Roger Millin wrote: > Quite possible for it to be a head gasket IF there is an rocker shaft oil > return aperture/gallery fairly close to a combustion chamber and, if so, > would give similar symptoms. Give the torquing down a try but, in my > experience on more modern engines once a gasket is gone, it's gone, and > retorquing rarely fixes the problem. If the gasket has leaked across like > you and Pete suspect (hope) then, don't forget, that there will be slight > soot build up in that leak area and you're torquing down onto that soot > which isn't ideal. Bonne chance.
Well retorquing the head made absolutely no difference. I didn't really expect it to, but it would have been the cheap and easy solution if it had worked. I also followed Bungle's suggestion and removed the crankcase cover to see what I could see. To do this I had to remove the starter motor. Not sure how much it weighs, but it's a lot. Can't be far short of 10Kg. "Could be a bit messy" he said. Master of understatement that one. Within a few seconds there was a fair smattering of oil all over the floor and up the wall (not to mention over me). It's difficult to be certain, but I got the impression that cylinder 1 is leaking past the rings. :-( Tomorrow I'll start taking the beast apart to see how bad it is. I've phoned BW to explain I might be overstaying the 14 day limit by a bit. That buggers up my chances of getting to Wendover. Still, at least I hadn't got around to sending off the application form and money yet! Terry Streeter NB Arun - Harefield
