I always used 10w-40 Castrol Magnatec until recently i changed to gen Mitsubishi Oil (20w-50). Since then i have noticed that a small pool (about 2x 20cent pieces). So i went back to square one and changed the oil back to magnatec and occational i would get an oil smell but nothing dropping in garage.

Last week i was due for another change so this time i thought i would try penrite hpr 10 (10w-50) and since then i was getting a small pool of oil again. This time around i decided that i would not give in and decided that i would look into this a bit more.

What i have done so far:
• Noticed oil was coming from the top of the engine
• Tightened all the rocket covers bolts (within reason) and now there is no oil leaking out through them, checking by rubbing with a cloth
• The blow by hose didn’t have a clap on it so i placed a new on and it had a slight crack in it so i taped it up. Repco told me that i need a genuine hose as they didn’t sell this type, so i temp fix i used the tape with the intention to by a new hose

Problem:
• Car as a burning oil smell coming from above the distributor and sometime cause the engine bay to have a bit of smoke come out of it.

Any thoughts on what this could be as the oil smell is annoying??

Sounds like you have a oil leak somewhere or have spilt some oil onto a part that heats up causing the oil to burn away as it evaperates
Best thing to do would be to full degrease the engine bay first then recheck for any leaks if there are any

Sounds like you have a oil leak somewhere or have spilt some oil onto a part that heats up causing the oil to burn away as it evaperates
Best thing to do would be to full degrease the engine bay first then recheck for any leaks if there are any

Yer i kind of figured it out, i see that it's coming from the breather hose (from one rocket cover to another) - question is around can it be coming from anywhere else? I already taped it and still appears to leaking..... (smell)

its not rocket cover, its rocker cover.

With regards to the breather hose, you can use rubber brake lines of the same diameter and hole width. This is what I did with my 2nd gen to get me by. Dont tape up a wrecked hose, it isn't expensive to replace.

The breathers dont go between the rocker covers, only between the rocker cover and the intake plenum IIRC. As has been said, degrease and check for clean oil leaks. I would check all around the rocker covers and also check the valve for the breather hose isn't blocked. This is a one-way valve and can get coked up.

its not rocket cover, its rocker cover.

With regards to the breather hose, you can use rubber brake lines of the same diameter and hole width. This is what I did with my 2nd gen to get me by. Dont tape up a wrecked hose, it isn't expensive to replace.

The breathers dont go between the rocker covers, only between the rocker cover and the intake plenum IIRC. As has been said, degrease and check for clean oil leaks. I would check all around the rocker covers and also check the valve for the breather hose isn't blocked. This is a one-way valve and can get coked up.

Can you please clarify as where is the "valve for the breather" I think that i might be talking about something different.
The pipe that comes of the rocker cover bottom right and to the other top left (just above the distributor)?

i used to use aftermarket rocker cover gaskets and mine still leaked, i switched to genuine gaskets, it stopped the leak, also check the cam seal, very easily over looked

nar pretty sure its not from the cam seal - is it possible it is coming from the o-ring behind the distributor?

yes it could be, just run your finger under the dissy and see if its wet, not a "hard" job to replace the seal, just fiddly, apart from that, the only place left is the seals where the timing belt is, front oil seal, 2 other cam seals. but you stated it wasn't from there, but trust me, if its not from the dissy, it will be from the rear cocker cover, especially if genuine gaskets was not used. i had the exact same problem with mine, and the rear rocker gasket was replaced just a few months ago, i was completely convinced oil was not coming from there, then discovered it was, because genuine rocker gaskets are thicker, and wider, and they get a better bite when tightened down then aftermarket gaskets do.

The cross over pipe I keep in stock, these do go hard and is common to crack

There is absolutely nothing wrong with aftermarket rocker cover gaskets if fitted correctly and the rocker cover is also reshaped before fitting as they do flare out where the gasket sits

There are 4 places aside from the cam seals that you can get top end leak

1/Dist
2/Thrust Cap
3/rocker cover gaskets
4/head gasket (although very very unlikely)

Best way is to give the enture engine a damn good clean and then have a look. Also make sure that ALL of your breather pipes are nice and clean and your PCV is working as you may be getting pressureisation problems

I had a bit of a leak from the passenger side cam seal on my Magna before i sold it. Another possible place i guess...

Can you please clarify as where is the "valve for the breather" I think that i might be talking about something different.
The pipe that comes of the rocker cover bottom right and to the other top left (just above the distributor)?

The PCV valve (positive crankcase ventilation) protrudes from the rocker cover, it simply pulls off. Mine was quite blocked when I first checked it, so gave it a good dose of carb cleaner. If its free of gunk, you will be able to blow through it one way, but not the other.

On mine it was the spark plug tube seals on the rear bank that were leaking. oil was running down onto the exhaust manifold. easy fix $2 each

On mine it was the spark plug tube seals on the rear bank that were leaking. oil was running down onto the exhaust manifold. easy fix $2 each

Expensive for a mechy to do it though

guys ended up being the blow by hose, runs from one rocker cover to the other (just above the distributor). $16 from mitsubishi, the old was rock hard and cracked in one place.

Cheap fix and finall car doesn't smell like oil every time i drive somewhere!!

Hope this solves other ppls issues!

never thought about that hose, and only replaced that the other day lol, had a pcv problem though, it was jammed open, went to clean it, and it kinda fell apart, oddly enough, since i replaced that, my rear rocker cover stopped leaking (or Ive run out of oil :P). but glad your problem is solved though