Rocker Gasket swap over

[Mazza]

As forecast is crap for the Bank Holiday, I thought I may as well change over the gasket as there is a small weep of oil into plug number 2. I have had the bits for ages but been putting it off at not too urgent.

Anyway, the book says what to remove and in what order, so got on with it.
What it doesn’t say is that you need the arms of a gibbon, a medical team on standby, and a Buddhist monk to get you calm!!!!!

It actually is fairly straightforward but just bloody awkward.
Anyway got it all apart but I think it needs a bit of a clean before being reassembled.

I assume that thin pipe is an oil feed that drips on the cams, so better make sure that all the holes are clear.

Right, the plan for next couple of hours....
I’ll take the cover apart leave it all soaking ......and then bugger off to watch Bognor v Cheltenham.

 

[5harp3y]

I wouldn't bother cleaning it to be honest

 

[mrscalex]

I wouldn't bother cleaning it to be honest

I thought you were going to say I wouldn’t bother watching Bognor v Cheltenham!

 

[Mazza]

To be honest this season you are probably right


About the cleaning of the cover......don’t really want all that crap dropping down on to the camshaft etc

 

[Mazza]

Cleaned, checked the oil pipe and re-assembled, ready to go back in the car tomorrow. ( if I’m allowed to play in the garage!!!)

 

[Ianmc]

Looks much better cleaned up, I would have done likewise.

 

[jonco]

Cleaned, checked the oil pipe and re-assembled, ready to go back in the car tomorrow. ( if I’m allowed to play in the garage!!!)

Good job - Have you changed the sealing ring where the oil pipe inlet sits (right of pic)? - mine was well baked and cracked up when I removed it. Also suggest you do a dry practice fit before you land the cover - the two cut outs at the back can be a `barsteward' to land properly.

 

[Mazza]

I have the new sealing ring, and complete gasket set to install.
That’s a good idea about a dry practice fit.
The manual recommends some sealant on the two cutouts, which I think will make it even more awkward especially as it’s not easy to get under the cable tray.

 

[jonco]

............The manual recommends some sealant on the two cutouts, which I think will make it even more awkward especially as it’s not easy to get under the cable tray.

I wedged the cable tray up with blocks of wood and vaguely remember putting sealant all the way around to hold it in the groove. You need to keep an eye on cut-outs to make sure they stay in groove as you tighten up - difficult to see - you can feel it if you can get your fingers in there.

 

[Paul Rice]

Took me two attempts ended up with an oil leak at the back. Suggest checking the rear seal with a mirror to ensure you have it seated properly.

 

[Althulas]

Hope it all goes well fitsrt time, be a good one to video if you can.

 

[Mazza]

Hope it all goes well fitsrt time, be a good one to video if you can.

I struggle at being an apprentice mechanic, without adding film-maker into the mix.

 

[Mazza]

No film but a few pictures of putting it back together.
Firstly, cut off all the old rubber washers from the fixing bolts, then I put the new ones in a bowl of hot water to make them a bit more flexible to push them back onto the cleaned bolts

Used a block of wood as suggested to give a bit more room to manoeuvre the cover into position. I tried a dry run and the back end of the gasket didn’t line up and came off the cover so decided to put some sealant round to hold it in place. After about 15 minutes put sealant on the other face of the gasket and lifted the cover into position. Must have caught the back as one of the half moons wasn’t lined up, but put one bolt (just catching )in the middle of the cover ( inlet side) just to hold it and found I could lift the cover and ease the back end into place. I used an led mirror to check that the gasket was in place. Put all the bolts in and tightened to 10Nm. I started at the one I put in to hold it and worked in a cIrcle going outwards

Next put the plugs in...just to stop dropping anything in the engine. 25Nm. ( and the oil cap)

To put the plug leads back I found it easier to mount the leads to the tray , then put the coils and tray back , push the centre tray back into place and feed each lead in order (1 -2 -3 -4) round the back and into place.

Once they were all back in place the filler piece just pushes over the exposed ht leads at the rear of the engine.

Then it was just a case of putting everything back, with hopefully no leaks !!!!

One thing I did was to remove the windscreen washer bottle, originally just to give it a clean inside and out, but doing so gave me more room to get to the HT cable tray. And when you remove the cable tray you only have to loosened the two nuts not remove them, and the tray slides upwards and off the two mounting points.

 

[Ianmc]

Great write up, very clear and comprehensive. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jonco]

Well done - good writeup,tips and pics

 

[t-tony]

Very useful write up for 4 cyl. owners.

Tony.

 

[Althulas]

Nice one thanks for taking the time to take some explanation photos, it makes write up far more interesting.

 

[Paul Rice]

Nice one, very satisfying when it all works

 

[Mazza]

Nice comments. Thank you.
I’m fairly lucky as being retired, and having a double garage means I can work on the car at any time and not restricted by rain or daylight !!!!
It’s also nice to know that if you run into a problem there are people willing to give help and advice, which gives us novices the confidence to attempt this stuff.
I have to admit the more I do, the more I want to do. After reading the recent threads, I will definitely do all the rear end bushes at some time............. Probably when it fails the MOT on rear bushes in May