Mayo in rocker cover

Post by **Dominic** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 1:34 pm

Hi folks

I've been mildly concerned about mayonnaise forming inside the rocker cover, breather pipes etc for quite a long time. Even more so when the previous head gasket blew!
I had to do the Durham-Norwich run for my daughter this weekend, some 650 miles, so prior to setting off, I cleaned out all traces that I could find, to test the engine by ruling out condensation as a cause.
I'm delighted to report that after about 12 hours of hard running, there was not even a trace! Cold engine & short runs produces a lot!

Best wishes to all for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dom

Post by **PSL184** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 1:55 pm

Thats right Dom - remember to change oil regularly if only doing short runs... Merry Chrismas to all of yours too

Post by **Luxobarge** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:44 pm

Excellent. That run will have done the engine more good than harm IMHO!

Hippy Happy Hoppy etc.

Post by **Dominic** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:07 pm

Oil is religiously changed, along with filter at 3000 mile intervals. Using Comma 20/50 currently.

Post by **minor_hickup** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:42 pm

What breather set up do you have, my first morris had the +ve crank ventilation set up, and was used for lots of short runs with no mayonaise. Later I had a similar morris but without the positive crank ventilation, just venting from the rocker to the air filter and out the tappet chest to the ground, that car was mainly taken out for a good run now and then and used hard but still produced mayonaise in the winter.

Post by **Dominic** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:19 pm

Hi, mine is the latter arrangement - early-ish 1098 with the swan-neck vent pointing to the ground. I too had a later engine, with the stove pipe vent going directly to the carb, but this too produced mayo in the winter. I used Duckhams back then, the green colour made it look like aioli made with best olive oil! Maybe I should have bottled it and sold it as such - with plenty of garlic to mask the engine oil taste!

Post by **dalebrignall** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:56 pm

mine has the same set up and makes salad creme,in the winter i just change the oil regually and use an engine flush

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:29 pm

Less of a problem if you fit a nice high setting thermostat - 88 degrees will do nicely - and yes, minimise the short runs !

Post by **dalebrignall** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 4:44 pm

is it easy to change the stat bmc

Post by **Dominic** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:30 pm

Less of a problem if you fit a nice high setting thermostat - 88 degrees will do nicely

Already fitted - pleasantly warm isn't it!

minimise the short runs

... but I'd rather use the Morris at every opportunity & flog the mayo on ebay under foods/salads/dressings category.

Post by **Dominic** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:36 pm

is it easy to change the stat

Easy job if the studs haven't welded themselves to the housing! I use a liberal amount of copper grease on them, and the stat housing just prises away easily. Clean the old gasket off, and use a new one.
Most irritating part of the job is to have to remove two cylinder head nuts to allow the heater pipe to be removed, to give clearance to the housing. Next time, I may well try and find over-length studs, and have the pipe brackets bolted over the hold-down nuts, thus avoiding any disturbance to the head. If you remove the two head nuts, remember to re-torque them after a couple of runs.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 8:13 pm

Yes - that pipe should be fitted on top of the head nuts - not under them ! Or -just use a rubber pipe and tie-wrap it neatly out of the way.

Post by **alex_holden** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:25 pm

The heater pipe on early A-series Minors fits on two of the manifold studs instead of the head studs.

Post by **Kevin** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 12:23 pm

is it easy to change the stat

Hi Dale I will show you on Friday if you like