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Driving back from green-laning today, on the motorway, kept getting white smoke in the cab... so pulled over, had no oil, (despite checking + topping it up at lunch time) and underneath lots of oil everywhere - however under bonnet it was also everywhere - looked like it was coming out the hole you put it in... after that i took it steady and made it home without any further problems.

just wondered what could cause all the oil the be ejected out the top? I haven't had chance to have a proper poke around in the engine bay yet - just trying to gather some ideas of what to look for :)

Thanks
 
Hmm... It's only had its head replace a few months ago with a new head gasket... but it was a ****part head gasket...
Guess i know what i'll be doing this week then :/
 
Stick yer hand over the oil filler with the cap removed while its idling, there should only be a bit of pressure, if theres quite a lot and you can feel it pulsing then theres blow by, as mentioned knacked piston, broken rings, or less likely the head gasket has failed between combustion pressure and oil ways.
As mentioned too a compression test is a must, you could also do a leakdown test as well for the rings, you can make a simple jig with a spark plug/heater plug for this.
If your friendly with a garage then MOT test equipment can also be used to see if there is products of combustion absorbed into the oil, in other words cack from the chambers mixing with the oil cause theres a hole in the head gasket.
 
right, i was low on radiator water... and the oil was definitely coming out the top where you poor it in, not out of the seals between the head or the rocker housing

There only seemed to be a bit of pressure at the oil entry point, the i was having to rev the engine a bit as it doesn't do idle when cold.

So... to do a proper compression test do i need to go and buy a compression tester?
 
yes but they uis cheap eniugh for Petrol injuns just screws into sparkplug hole.
 
if it turns out to be the head gasket dont worry they are cheep and quick to change (about 1/2 a day)
 
clivees said:
if it turns out to be the head gasket dont worry they are cheep and quick to change (about 1/2 a day)
Click to expand...

I know... i only replaced it a few months ago when i put a turner head on :rolleyes:

It didn't loose any more oil after i topped it up and kept it at 50 rather than 70... dunno if that means anything though
 
70 would make high demands of the old engine, at 50 it would be a lot happier.
That said still shouldnt puke everywhere.
Get yourself a compression tester from halfrauds or better eblag.
 
one was purchased yesterday and i am awaiting delivery - expect a post in a few days with values and the question of what they mean :)

if i'm on my own i sit at 50 happily, but, when out with others they get annoyed when lorries try and run us off the road for going too slowly, so i tend to sit at 100kmph (i work off the memory map speedo as landy speedo cable snapped about a year ago)
 
Ok then that sounds sensible.
I'd have to guess at pressures and say they'd be around 150psi, modern petrols tend to be 175 psi, the landy being lower compression and older is gonna be less.
The actual pressure is not the main thing your looking at, any faults with the engine are likely to be on one or two pots, so its differences in compression pressure that your looking for.
If 3 pots gave between 120 and 160psi and one read 60 then you know summats fecked.
It'll say int instructions too, but theres a trick you can do to see if a low reading is the top end or bottom end passing, stick half a dozen squirts of oil down the spark plug hole of a low reading cylinder then repeat the test, if the compression comes right back up again, the issue is the rings/bore, if not the issue is the head gasket/valves.
 
Thanks, i assume i need to hand crank the engine round when measuring the preasure? (in which case, rocking it in gear works just as well...right? - i don't have a starting handle)
 
Nope dinna bother with that, just remove the lt or ht lead from the coil and use the starter, if you turn the engine by hand you'd might not get an accurate reading, if you have to turn the engine by hand then remove all the plugs to lighten the load on your arms so you can get a faster spin.
Your starter and battery will like you better if you take out all the plugs first, just have the guage in the cyl your checking, that will take most of the load off the system.
 
Off the top of my head a 7:1 head should be around 125psi
and i cant remember what a 8:1 head should be.
Anyway the point is you have to know which compression ratio you have before testing.


You should test the pressure on a hot engine with all plugs out and turn her over with the starter.
 
cheers, whenever this tester actually arrives i shall get onto it
 
Just below 50psi on all apart from 1 which is at about 30psi

But there looks like there is a lot of oil down where the spark plug goes... that doesn't seem right???
 
Nope, if you were using the starter then thats crap, really crap.

One of the tricks is to put some oil down the bore and try again, but I dont think theres any point in trying that if you say theres allready shed loads in there.

Its looking like your gonna have to have the head off again, the oil could come from 3 sources, one is the valve guide oil seals, which is unlikely as this will increase compression.
Another is the head gasket failed oil to chamber, and another is knacked pistons or rings in which case the engine in fecked.
 
dr pepper said:
Another is the head gasket failed oil to chamber, and another is knacked pistons or rings in which case the engine in fecked.
Click to expand...

Here's hoping its the head gasket then! I've booked Monday off work so i will take it off then and hope for the best

If not i guess it's time to do that tdi conversion :rolleyes:
 
Yeah if the pistons are passing the oil then a conversion is a good idea.

Just one thing did the engine smoke badly, from what you say there would have been a smoke screen behind you.
 
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