Oil leak from crankcase

[Keith Clements]

Good morning gents.

I wonder if I can pick your brains?

We’ve got an oil leak from the crankcase as depicted which we’ve tried to temporarily fix with araldite (without much success)!

The clerk of the course was a little perturbed by this at our last outing at Silverstone!

Does the crankcase come in 2 halves? I can see five bolts which appear to be joining the 2 halves together. Is there a proper seal that sits between the 2 or is it sealed with gasket cement?

Presumably we would need to remove the engine, separate the two halves and reseal?

We are racing next at Brands Hatch on Sunday the 30th June and are keen to be sorted by then.

Many thanks indeed.

BW

Harry N

[Keith Clements]

There is no gasket between the two halves.
i use a smear of hylomar along that join.
The case halves are held together by 6 large bolts. You should check the torque on these. Those 5 along the top add a bit more around the camshaft but are not so important.
You could try an oilite stick...
before taking the engine out to reassemble.
All manuals are in the library on the website.
If this has just started it would suggest some stretching somewhere which would
need investigation before it gives way.

Hi Keith

Many thanks for the prompt reply!

Its been an issue since we’ve had the car but now that its been picked up by the officials I guess we’ll need to address it rather than simply topping up regularly with oil!

Hopefully tightening the main bolts will improve things and we’ll try the oilite stick.

I’ll let you know how we get on.

Many thanks indeed

H

When you tighten the main bolts check the crank still easily turns. Do not forget the one inside the tappet cover.

Harry,
Prior to delving in and taking the engine out, suggest the following check :-
There appears to be a lot of oil in the top engine galleries which CAN suggest a leak further forward, maybe around the rear timing housing.
Suggest you wash the engine down thoroughly with gunk or something and give it a good hose down.
Once dry and clean, run the engine up and carefully look for the point were the oil is coming out. My thoughts are nearer the front. !!!
Also the weep from the large hole on the top of the Bell Housing may point to a rear Crankshaft oil seal leak. This can be better checked from under the car around the Clutch area.

Worth trying

Drummond

Hi Keith

I’ve been trying to work out where the 6 main bolts are although I haven’t looked at the actual engine as yet as I can’t access the car until next week!

I can’t seem to identify them from the drawings of the engine that I’ve looked at . You mentioned one inside the tappet cover. Are the others all external or do you have to remove the cylinder heads to get to them?

BW

Harry

[Keith Clements]

Drawing 9 shows the bolt hole under the balance pipe .
The Tech notes should be read, in particular Parts VII and VIII
Also Philip's pdf on the rebuild in this post and here
You can see it hiding under the balance pipe on page 7 of the parts book.

There are many images in this topic

and if you want to spend a day reading there is the rebuild of the SA but go to around 13 Dec 2017 for the crankcase rebuild.

Note that some of the links above will only work for club members. Contact webmaster if you think you should be in the club members' group.

I mentioned this to Harry as when I first rebuilt Josephine's engine in 1969 I struggled for days getting the block apart. Eventually I went into the library and found a parts book from which I copied a page. Armed with this I found it. No Internet, had not heard of the club and no website in those days. I knew nobody else who owned or knew anything about Jowetts.

[harrynaerger]

Many thanks indeed Keith.
I think I've now got it sussed but I will keep you updated on our progress.
What a marvellous resource!