Morning all

After the SVA with the car being taken up to speed for the first real time I have oil leaks from the rocker cover.

With the pinto gasket being in two parts with the rubber front strip going over the front bearing housing it's a pin to get a decent seal all round.

Would I be better off now it's leaked and the gasket is impregnated with oil fitting a new one or is it okay to try and get this one to seal?

And any tips for sealing it so it doesn't leak? I was considering puting hylomar blue on both top and bottom surfaces to try and assist sealing?

Any assistance appreciated as I'll be driving to the retest and dont really want to drive 80 miles with an oil leak.

Cheers
Nigel

I used to use generic red gasket sealant on the old xflow rocker cover gasket to keep it sealed. I don't think it ever set to I could remove the cover and replace without adding anymore. I didn't put too much on and you could hardly see it...

Another thing to consider is crankcase breathing. Is excessive pressure causing oil to be blow past the seal. What have you done with the crankcase oil seperator?

James

As above - check your breathing. I've found that the cork gaskets are a PITA to locate but once fitted and properly tightened (not very tight - see Haynes) they don't leak.

How do I go about checking the breathing? the valve for the block is still connected to the underside of the manifold as per production car.

Any advice as to how to check?

Thanks
Nigel

Have you still got the wire mesh breather in the rocker cap? I've not had a problem with the gaskets and don't use sealant on them.

I felt the sequence of tightening the front four bolts mattered. All four to finger tight only before progressively tweaking the ones on the sides of the front bearing housing slightly ahead of the front corner ones. The tin needs to be hoiked in sideways as well as pulled down vertically, all progressively to squish the cork gasket evenly.

All the usual checks such as cleaning filters, making sure pipes etc are not blocked are valid but these do not check that the breather system is working.

There is a method I learnt a long time ago when fighting with in line A series motors which bizarely do not have crank seal behind the clutch but instead rely on a scroll machined into the crank to keep the oil in. Obviously this needed a very good effecient breather system. Any positive pressure and the oil just pi$$ed out.

Find a long length of clear plastic tubing which has about the same OD as the ID of the dipstick hole. Remove the dipstick and push the end of the tube into the hole. Make a BIG U bend in the tube and then pour a SMALL amount of water into the tube so it sits in the bottom of the U bend.

Very carefully (this is best done with 2 people) start the motor. If the water rushes towards the motor pull the tube out as quickly as possible. In reality this probably won't happen and you can then play around with the throttle to see if the crankcase is sucking (good) or blowing (bad). On the A series there was a restrictor in the breather pipe to avoid oil being pulled over into the inlet manifold on high vacuum/fast cornering. We used to drill this out bit by bit until the crankcase pressure was just negative at a steady throttle.

This worked well for us (on brand new cars under warranty ). Perhaps it could help you here Nigel.

Cheers,

Mike

quote:

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Originally posted by MikeCapon
All the usual checks such as cleaning filters, making sure pipes etc are not blocked are valid but these do not check that the breather system is working.

There is a method I learnt a long time ago when fighting with in line A series motors which bizarely do not have crank seal behind the clutch but instead rely on a scroll machined into the crank to keep the oil in. Obviously this needed a very good effecient breather system. Any positive pressure and the oil just pi$$ed out.

Find a long length of clear plastic tubing which has about the same OD as the ID of the dipstick hole. Remove the dipstick and push the end of the tube into the hole. Make a BIG U bend in the tube and then pour a SMALL amount of water into the tube so it sits in the bottom of the U bend.

Very carefully (this is best done with 2 people) start the motor. If the water rushes towards the motor pull the tube out as quickly as possible. In reality this probably won't happen and you can then play around with the throttle to see if the crankcase is sucking (good) or blowing (bad). On the A series there was a restrictor in the breather pipe to avoid oil being pulled over into the inlet manifold on high vacuum/fast cornering. We used to drill this out bit by bit until the crankcase pressure was just negative at a steady throttle.

This worked well for us (on brand new cars under warranty ). Perhaps it could help you here Nigel.

Cheers,

Mike

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While you have the rocker cover off, also check that the oil is draining back out of the head to the sump properly. The drain hole is behind the rear camshaft bearing pillar (it should drain pretty quick).

Other than that, progressive and gentle tightening of the cover bolts is probably the answer. Making sure you fit the right "T" and "L" shaped Ford washer things.

Have you used the correct gasket for your rocker cover? The later Pinto engines had a wider flange than the earlier Pinto to help sealing . Also make sure you have fitted the matching spreader plates under the bolts. Get hold of a later cover if you have the earlier item. Covers will distort if over tightened which will make the problem worse . Gently dress back any distortion around the bolt holes , fit a new gasket and gently tighten the bolts . Best of luck with the retest.

quote:

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Originally posted by rusty nuts
Have you used the correct gasket for your rocker cover? The later Pinto engines had a wider flange than the earlier Pinto to help sealing . Also make sure you have fitted the matching spreader plates under the bolts. Get hold of a later cover if you have the earlier item. Covers will distort if over tightened which will make the problem worse . Gently dress back any distortion around the bolt holes , fit a new gasket and gently tighten the bolts . Best of luck with the retest.

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From what i remember its the flange/ also if it helps i use to evostic the gasket to the rocker cover / not the head