strange oil leak

[mike24290]

Hi all
1977 Renault 4 L 782 cc
I have an oil leak above the pully driving the ancillary items defiantly not from arroud drive pully but from above ,have checked and replaced rocker box gasket not from there
but oil runs down front of block and gets spread backwards via fan although it doesn't seem to use water the exhaust steams a lot !
hope its just the head gasket !
just have to start by removing cylinder head
any other ideas ?

 

[jcarruthers2]

When changing the rocker cover gasket, did you also change the circular gasket washers which sit on the rocker cover studs sandwiched between the rocker cover nuts and rocker cover?

 

[mike24290]

thanks for your response
No I made some washers from leather it only leaks when engine is running
but its not coming from there its below the cylinder heard and above the camshaft aux pully there is no oil leaking behind water pump confusing
I think the oil feed to the rocker shaft is at that end of cylinder head
think I need to remove cylinder head and look again .!
Bizarre !!

 

[JdeW]

You´ve got a 839-06 (or 07) 782 cc Billancourt engine and these engines don't have an oil seal at the end of the camshaft that drives a pulley.
The sealing is done using helical machining (grooves) in the opposite direction of the engine rotation, the same for the crankshaft.
If there is a leak it is probably because there is too much play between the camshaft and the bore of the first bearing.
The clearance at the flange should be around 0.060 to 0.14 mm.
It is also possible that sediment has built up in the grooves, preventing oil from being returned, so cleaning those grooves could help.

 

[edwin]

I had the same problem on the drive shaft output on my MGB, and cleaning the grooves stopped the oil leaking out.

 

[Crelesy]

Yup. Same here. I also have the 782. Engine. What also helps is filling it with 20W oil instead of 10 or 15W. But trust me, oil sweating out of there wil be normal.
Mine always loses 1 or 2 drops every where I park after a + 50 km / 30 mile trip