Morris Minor Owners Club

anyone have this problem before, or know how to fix it. i have changed the rocker cover gasket, tappet chest cover gaskets, and carb to manifold gaskets.

Check head bolts Are tight.

A Member of Sadmog had something similair 2 months ago and found rear 2 head bolts quite loose and his 20/50 was gushing out back of engine.

where bouts for the head bolts? manifold bolts?

A Member of Sadmog had something similair 2 months ago and found rear 2 head bolts quite loose and his 20/50 was gushing out back of engine

Name witheld to protect the innocent and avoid libel.

where are the head bolts?

I think he meant the cylinder head nuts. They should be torqued to 40 lb-ft, in the order shown in the workshop manual.

where are the head bolts?

On the cylinder head.
And the manifold ones are on the manifold

thanks for the really technical help figuring that one out?
i mean are they under the rocker cover and if so at the back?

i mean are they under the rocker cover and if so at the back?

Only half of them are under the rocker cover, the other half you can see at the top of the engine above the spark plugs with the water pipe attached underneath a couple of them, and they run from the front to the back of the cylinder head, I think you really need a manual and torque wrench before you go any further.

BEN, you do not appear to have changed the manifold to engine gasket which
is highly likely to be the culprit. When you remove the manifold you must
thoroughly clean the surfaces of both the manifold and the engine block but
you do not need to use any sort of gasket goo on the new gasket.

Looks like it's running down onto the middle exhaust port - I woul;dn't expect a weeping head gasket to manage to in effect throw the oil up and over onto it, which is how it looks to me in the pic. Not that it isn't worth checking the head nut torque anyway Lidl had some cheapo torque wrenches for about 13 quid recently (only metric though and not going to be the best in the world for that money) if you haven't got one

I'd still say rocker box gasket though based on how it looks like the gunge is gettign on there.

i changed rocker gasket, and tappet chest cover gaskets couple days ago

It must be possible to see where the oil is coming from !! Go far a head gasket change - but is all this really worth it ?

Rocker cover gasket seems the most likely culprit. They are notoriosly diffcult to seat well. Every one I have had has bowed inwards along the sides. Next time I will fit it with some gasket sealant just to make sure it sits straight.

Yep - glue it to the cover, but not to the head.

will check that again tomorrow, as well as fit the manifold gasket.

ben739 wrote:i changed rocker gasket, and tappet chest cover gaskets couple days ago

They can be a swine to seal though - Did you glue the gasket to the box (I personally use grease for a bit of stiction, but as posted on here some people use a bit of instant bodge as a proper glue job)? It could've deformed when being fitted, but it could also be the box itself is nadgered - They're only thin steel and can warp if overtightened at some point (usually done to try and cure an oil leak, and ends up making a permanent one!).

It's about the only thing that would be able to leak oil so obviously onto the top of the exhaust manifold like that. Which isn't to say oil isn't being leaked somewhere else and thrown onto there somewhow, but I find that unlikley.

My 80s Rover has an oil leak from the cam cover gasket. I've got invoices from the previous owner paying to have it replaced 3 or 4 times in the last 2 years. I've had a go, and I'm suspecting the cover (thin pressed steel) has warped through some ham fisted mechanickery over the years. Goes to show sometimes it's the cover itself, and not the seal...

Peetee wrote:Rocker cover gasket seems the most likely culprit. They are notoriosly diffcult to seat well. Every one I have had has bowed inwards along the sides.

They seem to come like that now I've bought a few cork A series ones, and a couple of Triumph ones, and they're all bowed in the plastic wrap packaging. Which makes them somewhat annoying to fit as the blasted things pop inside the box and miss the groove while you're not looking...

they need to be 'cured' over an old rocker cover for a while.

Onne wrote:they need to be 'cured' over an old rocker cover for a while.

That would seem to require planning ahead and having one "cured" and waiting. Rather than my usual approach of not noticing till the stench of burning oil got too opverpowering and having to go buy and fit one same day...

yes
I used to work in a motor factors so I used to have 10 in stock