Hi all,

ive got an oil leak at the back of the engine (V6) somewhere and its leaking onto the exhaust leaving a burning oil smell in the car.
I have a feeling it is the rocker cover but not sure. Is there a common spot on a magna that has the tendency to leak that i should look at? I dont think it is the head gasket because im not loosing compression or anything.

do you know if its at the top or bottom? rocketcover gaskets are a common thing but if its bottom then it could be your rear main

Check the rocker cover bolts are torqued up properly. Loose bolts = rocker cover seal leakage especially if the seal has hardened with age.

Cheers

thanks guys. i will have to get a mirror in there to see. is the rear main a big job to do if it is the problem?
also where do i go about getting specific magna parts, such as those gaskets and other things like the cooling water inlet pipe

thanks guys. i will have to get a mirror in there to see. is the rear main a big job to do if it is the problem?
also where do i go about getting specific magna parts, such as those gaskets and other things like the cooling water inlet pipe

for things like gaskets and hoses mate, just go to autobarn/repco/bursons/R&E Autos.

thanks guys. i will have to get a mirror in there to see. is the rear main a big job to do if it is the problem?
also where do i go about getting specific magna parts, such as those gaskets and other things like the cooling water inlet pipe

Cost me $300 from memory.

Just a quick "word to the wise" - by all means check and tighten-up the rocker-cover bolts, but don't go all RAMBO about it....... they need to be firm, but if you overtighten them you can distort the rocker cover itself. Do this badly enuf and you'll have trouble getting a brand new gasket to seal properly, let alone 'nipping-up" the old one!

This is esp applicable on 3rd Gens (cos rocker cover has inner and outer metal skin forming the gap the gasket sits into), but also applicable to 2nd Gens too. Also, tighten the bolts gradually and in sequence - don't do one end real tight and thengo to other end, do them up in stages and evenly as possible.

Is your car a V6 or Ass-tron? Try to have a good look, or otherwise test, where oil seems to be leaking. Check from top and from underneath if possible, look for "tracks" of oil dribbles, and also look to see if any oil/grease etc is getting flung off pulleys, driveshafts etc (just pretend you are "Dexter", looking at blood spatter patterns).

If you think you find a leak and do something to correct it, give the car a bit of a degrease/wash, then drive for a day or two and check again.

If you can't find an obvious leak with a "dirty" engine first time, maybe try the "wash/degrease/drive/check" sequence and see if that helpe to show it up!

good advice i keep my engine bay very clean so when somthing goes go wrong etc oil leak i can spot it straight a way and fix before getting any worse about 6.00 spent well

do you know if its at the top or bottom? rocketcover gaskets are a common thing but if its bottom then it could be your rear main

Daniel, I have a similar problem to what you describe and have just solved it. You may have read my thread on the topic. I just posted the follow up to it today. The link is
http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64344&highlight=head+gasket+oil+leak

You will have to remove the timing belt covers completely to get a proper look at the cam seals. Pulling them back at the top will not show you the seal and then the seal leaks downwards and does not spray out onto the belt. If its not the cam seals, then it will be the tappet cover.

I hope this helps and it is a simple answer to your oil leak.

Yarrum

Had the same problem on mine a while ago. Turned out to be the rear rocker cover gasket. Was slopping oil over the rear of the head, and pooling in one of the "V's" on the exhast manifold. Rear breather hose was blocked solid, which wasn't helping matters. I changed the gasket, and cleaned the breather. I'd try cleaning breather hose first, see if it sorts it, as you have to remove the plenum chamber to gain access to the rear rocker cover. Not a huge job, but a pain to do if it's only a blocked breather hose.

Hey Yarrum, thanks for that. confirmed what i thought. I had the whole intake and rocker covers off last week with no success. I did see some oil in the timing belt chamber but ran out of time to confirm. Ive been meaning to replace the timing belt for the last 9000 kms its sitting there just havent been bothered so will to that soon, including the seals.
Thanks all for the help everyone.

I just thought I'd throw in here that my oil leak(s) were slowed considerably simply by cleaning the PCV valve. Now I give it a blast through with carb cleaner every 5000k when I change the oil and it seems to keep things under check. They don't stop but they are considerably slowed - to the point where I don't even give them a second thought now. Car only uses about a lite in every 5000 kilometers.