When I removed the undertray it’s hard to see where it’s splattered to movement of the oil. Nothing on the peripheries though to suggest rocker cover. Top half of the block is bone dry
I am going to get the car up in the air as best as I can next weekend.
I do have catch tanks yep, but they have been on for a while. Dipstick looks good as well.
I think its one of two things based on I cannot see any oil on the diffuser, and its only marked on the center ish of the undertray. There is no sling from the pulley either.
Dipstick O ring leaking ( but seems a bit toomuch oil for that? )
The oil breather that goes from the block to the rocker cover.
Either way, It only leaked on my longer run back, as I checked the floor for oil stains just before leaving for home.
Weird, and its a PITA without being able to drive onto a ramp!
Typical it’s on the side of the engine hard to access/see. It does seem like a fairly substantial leak, in a good way - it should be easier to track down. When I had my crank seal leak it was so slow/steady that it was really hard to identify a source - it just got everything dirty without dripping down onto the under tray.
Near the aforementioned blob of sealer on the inlet side of the engine is that solid breather hose thing - should be easy enough to see if there’s oil dripping out of the underside of that.
Andy - do you know if the dipstick is still the original ‘katana’ one ? The solution used by Essex was not perfect - I had issues a couple of times with mine - it was towards the base of the tube where it would weep… when I got the 280s kit fitted, H111 put a whole new tube on…
Its a modified Katana one ( standard n/a version from what I can tell ) that is reshaped. I am thinking this is where I am losing the oil as well. There are only a few places we can really lose the oil on these - this seems favourite.
andybond how is the arch liner at the direct 12 o’clock position in your car? I whipped my wheel off last night for a post Peak District inspection and I’ve been scuffing the roofing tape - so I’m not completely in the clear yet.
I’m beginning to think my archliner is simply not sitting right, probably due to pressure from the CC hoses. The bulge that hides the head lamp cluster is well known as being sacrificial, so I could live with scuffing that up - but the fact I’m eating the very top of the arch liner too makes me think something isn’t lined up right.
I would concur - something doesnt sound right there.
The metal plate at the top of the arch liner sits behind the top liner, a gentle wiggle and everything lines up. One metal screw on the top right of the front liner and two plastic screws towards the bottom hold it in firmly and away from any wheel/arch interference.
I dont think I have any pictures but could get one?
Yep all of the fixings line up and are in place for mine - I replaced the metal screw with a rivnut and bolt recently just to make it a bit more secure, but there’s certainly something not right.
What tyres are you running? I wonder if the ZZR has a ‘squarer’ profile which may be contributing.
Maybe the tyres are adding a millilitre here and there but can’t imagine it’s significant.
I think once you do a trackday in yours we can probably make a fairer comparison, there was no audible evidence of my wheels scrubbing on my drive out at the weekend but there are witness marks which suggest otherwise. On track it was horrific, sounded like slaughter!
Both my arch liners had “disappeared” at the 12 o’clock position as well as behind the headlights. My car was running a lot lower though,
Also my charge cooler pipers were routed in a similar way, I don’t think you will ever stop them wearing once the car is lowered unless you up the string and roll bar rates.
I’m really not sure what issues it can cause by them not being there? I never bothered to repair them after replacing them once and wearing them through on one trackday.
No issues really, at Blyton I was being overly cautious because for all I knew the sounds I could hear were chewing away at my oil cooler lines, charge cooler lines or AC plumbing - all had been disturbed/slightly rerouted over Winter so I had to be sure. Now that I know the wear patterns are miles away from that danger zone, I could drive with more confidence despite the scuffing.
Aside from that, it’s just dirt/water ingress into the inner wing which I could do without. I’m happy to keep patching mine with the roofing tape now after each trackday if needed - but we’ll see if I cause enough damage to burn through on my next track day. I guess eventually it will wear back to the point I have enough clearance anyway!
I am anticipating my oil leak as a failed / dislodged O ring. Do any of you use a RTV like hylomar or anything to seal it in anticipation of it happening again?
Where do you get your spare O rings from?
I’ve got hundreds of o-rings of various sizes, most of them from Amazon Prime variety packs. Welcome to have a rifle through them if you want, but they tend to be pennies to pick up - always come in handy for something (such as Nitrons )