i took my tappet cover off the other day to paint it and for some reason all under the cover and around the rockers a bit was all white goey oil ....as if water was getting in my engine .....but its using no water and the sump oil is fine.....so anyways i cleaned it up and put it bac on and gave it a good drive and after being stopped for a while i looked under the filler cap and there was water condensation?????
\anyone got any ideas why this could be or is this a common prob for "A" engines.....it just seems to be on the top of the tappet cover and cap and nowhere else

thanx for all your help

Nothing weird about it. It would seem that you probably have a leaking head gasket. My suggestion is that you do a cylinder head retension imediately & if you are very very lucky, you may nip it in the bud.
Do each bolt in turn by backing it off half a turn, then retensioning it. If problems persist, then a gasket replacement may become necessary.
If it does become necessary to remove the head, then replace the welch /core plug at the back of the head with a brass one. You will kick yourself if you don't replace it & it starts leaking from a corrosion hole in the very next week.

Oh yeah, run the engine untill hot, then re-do the tappets after the retension, just to be sure.

damn i was hoping sumfin else ....sh*t that sux i only just bought the car too..... why would the oil in the sump look fine though i thought if u do a head gasket the whole lot would be all gross and sludgy not just i tiny bit in the tappet cover??? the car is running better then it eva has before too!! how weirds that
also what about kemiweld dos that stuff work ok ?? or in this case is it all ova 4 me....

well thanx again for all ur help

are there droplets of undiluted water sitting on the head? Thats what my blown A14 had, turned out to be a cracked head. if all the water is emulsified with oil, it'll be a gasket.

great question well there seems to be condensation gathering on the top of the tappet cover and under the oil cap..... which after a while turns to milky stuff when oil has cum into contact with it ..... the oil in the sump is in great condition it looks fine.....but as far as i can see thats whats happenin???

is a rebuilt a14 or just the head hard to get???? if anyone knows of a place now would be a good time to tell me .......cause i think i may be calling them.....

Geez, there's no need to panic yet. You remind me of a schoolgirl that just saw a mouse.

If the oil in the pan is good, then the problem is minor at this time.
Just get out your workshop or maintainance manual, read the bloody thing & retension the head, but do it now as these things don't heal up, they just get worse.

Next, you monitor the situation. Is the coolant level droping noticeably? Is the PCV system working as it should? Do you do only short journeys, or do you drive it enough to warm it up properly?
The oil is probably clear because it gets hot & the small amount of water /coolant that makes it way in there is evaporating & condencing on the cooler rocker cover.

Even if you need a head gasket, it's a job that is comfortably done in an afternoon & the material cost is quite moderate. Just follow the directions in your manual & you won't go wrong.

that's why race car's have catch cans to spit out water and other s*!t that gets in there oil.

i'm not saying to get a catch can but maybe a breather would help.

Unless it has been removed, it already has a breather, it's called a Positive Crankcase Ventilation system & for a street driven engine, it's much better than any catch can system, which is normally used on engines with little or no manifold vacuum & excessive blowby, like many race engines.

I would imagine that removing the CAUSE of the problem would be far more important than trying to mask the SYMPTOMS of the problem.

I see your point.

but where not talking about a new enigine.

It sounds like it just getting worn.