I've just bought a Mazda 323 TD and it seems the oil is leaking from the filler cap. What could be the problem, obviously besides replacing the cap?
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Blocked vent pipe or positive pressure crankcase valve jammed. Does it run well otherwise. Regards Peter
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Hi Peter, thanks for your reply.
Yes I bought the car and drove it more than 200 miles and it runs beautifully.
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I should had clarified that its engine oil and not fuel that's leaking out. Its coming out of the cap where we put in the engine oil. Thanks
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does it smoke like an old chuffer out of this lid when warm?
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I drove it over 200 miles, from Manchester to Blackburn and then to London and I didn't see any smoke coming out of it.
Its parked up at the moment and I'll be changing oil and stuffs on the weekend so would test it out.
Shall I change the engine oil filler cap or its a sign or something serious?
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The first thing to do is check the seal on the oil filler cap. It might be nothing more sinister than a damaged or missing seal.
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L\'escargot.
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The first thing to do is check the seal on the oil filler cap.
You're spot on there's no seal on the cap and I wasn't entirely sure if its meant to have one, but I guess they all normally have a seal around them?
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If this is anything to go by tinyurl.com/3cddvm (see page 8) then Mazda favour a gasket.
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L\'escargot.
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if seal is missing make sure its not doing the back stroke inside the rocker top
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Are you saying that the seal could be well inside the engine?
If so how could I get it checked?
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If so how could I get it checked?
Take the rocker cover off, and if there's a seal floating about you'll see it. Use a new gasket when you put the cover back on though, otherwise you'll end up with bigger oil-leaks. Buy a whole new filler cap, they usually have an integral seal so it might be hard to find just the seal.
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Its a job which I won't be able to do myself because it seems quite tricky (in particular replacing the gasket). So maybe a drive to my local mechanic and paying him to do the job for me! :(
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Did you check the breather pipes as suggested above. I've had a few cars with blocked breather pipes, the extra pressure has to go somewhere, often pushing oil out of the weakest seal.
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Did you check the breather pipes as suggested above. I've had a few cars with blocked breather pipes the extra pressure has to go somewhere often pushing oil out of the weakest seal.
How do I check this? Sorry if I sound really silly.
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In some cases there is a valve inside the rocker cover, this was mentioned above as a PCV, which can become blocked, without removing the rocker cover you can't check this valve but you can check the pipe that it vents to.
If you look at the rocker cover on top of your engine there should be at least one rubber hose going towards your throttle body or inlet manifold. Make sure the pipe isn't kinked, then remove it and ensure it is clear.
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