Smokin'

[Chris Preston]

I will try and be as calm about this as I can.
If one was braking ( hypothetically of course) in a reasonable manner from say 80mph, to a halt would it be very unusual to notice wisps of smoke from the offside front disc, said disk is (was) in good nick and pads have 5mm wear left on them.
THis only happened once and brakes seem fine afterwards. THe smoke was only fleeting when car was stationary and accompanied by the whiff of hot brake pads.....
Has any one else had this happened, and am I deluding myself all is OK ???

unfortunately I have no idea what type of pads are fitted to my car....

 

[John Sims]

Fleeting smoke? Pah!

During Snetterton passenger runs, a couple of years ago, my Lux brakes smoked vigorously for more than ten minutes on return to the paddock. I had been chasing an Aston Martin Vantage at the time.[]

It didn't seem too much of an issue to me but Dearly Beloved nearly wrote the car off the following morning when it wouldn't stop at the end of our road. [&o]

 

[Diver944]

That does sound unusual. 80mph to zero as quick as possible is not an unusual occurance. You sure it wasn't a partial locking of the tyre, or a small leak of brake fluid onto a hot disk?

 

[Peter Empson]

Possibly cam cover gasket?

 

[rob16v]

That seems to be where oil is coming from, Peter, Checked cork gasket and that's dry. Small cam cover bolt loose so tightened it but still oil leaking. Looks like cover will have to come off to replace gasket.

 

[924nutter]

ORIGINAL: rob16v

That seems to be where oil is coming from, Peter, Checked cork gasket and that's dry. Small cam cover bolt loose so tightened it but still oil leaking. Looks like cover will have to come off to replace gasket.

Once oil has been absorbed by the gasket no amount of normal tightening will stop the leak, as the oil will always capilliary through. I know this from my Beetle days. Cork gaskets seal extremely well if compressed when dry on dry surfaces. These days I might favour a little blue hylomar but dont put so much on it blobs on the insde edge and falls off providing the perfect plug to inlfiltrate an oilway and occlude, or even block it.

 

[rob16v]

So best to replace cork gasket first? Haynes manual offers no encouragement when it come to removing cam cover. Is it a job for home mechanic or one for the experts?
Thanks, Rob.

 

[rob16v]

Oil seeping from the rear corner of the cam cover so I suspect the gasket needs replacing. Looks like a major event to remove the cover. Are their any obvious pitfalls or do I follow my old school motto "Discimus Faciendo" - we learn by doing. By the way I live in Wolverhampton. Can anyone recommend a decent indie in these parts and where's the best place to source a gasket? Thanks.