Dolomite oil leak

[WIMPUS]

Hi,

Seen a Dolomite 1850 for sale and had a look at the car this evening, we opened up the bonnet and we could see that the engine was covered in oil & a lot of oil on the inside of the bonnet  ??) ??)

So, because of that i really thinking of not buying it.
Also because it doesn't start the second time, the first time we opened up the bonnet we could smell start pilot ..  :-/

Body was very good, interior also.


From where could all this oil been leaking ??  :)

[ferny]

Depends where the oil is. Could be from a split cooler hose from its past as I can't think of any other reason to have it on the bonnet. If the body is sound (check underneath!) then ignore the oil leak. Mechanical bits are easy to repair and upgrade, even if it does take time and money to do so. Plenty of excuses to come over here as well then. Stoneleigh?  ;)





You know you want to...

[WIMPUS]

ferny wrote:

Depends where the oil is. Could be from a split cooler hose from its past as I can't think of any other reason to have it on the.bonnet. If the body is sound (check underneath!) then ignore the oil leak. Mechanical bits are easy to repair and upgrade, even if it does take time and money to do so. Plenty of excuses to come over here as well then. Stoneleigh?  ;)

The inside of the bonnet was full of oil around where the thermostat housing is and even dripping/running down when the bonnet was up..
At the inlet manifold at the back was a puddle of oil , thermostathousing was covered & the carbs..

Well the guy was very rude .. so going to see.
The guy also didn't want to go to MOT/keuring (normally they need to do that here when they sell it , it cost for them 15 euro.
If i need to go after i bought it .. cost me around 100 euro , a garage needs to go with it + garage plates & co  :o

He was going to see and call us .. will see ..

Also the selling price is 4000 euro/3150£ and doesn't want less for it ..

[WIMPUS]

and maybe if someone know where to look out for ?  :P

Never seen a dolly up close (or the underside ).
So all a bit new to me dolly wise .

[Nick Jones]

Was the oil filler cap on properly?  It makes a big mess if run with cap off!  How about the breather hose from rocker cover to carbs?  There is a rubber joining hose near the distributor which sometimes falls off or splits.  Shouldn't loose much oil through there unless the engine is worn with lots of crankcase pressure.

Cam cover gasket can leak also but usually on the low side so it drips onto the exhaust manifold causing nasty smells and smoke.

Seems to me that for that kind of money you could reasonably expect a near perfect car and polite, helpful owner (but maybe his wife is making him sell it!)

Cheers

Nick

[WIMPUS]

Nick_Jones wrote:

Was the oil filler cap on properly?  It makes a big mess if run with cap off!  How about the breather hose from rocker cover to carbs?  There is a rubber joining hose near the distributor which sometimes falls off or splits.  Shouldn't loose much oil through there unless the engine is worn with lots of crankcase pressure.

Cam cover gasket can leak also but usually on the low side so it drips onto the exhaust manifold causing nasty smells and smoke.

Seems to me that for that kind of money you could reasonably expect a near perfect car and polite, helpful owner (but maybe his wife is making him sell it!)

Cheers

Nick

Well we couldn't see a lot because it was getting dark..
But the oil filler cap was on good, because we got it off when the engine was running to see and it seemed to be still running the same (don't know anymore if that is good or not  :B )

I'm thinking it something like that, that he needs to sell it from his wife..
Picked up a spitfire 2 days ago in the Netherlands, the guy his wife and children wouldn't go in the car with him  :-/

And we where all 3(me and 2 friends) a bit shocked about the owner and how 'friendly' he was ..
Will see ..

[WIMPUS]

Well the owner called us back.
he was a bit mad / rude that day because my friend was asking questions and breaking the car down very hard and didn't give him a hand & say hello.. and he was feeling attacked a bit..
I was already thinking it was about that  

So he's going to get the dolly to a garage to fix it, because he wants to sell a good car.
He told us that it had 1 problem sometimes..
When it's cold it starts good, but then you come back from the shop it sometimes doesn't start up good ..
So what could that be ? ?  :-/

So will see, maybe by the end of next week we can take a look & testdrive   :)

[ferny]

Fuel leak from the float chambers, fuel evaporating due to poor routing of the pipes, badly adjusted carbs, incorrect needles, worn ignition parts (plugs, leads, cap, rotor arm, coil), etc.

As it only does it when warm I'd assume it's the fuel evaporating because the solid lines are run too close to something hot.

[WIMPUS]

ferny wrote:

Fuel leak from the float chambers, fuel evaporating due to poor routing of the pipes, badly adjusted carbs, incorrect needles, worn ignition parts (plugs, leads, cap, rotor arm, coil), etc.

As it only does it when warm I'd assume it's the fuel evaporating because the solid lines are run too close to something hot.

What i also know is that it has waxstat jets ...

That's something to change first when i buy it !