Why did it do that?

[AntStark]

Took the zed for a bit a blast today on the way to pick up my daughter from the station. Some A roads and a bit of motorway. Parked up to drop her off on about a 1:3 driveway and noticed smoke coming from the front grills and driverside side vent.. not loads but noticeable. Thought it maybe seized caliper but didn’t smell like brakes and a quick temp test when I got home confirmed all 4 were the same temperature. Car is running perfectly and not overheating at all.. guage dead centre. Opened the bonnet once it cooled a little and nothing seems out of sorts. Any Ideas ?

 

[bear2020]

Rocker cover gasket leaking onto the manifold?

 

[AntStark]

Rocker cover gasket leaking onto the manifold?

Didn’t really smell like burnt oil either..but could be. Wouldn’t I notice it leaking in normal use though ?

 

[AntStark]

Had some time to poke about under the bonnet today..think I have found what looks like a small leak from the valve gasket. Had a quick look on You Tube for M54 gasket replace and it’s says it’s an ‘easy’ fix ..doesn’t look that hard but thats obviously a bit subjective and dependant on no surprises (treaded nuts etc). Would welcome the perspective from the ZedShed massive if this is something a spanner with a spanner could/should attempt ? @colb @Lee @t-tony

 

[t-tony]

Just a lot of nuts and bolts to remove and replace. Tightening it down is key to a good seal.

Tony.

 

[colb]

As @t-tony says nuts and bolts job if your model has the plastic cover them be sure to replace the 15 round rubber seals under the cover retaining bolts Elring do a gasket set that includes these seals.Also use gasket sealant only around the half moon shapes at the front and back of the cover and between the Vanos at the front where the main gasket changes direction. I use blue Hylomar sealant. Also ensure you reconnect the earth leads that live under the cam cover with the spark plug coils. Leaving them off will fry your DME module. Have done my 2.5 and a few others for members never had any come back. When you get the old gaskets out you will find they have gone hard and brittle through age and repeated heat cycles. It's not unknown for the centre plug well gaskets to develop leaks and fill the spark plug wells with oil.

 

[AntStark]

Thanks @colb, I was looking at the Elring kit that included the round rubber seals. I am going to pluck up the courage to give it a go

 

[AntStark]

Gasket swapped over this weekend. As suspected it had gone solid and shattered into a million pieces when I took the cover off. Relatively easy job even for a novice like me. Just be sure to retrieve all the little bits !

Took about 3 hours, most of which was spent cleaning 22 years of grime and carbon build up off the inside of the cover. Can of Gunk did the job

better

Didn’t forget a bit of Hylomar on the half moons and the vanos join..everything torqued to 10NM

Run out to the ZedShed on Saturday..no signs of any oil leaks…job done!

This was the best You Tube guide I found

View: https://youtu.be/vt91OZJ6JeQ?si=S_kq9e6jboRTHQ81

 

[bear2020]

Its a very simple job to do and seems to be a regular thing to go. Well done saved you a few quid!

 

[AntStark]

So whilst I fixed my oil leak, looks like I introduced a new air leak. Quick diag on the fancy ZedShed scanner and later on my 310 confirmed fuel trims were out (P0173)…check engine light on.
This seemed like a great opportunity to make a smoke test machine which worked a lot better than expected ..culprit found ! Leak from the top of the cover. I suspect the force required to release the cover originally may have cracked it ..it was literally welded on ..either way it’s got to come off again

Whilst I can’t see any obvious damage on the old cover I decided to bite the bullet and just order a new Febi cover, which also came with more new gaskets.

Installed, torqued down and another quick smoke test and all is good and air tight

This afternoons job is to get everything plugged back in

 

[colb]

Well that was a bit of bad luck, have seen the plastic cover on a 2.2 develop a crack in it around No4 plug well, it was actually starting to crumble and develop into a hole cause was age and repeated heat cycles degrading the plastic. Solved that with a used good cover on that occasion. The gaskets suffer from the same age and heat cycles they go through and like you found go completely hard and crack up. Besides the drips onto the exhaust from the main gasket the plug wells can fill up with oil when the centre plug well gaskets fail.

 

[AntStark]

Hopefully this is now job done

 

[t-tony]

I have the rocker cover gasket to do on mine when I get back. A bit disappointing really at low 40,000 miles. But I suppose age has something to do with it at 13 years old.

Tony.

 

[AntStark]

Mine would have been half the trouble if it had been replaced every 40k

 

[AntStark]

All back to normal .. feels a bit more responsive now too