I have a leak of oil where the banjo fits onto the block near the dipstick.
So, I decided to just give a little tighten up and snapped off the banjo bolt head. Luckily the rest of the thread wound out of the block easily. So, I am going to order a new banjo bolt and washers.
Please can someone tell me the sequence of washers, crush washers under the bolt head. What I currently had was one crush washer between the bolt head and the banjo and one ordinary washer between the banjo and block. I am not too sure this is correct. When I tried to tighten the bolt it snapped across the weak part of the bolt where the cross hole is. I am not sure but does the bolt bottom out against an end in the block, that is why I snapped it ? In fact I have a mental blank in my head - does the oil flow up the pipe to the head or down from the head to the block as a drain not under pressure, in which case why did I buy the expensive Goodridge braided version not the original solid tube type ? Do I need to put some sealer in the thread to block.
On the XK engines I have worked on , all the copper washers have been the same , the solid type , but see some are of the crush type , think it should be one or the other , not mixed .
Never had to tighten the bolt up more then a nip with the solid type !
You can use either all copper flat washers as per original, or as I recall somebody was offering a new version with a rubber seal incorporated. I wonder if anybody has tried fiber washers?
Copper has a property called work hardening, meaning you can really only use them once or maybe 2 or 3 times before they get too hard and don’t seal as well. But in a pinch you can soften them again with a propane torch.
The bolt does not bottom out in the hole.
The line is under pressure from the oil pump, and flows up to the cams.
You should not need any sealer on the threads.
The solid tube type has to have the banjos correctly bent so they all lay flat against their intended surfaces and in line with the tapped holes. The guy that made these at the factory probably had a setup jig to make them so they always came out right.
If it still leaks with new copper washers, you may have a scratch or nick in one of the sealing surfaces on the banjo or block or underside of the bolt head.
I’ve used “Stat-o-Seals” for these banjos. Aluminum washer with integrated bonded O ring inside the washer. A boon to ham handed mechanics like myself. As stated above, just a “nip” seems to work.
I used the stat o seals once but there are drawbacks. When I took them off, the “rubber” inserts had distorted and were partly covering the oil feed drillings. Also the metal washers are thicker than the original causing slight misalignment in the oilways. I reverted to the original very thin copper washers and its fine - no leaks.
I have been told in the past that the correct washers are very thin copper with a raised crush ring, and you use them on both sides of the banjo. I know SNG sells them. Before fitting them though you want to be able to hold the part up to the bare faces of the sealing surfaces and have the banjos fitting very squarely. If they aren’t, then work the part until they do. If there is any corrosion on the banjo faces lightly sand them evenly and squarely to minimize or eliminate it.
I went through this and with those special washers and very modest torque, my leaks were eliminated to the point that the banjo bolts are developing surface rust. You got off lucky with the way your bolt sheared. It could have been a lot worse. It’s a sign that you’re trying to apply too much torque.
Use the “crushable” copper washers…the ones with the raised bead on them. Technically, to be torqued(crushed) only once. Don’t see why fiber wouldn’t work either…however…they tend to be much thicker, causing potential bolt/banjo fitting alignment problems.
Ok, thank you to all the opinions. What I am going to do is order the new bolt and several different washers and trial fit until satisfied that it fits without stress and a good oil seal.
One last question about the oil flow direction. I assume the oil goes up the tube under pressure from the oil pump, but how does it get to the bolt on the engine block. Is there a tube direct to that port oilway from inside ? The banjo fits the block above the sump level of oil.
There is a provision in the main oil gallery system that allows pressurized oil to flow to the rear main bearing and also over to the other side of the block where the banjo bolt screws into the block. I can’t remember the exact configuration, but I do remember the purpose of the design from the assembly/inspection of my own engine…it was easy to understand/visualize the oil flow.
That’s right. The oil gallery was drilled through from front to rear and both ends plugged; that’s where the oil goes first after it leaves the pump and filter. Notice the six brass hex plugs on the right hand side of the block low down. Those six plugs are where the block was drilled through the oil gallery to the main bearings. The rear main drilling goes all the way through to the left hand side to where the banjo is attached. So any oil that gets up to the camshafts has already passed through the rear main bearing.
Yes, just read all of that thread. Very interesting and I am going to pay extra attention to measuring all the distances inside the banjo bolt and thicknesses of the crush washers. The braided oil feed pipe I have on the 120 is the more expensive item from SNG. C25619U it is the one piece braided pipe. It was recommended by a Jaguar restorer as better than the original type.
I have ordered a bolt and crush washers from Demon Tweeks as they sell the same Zinc coated as the original kit made by Goodridge. Plus have ordered a complete spare set just in case !!
I am now a bit worried, that in fact the oil leak was due to the bolt being loose in the thread in the block and my attempt to tighten was not the cure.
So, when the parts arrive tomorrow I will try the bolt in the block first before trying to assemble the whole thing. Is there a way to seal the thread ?
I had a bad oil leak on my steering box , the gasket someone made was about as thick as paper !
So I made a new gasket , out of the right material ,after a few trips out , I then noticed oil around one of the lower cover bolts , oil was coming up the thread , I took the bolt out and put some Blue Hylomar around the thread and a little in the hole , before replacing the bolt , that stopped the oil !
Steering box is not under pressure like a oil pipe , so not sure if it would do the job , worth trying , or thread lock of some kind !
I don’t think this is correct. I would think that the hydraulic pressure, at least from the pump to the steering box or rack, would be much higher than the 80 psig max you would find in the main oil galley.
This photo shows the left side location Rob describes. There were some applications, and I don’t remember when/where it changed, that picked up the oil feed from the right side of the block from the main oil galley.
Mea culpa. Steering box cover is much different than a hydraulic connection. Sealing compounds are not recommended as replacements for an engineered metal/fiber/elastomer gasket in pressurized hydraulic systems.
