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[nevilletanner]

hello,

heres a run down of my problem.

1.. oil leak from rocker gaskets (v6)

replaced the gaskets over the weekend, come monday the passanger side gasket had blown again.

after finding this forum and a bit of reading i realised that the crankcase breather was the problem, so cleaned them out and fitted a new rocker gasket again.

started the engine and everything was ok .. drove the car and after a left turn - smoke under the bonnet (oil on exhaust) and oil running down the passanger side of the bell housing.

turn engine off, wait a few mins and restert engine and there is no leak. took the car to my boys garage and borrowed there ramp, 3 of use could not locate a leak of any kind.

on the way home i hit the motorway doing a steady 70 mph for about 10 miles - still all ok.

i get home and do a left turn - smoke from under the bonnet again but no oil running down the bell housing.

this is really frustrating as i need the car as the nearest shops are 10 miles away, i cannot find this leak which only happen on left turns 

could it be a puddle somewhere which runs onto the exhaust (from before the gasket and breather were sorted out) ?

any idears ?

thx

[Brikhead]

Hello and welcome to the Forum, I'm no expert but will will try and give some advice!

Maybe the oil has accumulated somewhere, as you say, does the level drop on the dipstick though?

Are you sure it is engine oil, it's not transmission fluid or p/s fluid is it?

[Mr Skrunts]

Couple of things spring to mind.

oil collates in the plug wells, so you could still be burning old oil off.

Plentum is the main culprit to the breater problems, was it cleanened thouroughly and all the pipes reconected properly.

Rocker gaskets, pattern ones dont last long at all, genuine are the way to go.

The main bit, is dont overtight the gaskets down, this seems to be one of the buggest failure area's, even when cars have been done at Vx.  Torque setting is 8Nm 

[mathewst]

As Scruntie said check the plug wells and also one thing you can do.
Feel the rubber half moon at the back of the engine, for signs of leaks.
My gasket leaks there slowly but surely. Looks like the half moons are the most probable place where the oil starts to leak

[Elite Pete]

Using genuine gaskets from a Vauxhall dealer is very important and also the correct sealant and torqing the bolts to 8nm. A good clean out of the breathers is also a must

[mathewst]

Using genuine gaskets from a Vauxhall dealer is very important and also the correct sealant and torqing the bolts to 8nm. A good clean out of the breathers is also a must 

And fitting them by someone who knows what he is doing.
That gasket you sent me Pete is leaking from day one, guess the mechanic puting it on wasn't very skilled or had no patience at all

[Elite Pete]

Using genuine gaskets from a Vauxhall dealer is very important and also the correct sealant and torqing the bolts to 8nm. A good clean out of the breathers is also a must 

And fitting them by someone who knows what he is doing.
That gasket you sent me Pete is leaking from day one, guess the mechanic puting it on wasn't very skilled or had no patience at all

You should have done them yourself, its worth investing in a few tools and with the help from the forum you would have done a better job than any so called professional

[mathewst]

I know Pete, but never had the time or the tools.
Had hardly any weekend of work this year ( even every single holliday for the last half a year was working day for me  ) Will have to order a torque wrench and a new gasket and do it myself

[nevilletanner]

what was said about the gasket -
the one i got originaly had like a 4mm bottom edge that goes onto the cylinder head, the gasket also has to go around the plastic half moons, this one was total rubbish.

the new ones only have a 2mm edge that moundt onto the head and the half moons are built into the gasket -  dont know if these are vx original but they work a treat compaired to the other ones.

there was so much oil spilled from before that i am hoping its just a puddle that is being burn off - ill monitor the oil over the next few weeks and see what happens (oil change due very soon anyway.

on a different forum i was told to see if the breethers were clear that if you place your hand over the filler hole there should be a slight vacuum, if it sucks hard then the breethers are blocked - on my car there is a slight bit of positive pressure, so i am guessing this is a good sign.

any more idears ?

many thanks to all.

[dbug]

Just done breathers and cam cover gaskets on both the Elites - both were very oily from previous leakage and although not leaking now it took a while for all the old oil to burn off.

[juliangungho]

as a newdie to this group I had the same problem its a vecky with a Y26se lump , I replaced all the rocker covers with genuine items,   took sump off and cleaned and resealed, did oil filter coversion, changed cam shaft seals  All the leaks have gone now and bugger its got a leak again, can I find it no!!!!!!!its  soaking my damn starter motor  and over a period of 3-4 days collects at the bottom of the sump.


sigh 

[Jinglemaster2]

I lost count of how many rocker gaskets I did on the many Omega V6's I had.

Some good advise above, none better than making sure they are genuine VX gaskets. Only way to be sure really is to buy them froma VX stealership.

The passenger side 1/2 moon is a common failure when refitting as it can be a bit tight manoeuvering the cover back in without dislodging the gasket.

Over tightening is another real casue of releaking.

And one that hasn't been mentioned yet is poor cleaning of the mating surface. Any residue of old gaskets is one problem, but scratches and scoring is a bigger one. No gasket will seal if the surface is scored across its sealing face. Check both surfaces carefully.

Last but by no means least is the cam seals. If they are leaking, oil can work its way around to the exhausts too, so make sure there are no leaks there either. Just because they were notleaking before does not mean they are not leaking now.

IMHO these gaskets are the worst design ever. A job I have done countless times and hate it every time.

[juliangungho]

i used the  vauxhall recommended sealent on the half moon faces,  would not using it along the gasket faces be a better option  then

[nevilletanner]

the first two times i done the rocker gasket i had real problems getting it to sit properly - 2 reasons the first is that i didnt like the look of taking out the wire loom that runs over the left bank, second was the junk gasket from EUROPARTS, this is probably why i had to do it all for a 3rd time before i got it right.

on the third attempt i took out the wire loom, it made a huge difference on getting the rocker cover in the right position without disturbing the half moons while fitting.

took the car out today for 15 miles around country lanes (living in wales thats all there is anyway  ), not a single leak has shown - still getting the smell of burnt oil but thats to be expected - so it looks like there was a puddle of oil somewhere that has now burnt/spilt away.

many thanks to all.

[Jinglemaster2]

i used the  vauxhall recommended sealent on the half moon faces,  would not using it along the gasket faces be a better option  then

Oh no, definitely do not use sealant along the whole gasket. Only on the half moons and either side of the cam seals as directled in the how to section.