Hi, just bought a focus LX 1.6 petrol. and I am looking at the top of the engine and it looks like it is sealed with black silicone sealant... and it doesn't look normal to me.

it is difficult to see in the photo, but its it between the black top part and the aluminium part of the engine.

any help would be great, thanks.

would be very wary of sealant on the cam cover gasket...can effect emmissions amongst other things...need to get the cover off and remove all traces of it

two possible reasons for it being used...

either cam cover is cracked or distorted, better off replacing

or gasket is leaking, again, better off just buying a replacement

ahh I see, there does seem to be oil splatting out around the top of the engine too... does this point towards the rocker cover gasket?

cheers.

possibly either gasket or damaged cover.

silicone sealant is something you dont want anywhere near engine gaskets...has a habit of breaking away on the inside and clogging up oil/water passages...then you have problems....not to mention its even possible to ruin your 02 sensors/catalytic...need to get rid of it all sooner rather than later

The original gasket isn't visible as it's a rubber tube type that sits in a recessed channel in the plastic black top, and it must be sealant because I doubt it could get hot enough to melt the plastic and still run under any circumstances.

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Ford OC mobile app

I have done a couple of gaskets on those engines now, sealant on the corners and across the bridge bits of the camshaft sprockets isn't unusual.

I would start with a new gasket and clean up the cylinder head and see if it cures it