Author Topic: Need to sort oil leaks  (Read 295 times)

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Offline Sparkrite

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Need to sort oil leaks
« on: Sunday,August 08, 2021, 07:49:26 AM »
I am working through all the required work on my 73 federal tcs. I have put a new cam cover gasket which leaked unless I had to really tighten the cam cover nuts. The current issue is there is alot of oil coming mainly from around the head to block joint and mainly near the water pump end but still elsewhere. I am thinking to take the head off and use a sealant along with a new gasket. Where can I download the manual for this engine.

Offline BDA

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Re: Need to sort oil leaks
« Reply #1 on: Sunday,August 08, 2021, 08:02:13 AM »
All the manuals (which are searchable) are posted here (http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/index.htm). There is also a lot of other very good information there that you might find interesting and useful.

Offline EuropaTC

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Re: Need to sort oil leaks
« Reply #2 on: Sunday,August 08, 2021, 08:10:53 AM »
As BDA says, the specific manual sections are here.

http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/tcwork/index.htm

The manuals for the Europa are a bit odd. If you buy one then you basically get the S2 manual with supplements for the TC engine and where there are differences.

If you are going to work on the engine then the book by Miles Wilkins, "The Lotus Twin Cam" is really the one you want. It has loads more photos showing every step in rebuilding the entire engine plus of course a more detailed "how to" text. Definitely worth the money.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lotus-Twin-Cam-Engine-Owners/dp/1855209683/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&qid=1628435312&refinements=p_27%3AMiles+Wilkins&s=books&sr=1-6

Brian


Offline 4129R

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Re: Need to sort oil leaks
« Reply #3 on: Sunday,August 08, 2021, 12:23:47 PM »
I fear you may take a long time and spend a lot of money curing oil leaks which may come back.

Old 1960/1970 engines leaked oil.

Colin Chapman said if it didn't leak oil, it would not be a Lotus.

Leaks
Oil
Through
Unusual
Sources.

Offline jbcollier

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Re: Need to sort oil leaks
« Reply #4 on: Sunday,August 08, 2021, 02:57:00 PM »
It is not easy to build a completely leak-free Lotus Twin Cam.  One of the key problems is an only-fair breather system.  Then consider that high revs lead to higher than normal bore wear.  Add in all the almost-fits adaptations to make a push rod engine into a twin cam, and it’s not really surprising that most leak.

First evaluate your engine’s condition.  Compression and leak-down good?  Valve guides (burns blue on start up)?  If that’s ok, you could pull and re-seal the engine.  Also gives you a chance to check the critical crank endplay shims.  If the engine is worn, no amount of re-sealing is going to stop the blow-by pushing oil out.