oil spraying from timing cover?

[chrisdurham]

hi guys, bit of an odd one - took chim out (4.3rv8) and when i hit about 4000 rpm, i smelt burning oil, so i stopped and found oil had sprayed as far as the radiator fan, covering the exhaust. got it back home on ramps, and couldnt quite identify where it was originating, but the pulley is dispersing it everywhere too.

ive attached some pics, bit of background, i fitted a new cam a few months ago, replaced all gaskets and all was well. I did think oil pressure was much higher since the rebuild, but apart from that all well.

Now looking at the marks on rad fan, there is only a few places the oil could have come from (its worse at high revs).

Down the right hand side of the front cover (as ur looking at it from the front) there seems to be 2 small holes and also a larger 1 for a bolt. Now i compared to my rv8 westy - it also doesnt have a bolt in, but the small ~1mm diameter hold is plugged.

Any thoughts here? its a pre serp by the way

[grngriff]

Hi
Second photo down, on my 430 no bolt in there.just open
Just checked again,mine is as your photo so not that mate

Pete

Edited by grngriff on Saturday 4th May 23:06

[chrisdurham]

cheers mate -

did you happen to see if yours also had NO pin in the small hole under the big hole with no bolt - tvr hasnt - westy has

[grngriff]

All three have nothing in just as yours mate

Pete

[Barkychoc]

Poss engine breather so building up crankcase pressure and blowing oil past seals? Wild guess.

[Discopotatoes]

Can you replicate it just by revving the engine with your head under the bonnet?

[Engineer1949]

my first port of call would be the front crank seal, was it replaced when the cam was changed if not i would have a good look there.


john

[EGB]

If oil pressure is ok and just a strange leak, try sealing the holes with chemical metal Plastic Padding. I used it for a temporary repair for an exhaust gasket.

[Hedgehopper]

Pinhole in oil filter from flying stone damage?

[Aussie John]

Worth checking the oil pressure senders.

[chrisdurham]

hello,

i can replicated it a bit - eg i can see the downpipe getting soaked but not the origin.

i replaced the front crank seal when i done the cam.

ive stripped it down today and taken the front cover off, seal actually looks ok, as did the sump.

one thing i did notice when i stripped the oil pump was that there was a large grub screw on the end of the pressure relief valve spring (at the bolt end) so mustve been put in to incease oil pressure?

I am pretty sure that the oil pressure is too high - was hitting 60+ psi when warm at 3k rpm.

I am intending on rebuilding with one of the tadpole ones and a new std spring and replace all the gaskets and see how it goes then

[chris1972]

It would be worth checking your oil sender first to ensure that it isn't the cause and not the oil pump.

I know it sounds stupid, but have you got a photo of your oil pressure relief spring on the pump? I can't seem to find one on my pump and have looked from all angles. It simply has several blanking plates to cover the various threads.

[spend]

chrisdurham said:

screw on the end of the pressure relief valve spring (at the bolt end) so mustve been put in to incease oil pressure?

I am pretty sure that the oil pressure is too high - was hitting 60+ psi when warm at 3k rpm.

That sounds like the mod so that you can adjust the pressure that the PRV regulates.

Typically I use a long enough socket set screw so that you can fit a dowty washer & nut to lock & seal the screw when set. Just a grub screw on its own is unlikely to seal the thread at the point even if the original fitting was tapped precisely (which combining the tolerance of thread cutting & that the thread is not a sealed pipe / taper just adds to the amount it could leak). The lock nut & washer is what will seal the unit up (many will use a soft plain washer)

[chrisdurham]

hello, heres some pics to explain.

Should the washer that goes onto the bolt that hold the spring in be oridinary copper? like ive used or the ones with the rubber insert?

[spend]

Sorry ignore what I said, what you have is fine... Its a grub screw sat inside the bung, not through it, so rather than being adjustable just packing the spring preload a tad. It's been so long since I've had to visualize the TVR pre-serp front cover & oil pump I misinterpreted your question

[chrisdurham]

haha no problem, i think the valve has/is been sticking shut as ive been getting over 60 psi... and i think its blown a seal somewhere at the front.

Caleld around, only john eals that does the tadpole ones and they have none in and use a different system now, so looks like ill need to clean the old one up and put it back in :+(

[chris1972]

Useful pics, thanks for posting Chris. I was looking for something completely different I had seen (I think pre-serp pressure valve?). I'm going to remove and clean mine. Did you use a new copper washer? Did you add any rubber seals or something to seal the threads?

[chrisdurham]

yes, was a new copper, but nothing to seal the threads, some also say to use a fabric washer? so not sure which is correct?

[chris1972]

I put a new pressure switch in mine yesterday. It had a smaller rubber washer near the pressure sensor (for the chamfered mating surface inside) and a larger copper washer around the thread base.

However, I sometimes wonder if fibre washers are less prone to distorting under pressure. I purchased a box of fibre washers and a box of rubber washers of Amazon for a few pounds. I should have got the copper ones as well!