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Sasquire
27-11-2004, 09:58 AM
Hi,

I posted a number of months back about leaking oil and good ol' white smoke (and electrical probs). Turned out to be the usual rocker sealant coming loose and spitting oil everywhere (including onto the Alternator... effectively killing it and therefore three batteries in my garage :redface:)

This is a 91' TR SE Auto Sedan

Sent it to the mechanic around the corner and he fixed it up, including a steam clean, timing chain thing and I think a refurbished alternator (looks new anyway and its works) for $300. No doubt it could have been alot more if you guys hadn't cleared up some pointers so I sounded like I knew something when I gave it to the mechanic :D

I recently moved house and the oil has started up again with the smoke (only a few weeks after the repair!). The alternator is clean (phew!) and so are all the chains, belts). I've also check the rocker sealant but its fine. I noticed a large buildup of oil below that area (rocker arm/cylinder head??) Basically, there's oil drooling down from the right side and back of the lower part of the rocker (standing over the engine from the front of the car). Like it's coming from the bottom of the rocket where it sits on the next piece below (soz for the bad description but I have trouble opening the bonent lol ) It's alot heavier than the previous sealant prob and driving me mad. Can't see exactly where. Just that the buildup is below the rocker seal but the seal itself is clean and holding fine.

Any ideas? It smokes again at startup but fades away with time. Obviously, the oil could be soaking upwards confusing its actual leak location. Anyone know any good mechanics near Pakenham, Melb?

Thanks again,

pseudomorphous
27-11-2004, 02:49 PM
My rockercover was leaking oil for a while until i fixed it. Go to a mitsi parts and you can buy the rocker gasket/seal, 2 bolt seals and the cresent moon for a total of about $20. or you could try some gasket sealant from a tube which is pretty cheap. Other problem could be like what i had which was a fracture along the rocker cover which leaked the oil. First would be to find where its leaking then decide what to do. Also do you mean that white smoke is comming out your exhaust or from in your engine bay? Coz if its comming out your exhaust then thats nothing to do with the rockercover seals. Also $300 for all that including timing chain is damm cheap. Are your sure he actually did all he claims? coz usually it costs a lot more to do a timing chain replacement and such.

Sasquire
27-11-2004, 03:19 PM
The white smoke at startup is coming out the exhaust. It started to go away on the last repair but reappeared at the same time the oil stain returned.

I'll have to grab myself a torch to hunt down the actual leak cause it seems to be hidden away.

I'm sure it's not the rocker sealant this time.... looks like it's coming from the next level. :confused:

The mechanic I went to was called Elwood Automotive on the corner of St Kilda Rd and Glenhuntly Rd. Nice chap in charge...

typhoon
28-11-2004, 09:46 AM
Hi,

If you have white smoke at startup which disappears over say five minutes, it's pretty definitely valve stem seals. They can be replaced on the engine with a couple of special tools, but a mechanic is going to try and hit you up for a recoed cylinder head, which will be UNNECESSARY. They will try and justify it with things like "all the valves will need redoing" etc. Don't buy into that. To confirm valve stem seals, pull out a sparkplug. If the threads are oily, there's your problem. Also, if you park your car with the front pointing uphill, it will help as teh oil will drain away from the exhaust valve stems while parked.
So, you can hunt around till you find a mechanic who will replace the valve stem seals only(should take about an hour plus parts, say under $100), or you can live with it. The smoke wil only damage your ego!
As for the leaking rocker cover, that's one of teh few areas Mitsubishi really stuffed up. That huge rocker cover is only tensioned down by a couple of bolts. You can try tightening them back down, or take the rocker cover off and use silicone sealant instead of a gasket. You'd have to thoroughly clean the mating surfaces, but you said you're a bit of an automotive butterfingers, so I'd leave that one alone for now! It shouldn't need a new gasket this soon after an old one, unless it wasn't installed properly. But, the new gasket may have compressed and only needs a little more tightening.

Regards, Andrew.








The white smoke at startup is coming out the exhaust. It started to go away on the last repair but reappeared at the same time the oil stain returned.

I'll have to grab myself a torch to hunt down the actual leak cause it seems to be hidden away.

I'm sure it's not the rocker sealant this time.... looks like it's coming from the next level. :confused:

The mechanic I went to was called Elwood Automotive on the corner of St Kilda Rd and Glenhuntly Rd. Nice chap in charge...