Oil Out, Oil In, Oil Out

With the July 2013 heatwave has come the opportunity to do an oil change and refill; the hot weather makes the oil less viscous and hence easier to drain.

Oil Sump Drain Valve

Draining the engines was fairly easy although the drain valves need to be removed completely to get a reasonable flow rate. (The valves are mainly used to drain off condensate that has settled below the oil).

I then began to fill the other oil chambers including the one below which lubricates the shaft used to move the camshafts axially.

Oil Filler (and Emptyer!)

It was easy to get the oil in through the filler hole (with the hex screw-head showing) using a small funnel. Unfortunately, I soon found that there were leaks around where the filler hole support meets the left and right castings.

I loosened the filler hole support and cleaned all the mating surfaces which should provide the seal. I then slapped (technical term!) a load of Heldite on the surfaces and screwed it together again - tightly.

After a while, despite considerable care, I refilled the oil and ... you guessed it, it was no improvement from before and now there is the Heldite in the gap also around where the oil is leaking.

I'm forming the opinion that this was perhaps not one of Sentinel's best designs unless there was originally a gasket present.

Looks like I have an extra task ahead to make an almost cylindrical gasket to wrap around the joint; otherwise, oil consumption will not be a strong point!