About 5000 miles ago I towed my caravan for about 30 miles at about 60mph. When I stopped for petrol I noticed a slight blue smoke coming out of radiator grill. Upon looking under bonnet I could see about one teaspoon of engine oil on tray beneath cooling fan.
I wiped this up and the problem has not recurred despite towing the caravan.
Oil consumption since this time has been about half a litre over 5000 miles.
Today I removed spark plug cover from the plug nearest front on LH side. The plug recess was full of engine oil, the plug was totally immersed in oil from top to bottom.
The other two plugs on the left viewed from the front were the same. I have not checked the three on the other side.
Even with three plugs totally covered by oil the car ran perfectly.
No oil has dripped onto the floor. I have now cleaned the oil out of the three plug recesses and will see if it comes back.
Does anyone have any advice please ?
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Did you find this post when searching? It's all about there being oil where there shouldn't, and may give some ideas. And it has links to a couple of others which may be of interest.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=14...6
Good Luck
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Leaky cam cover gaskets is a common Omega V6 problem; usually the driver's side goes first. The cam covers are plastic; and total carp. Plus vauxhall wouldn't sell me the gasket; only the complete cover : roughly 70 notes IIRC (plus you need various other gaskets for the bits you have to take off to get to the cam cover :-((.
I think AutoVaux do sell the cam cover gaslets on their own; if you fancy a bit of DIY.
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Most likely cam cover gasket. Symptons oil in plug sockets , at base of transmission bell housing, oil on sump, smoke from drivers side due to oil hitting exhaust.
How many miles on the engine.
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Thanks for your reply. I have not yet checked base of transmission bell housing etc.
Since cleaning out recesses yesterday I have done over 100 miles with no sign of any more oil.
I really do wonder whether things just got too hot when towing caravan at 60 mph for about 20/30 miles. Do you know whether I need any supplementary cooler to tow an 18cwt caravan?
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Just in case you haven't bought the gaskets I am told that the later model (1998 onwards from memory) will fit and you can buy these without having to buy the covers. I can give you the part numbers if you need them.
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Dont pay VX c.£60 for what are basically thick elastic bands. Use a tube of RTV sealant in a builders type cartridge gun.
Wash the cam-covers and especially the gasket recesses in fairy liquid. Thoroughly dry and fill gasket recesses flush with RTV. Leave to dry somewhere warm for an hour. The RTV shrinks on drying. Then apply a second bead c.2mm proud. It is fiddly but you can 'play' the RTV with a knife to achieve a consistent 2mm or so. Leave to set for an hour again. You will have to cut off and re-use the 4 semi-circular bits off the old gaskets. Make sure the mating surfaces on cam-housing are clean and oil free.
If you use new VX gaskets you have to use some RTV anyway and people have posted that even with new gaskets they still get oil leaks. You can buy quite a few cans of Stella with the money saved.
It worked for me, but the whole job takes a long time. While you have the inlet manifold off you might want to replace the thermostat if you know it hasnt been changed for a while. You will have to take the top 2 sections of the inlet manifold off. You can re-use the gasket/sealing rings that are inbetween the manifold sections, unless they are obviously damaged. The 16 small 'o' rings that go in the top of the camcovers (for the top bolts) may as well be renewed as they only cost c.£1.50 from VX. Watch out for the 4 small breather hoses that are a very tight fit on the breather unit thingy that sits on the very top of engine. Dont use excess force like I did as the plastic pipe connector/abutment snaps off. However, super glue does stick them back on, eventually. If you need the car back on the road for Monday, dont start the job on Saturday, start on Friday as soon as you can! I even had to use a ball joint separator to get the wiper blades off. If the plugs and leads have not been changed for a while it would be worth changing them whilst you have the engine components off. Dont pay VX £175 for a set of leads, get some from a factors at around £30 plus.
All the best!
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Thank you for your reply. I need to get this fixed quickly now and my local friendly garage is busy for a few days. Reluctantly I have booked it into a Vauxhall main dealer tomorrow. They insist on fitting new covers at a total of £299.00 + VAT.
Financially painfull but at least I can tow my Caravan again for next weeks holiday.
Thanks again.
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