Thread: How a simple job turns into a larger job

It never ceases to amaze me with the p38 how a simple 5 minute job can turn into a 4 hour job .
I had my breather hose from the drivers side rocker cover turn to goo so decided to replace it, and whilst I'm at it I might as well do the other side as well as the oil separator valve (Xmas tree). Placed the order with Paddock Spares for £5.50 plus shipping and as usual from these guys turned up within a week . Last night I decided to fit the parts. The hose to the LHS went straight on without a problem. The RHS hose will go on but I cannot get the little plastic Xmas tree out from the rocker cover. Somewhere along the way I had read that the Xmas tree can be easily popped out if you remove the rocker cover then lightly tap it out... Go to remove the rocker cover and guess what, these are not your run of the mill hex head bolts, no no no, these are a star head 5/16". I thought I had a good collection of sockets, and yes I found a 1/2" drive 5/16" star socket, but it doesn't fit in the recess of the rocker cover . You need a 3/8 or preferably a 1/4" drive socket. So off to Bunnings fork out $4.80 for one socket and head home to complete the task. After some effort the rocker cover comes away and then it's time to take off the baffle plate. This should be straight forward? After all it's been inside the rocker cover covered in oil most of the time, but no the 8 little Philips head screws are stuck solid. Out with the impact screw driver and hammer and they can all be removed. The little Xmas tree was able to be popped out using a punch and hammer and they can now be removed. The oil separator Xmas tree was blocked to the point of being anything other than a plug! A quick clean up and reassemble with the sparkling new Xmas tree and all back together. Started at 5pm finished at 9:30 with a half hour break for dinner. Thankfully I won't need to do the Xmas tree for a while.

Gary

Old cars are like old houses. One job leads to another six. I think the only straight forward job I've ever done on nora was fitting new O2 sensors. Everything else usually mushrooms as you've described.