerns with H870's engine (1.6 S). It's going through oil like the clapper..

Is there any easy way of checking the crankcase breather works?

Speaking from bitter experience of that lousy design I'd advise you to undo the oil breather pipes (including the separator off the sump) and check for margerine. If you are able to blow down them then the breather is working.

If you're sure it's not a mayo problem then isolate how the oil is escaping. My betting is that it's a bust oil seal and the smoke was comming from oil on the exhaust manifold/downpipe. A lot of oil can escape through that crank oil seal, I know because I bought a new engine when mine went kaput. It was using about a Litre of oil every 500 miles, most of which was ending up on the garage floor.

This was the inside of my gearbox when I replaced the engine, there was old oil everywhere :(
http://pages.zoom.co.uk/wonkeydonkey/F153JUE/Restoration/EngineOut/Small/GearboxSM.jpg

[E_T_V]

If the engine breather is blocked you'll find that it makes any crank seal leak 10 times worse as the pressure of the oil in the crankcase tries to find its way out.

[Wonko_The_Sane]

I wouldn't mind doing a compression check to be honest. It IS leaking a fair bit..but spots, not a flood. I reckon the most is being burnt. With regards to this breather setup-can I extend all the hoses and relocate it, or fabricate a more accessible system? It really is a swine to get at down the back of the engine block, with the exhaust and PAS in the way.

[E_T_V]

The improved breather system has the pipes up the back of the engine, the older more blockage prone system ran up the front of the engine where the fumes got cold and formed mayo/margerine.

[Simon]

When my old engine died, I was having problems like that in that it was gassing me and the oil was being forced out everywhere (including up into the air filter) Part of the problem was worn rings pressurising the block but the gassing may have been caused in part by a split diaphragm on the fuel pump allowing oil to mix with the fuel, leading to oil burning, poor idling and lots of exhaust smoke. What do your plugs look like, are they oil fouled?

[Wonko_The_Sane]

I did have a naffed up pump a few months back..it fired fuel everywhere.

I bought a new unit and it seems OK. I know what you mean about it gassing you though! :rolleyes:

I'll check the plugs this weekend.