More problems

[D813YBB]

Currently noticing a few problems with the car. I now have the white mayo in the oil filler tube and also in the sump as it’s on the bottom of the dip stick. (Oil changed at Christmas). I still have a weep of oil through the cam cover gasket despite fitting a new gasket and smearing it with RTV sealant. Also there is a rather thick white cloud emanating from the exhaust on warm up, which seems a bit thicker than the normal cold weather condensation.

When you drain the oil from the sump, how much oil should be left in the engine? When I replaced the cam cover gasket and took off the rocker cover it was full of oil, despite having just emptied the sump.

When the car is parked in the garage it stinks the place out with fumes for absolutely ages afterwards, much more than I seem to remember it did. However the car is still driving ok in spite of all of the above, and the leaking shock absorber…

[redmaestro]

Don't quote me because i'm no expert; but could it be the head gasket? Mayo in the oil can mean water is present in it (the head gasket went on my Efi last month, can the oil & pipes were coated in mayo).

Also, I think white smoke indicates water, and blue smoke is oil.

Do the heaters work? Is there too much pressure in the cooling system when you open the coolant cap when the engine is cold? Again, from experience these indicate head gasket - if the heaters dont work and there's too much pressure in the cooling system.

[G Force]

Hi, unfortunately the mayo problem is a design fault and is difficult to fix long term. The later models had the beather system totaly redesigned and this went a long way to curing the issues.

The oil leak you have will be made more difficult to cure if the breathers are blocked so cleaning out the breathers is the first step to fixing the oil leaks.

The only thing you can do is remove all the breather pipes and oil filler tube and clean out all the mayo. The oil seperator on the sump is more difficult to clean out thoroughly so if you are lucky enough to get hold of a new one then that will be more successful than just cleaning out the old one. A new oil filler cap is a must.

Both the oil seperator and the filler tube should have lagging jackets on. The breather pipes should be positioned as close to the engine block as posible and putting extra lagging on the pipes cant do any harm. If your breather set up does not have a small hose from the filler tube to the air filter box then you should try source the parts to fit this air bleed.

There is always a lot of oil around the camshaft with the covers removed so no worries there, It is best to have the engine hot before draining the oil and the use of forte oil flush is worth while.

As for the white smoke and smell I expect this is probably normal but if the breather system is blocked then the engine will run richer than normal which may acount for the smell.

Regards Gary

[Guest]

I have mayo in the oil filler - my mechanic says it's cos I don't drive far enought to work every day - only 7 miles, not enought to get the engine really warmed up, and no dual carriageway to give it a bit of a blast.

[D813YBB]

Therefore am I right in saying that in essence, there is no mechanical fault on the engine, and I just have to live with this. That’s fine if that is the case, however it’s strange I’ve never experienced this problem in 48000 miles and 16 years of ownership.
I’m not quite sure which hoses are the breather hoses. If I post a picture of the engine bay could someone arrow these for me?
I presume that soaking the oil filler cap in degreaser or gunk would be sufficient to clean it, as I read previously these are NLA.

[G Force]

Therefore am I right in saying that in essence, there is no mechanical fault on the engine, and I just have to live with this. That’s fine if that is the case, however it’s strange I’ve never experienced this problem in 48000 miles and 16 years of ownership.
I’m not quite sure which hoses are the breather hoses. If I post a picture of the engine bay could someone arrow these for me?
I presume that soaking the oil filler cap in degreaser or gunk would be sufficient to clean it, as I read previously these are NLA.

Hi, The problem with the mayo is it is a self perpetuating problem the more it builds up the more it builds up if you see what I mean. So it can appear to be very bad very quickly.

If the breather caps are nla and an after market one cant be found then you will have to clean yours but the problem is that the gauze gets rusty and does not breath as it should.

You probably dont have a serious mechanical issue but the beathers sound as though they need attention. Post up a pic of the engine bay and I will have a go yes

[SimonR]

Therefore am I right in saying that in essence, there is no mechanical fault on the engine, and I just have to live with this. That’s fine if that is the case, however it’s strange I’ve never experienced this problem in 48000 miles and 16 years of ownership.
I’m not quite sure which hoses are the breather hoses. If I post a picture of the engine bay could someone arrow these for me?
I presume that soaking the oil filler cap in degreaser or gunk would be sufficient to clean it, as I read previously these are NLA.

Not that any of Gary's advice ever needs backing-up but I have had quite a lot of experience with the S-Series and its Mayo problems!

The breather pipe arrangement starts at the front of the sump, with the oil separator (metal tube/pipe arrangement) which is screwed on to the front of the sump itself. A pipe comes from the top of this and is pushed onto a T piece which then has one pipe going to the oil filler cap and the other going to the carb. On some cars there was also an air bleed pipe that went from the filler neck to the air pipe between the filter element and plenum chamber.

If you're thinking of keeping the car for any significant time then I'd seriously consider fitting the later breather system - it solves all the problems in this respect, by moving the separator to the back of the sump where it's a lot warmer and also doing-away with all those breather pipes that snake all around the engine bay. If you do want to go ahead with this mod you'll need a new separator, right-hand cam-carrier cover, and sump, along with a few other smaller items.

The most probably reason that you're only seeing this problem now is either that you've changed oil brand or that you're driving shorter journeys in colder weather than normal. I found Castrol GTX to be one of the worst oils for Mayo - a week after I changed my oil with this stuff the breather was completely blocked and my oil seals damaged beyond repair. Needless to say when I rebuilt the engine with new seals I changed the breather system....

I'm due to write about the breather system upgrade in Monstro sometime soon, but if you want info on how to change it then drop me a line.

All the best

Simon R.

PS If you're wanting to clean the oil filler cap out you might find that the bottom will separate from the top and you can then remove the gauze and attack it with a paintbrush and some petrol/parafin/gunk.

[Guest]

Handy to know that GTX isn't the best oil for these engines but what have you found to be good? I'm about to buy some oil, might as well get something the car likes?

I had this same problem with my Citroen BX, it's not just a Maestro thing!

[SimonR]

Hi Bobbi,

I used to swear by Unipart 10w40 Silver Semi Synthetic oil but can't seem to find it any more.

I've got a different part synthetic oil in JOE at the moment and have had no problems so far.

Basically don't use GTX!

It really is *very* important that the breather doesn't get blocked because crank-case pressure will eventually knacker all the oil seals and you'll have to keep topping the engine oil up as it drips out the bottom. Not fun.

[Guest]

I find a lot of mayo builds up in the breather system as well: noticed it was particularly bad a month back. Took the car on a long 450 mile round trip and this cleared the mayo out completely.

I've often thought the existing foam lagging around the filler tube has long since been soaked/saturated with oil from the drips when filling over the years. This must lower its heat retaining properties drastically, so this is another good reason for re-lagging. Must do it to mine sometime.

Incidentally I managed to get a new filler cap from Helfrauds about two months ago, though this of course may have been old stock.

Anybody know if the modification recommended in Haynes to add on an extra pipe to the filler tube actually works? Anyone done this?

steve H

[G Force]

Anybody know if the modification recommended in Haynes to add on an extra pipe to the filler tube actually works? Anyone done this

Hi, The pipe from the filler tube to the air filter was one of the first service fixes when the cars were still in manufacture. Sadly it does not fix the problem but it does slow down the build up, so for that it is worth doing.

The modification involved drilling a hole in the filler tube and brazing a piece of brake tubing to the filler tube. Then a hole was drilled in the plastic outlet elbow of the air filter box, into which a grommet and stub pipe were inserted. A piece of rubber tubing then connects the two. A lagging jacket was then fitted to the oil separator and filler tube. The idea was that the lagging in conjunction with the fresh air bleed would reduce condensation forming inside the engine.

It should now be quite easy to find oil filler tubes with the stub pipe already in, on scrap yard cars? and if you can get hold of an air filter body top off of say a 216 EFI or 2.0 EFI with the small stub pipe then no drilling or brazing would be needed.

The only sure way to fix the problem long term is as SimonR says is to take the trouble to convert the breathers to the later type, which is quite involved but definitely worth the trouble if you are looking for longevity.

Cheers Gary

[D813YBB]

Interesting point about the change of oil brand. I used to use Castrol Magnatec, but put Halfords own brand in at the last oil change. This roughly ties in with the appearance of the mayo. Unipart oil is difficult to get so which oil is recommended for this engine? I'll look into getting new lagging on at the next oil change. I'm sure the current lagging is well past its use by date. Conversion to the later type sounds beyond my capabilities.

[Guest]

oiifiller breather cap

if tha gauze hs gone you can replace it with stainless steel wire wool or o bronze wire wool both work quite well and don't corrode quickly rgds mike

[Guest]

I used to swear by Unipart 10w40 Silver Semi Synthetic oil but can't seem to find it any more.

Was Unipart a part of the Austin-Rover empire? Cos I was looking for a Unipart supplier to enquire about some part or other but couldn't find any on the net, and the link from the main site doesn't work now either. Maybe Unipart is dead......

[Guest]

You can still get Unipart oils (and many other things) from Partco