Crankcase Ventilation and oil leaks

[Andyeagle8]

Hi
I have a 1970 with rocker cover to carb ventilation plus open breather tube from tappet chest cover. It currently has a vented oil filler cap but I’m getting quite a few oil leaks. The engine is in good condition and exhibits no characteristics of excessive wear.

Is this system negative vacuum and as such does it need a non vented cap?

If this isn’t the case, should I try to change to a pcv system and what would be required to accomplish this.

I’d appreciate any advice and thank everyone in advance for replies.

Andy Bradbury

[svenedin]

The system that you have is not as it would have been on a 1970 car. Perhaps it is a replacement engine or somebody mixed and matched parts. For a 1970 car I think they had moved on from the PCV valve (which was only used for about a year on Minors) to a system with a breather inlet on a special type of breather HS2 carburettor and a pipe between carb breather and tappet chest oil separator.

Your system can only alleviate crankcase pressure to match atmospheric pressure but that should be perfectly adequate. There should be a solid oil filler cap and the air entry is via the tappet cover tube. Very often that tappet chest tube is totally blocked with crud. The first thing I would do is remove the tappet chest cover and the extension tube and try to blow down the tube. If it is blocked or restricted it will need poking out with wire. Then fit a solid oil filler cap and see how it goes. If that is unsatisfactory you could also try a new vented oil filler cap or clean the old one out with carburettor cleaner as they get blocked.

Stephen