MarkN

Can anyone shed some light on this problem please?

I suddenly got quite a bad oil leak from my engine, and as the sump gasket had been weeping a touch I thought this was the cause. I replaced it and the car was exactly the same. Now I've replaced it again and I am 100% sure it is now OK. Only thing is - it still seems to leak.

I've now worked out that it must be coming from the diptstick tube under full boost, - but the oil filler cap never blows off when this happens. This is a fully rebuilt engine converted to EFi, only done 2000 miles and runs perfectly. I have only turned the boost up in the last couple of weeks and this is when the problem started. Becuase its a Mk3 Escort is has the electronic type dipstick, which does not appear to have a rubber seal around the top. Result - oil all over the back of the engine.

I'm guessing that the increase in boost is responsible for this. I have fitted a brand new EFi crankcase filter, but this does not seemed to have helped.

Is the breather system overloaded? In which case do I need to uprate it to a Bailey set up? Thing is -the car is only a stage one, and I wouldn't have thought a breather upgrade was necessary yet...

Moonie

What breather system have you got, standard or aftermarket?

haz87

I had to "make" a seal for my dipstick as it was doing the same. Was a mk3 electronic one as well. Sorted the problem and never caused any breathing issues afterwards

MarkN

Currently the breather system is a standard Fiesta RS Turbo one to go with the EFi set up. It was coping fine until I turned up the boost.

Haz87 - the seal sounds good - how did you make one?

haz87

With some of B&q's finest accessories,lol. I basically sourced a small piece of plastic (that would fit under the dipstick handle(where the top of the tube goes into)) and then got some rubber trim (like the kind that goes round the heater box in the engine bay) and trimmed to suit. I then pretty much wedged it all in place as it was a damn tight fit. It made pulling the dipstick in and out tough, but it worked,lol!

MarkN

I like it

So is your seal around the top of the dipstick tube itself, or inside the dipstick top? Or do you have to stuff it back in around the joint each time you check the oil?

Its good to know that it can be fixed simply - I was worried that the crankcase was pressurising due to dodgy rings or something...

haz87

I put it inside the dipstick handle opposed to around the tube. This way it was less likely to get damaged/fall to pieces

haz87

And i havent had to remove/re-stuff since btw

MarkN

Thanks for the advice - I'll try and make one up.

I had an old boot seal that I threw away last week - typical I could have done with a bit of it for this job...