Sounds like a duff filter replace it with a new one

 

Yeah, I'd put in a new oil filter, tighten as much as poss by hand, and use the recommended semi syn 10w/40 and see if the prob goes away. How bad's the suspected hgf? May be worth bringing that change forward and replacing any other leaking gaskets and seals at the same time...

 

Agreed with above, replace the filter and use the correct oil.

 

5w40 should be absolutely fine (in the UK). Replace the oil filter as it is cheap and easy and probably the problem. Not heard of one coming loose by itself before though!

 

Yeah I guess I didn't consider the filter itself being duff as you'd expect them to not be dead after 2 months but oh well. As for the HGF, I've not got any mixing of coolant and oil yet but it does blow quite a lot of white smoke from the exhaust so it's not catastrophic yet but certainly not ideal. I guess if it's just losing coolant it could be the intake manifold gasket but I might as well do the lot as I don't know if it has the MLS gasket. The HG kit I was looking at has all the manifold gaskets, cam cover gasket, MLS head gasket, new stretch bolts and a few other bits for £40ish so even if I had to have the head skimmed it shouldn't be too bad cost-wise. I'll grab a new filter and stick it on, see if that fixes the problem and then go from there.

 

Check that the old filter O ring has not been left/stuck on the oil filter boss. At my last oil change the O ring stayed behind when I took the old filter off, having 2 O rings is likely to lead to the symptoms you are experiencing.

 

Also a good shout thanks. Looks like I'll be spilling oil all over the uni car park again next weekend >

 

Out of interest, why do you suspect possible HGF and want to change the head gasket?
Seems like a lot of work when there's potentially nothing wrong with it.

My missus drives a 1.4 25 on 39000 miles and I drive a 1.8 75 on nearly 56000 miles - both to my knowledge are on the factory fitted head gasket with no issues whatsoever - just need your regular checks on the cooling system to make sure it stays that way.

The easy route would be to do inlet manifold gasket first - I actually suspect this on my 25 as it loses coolant slowly, misfires/runs rough on startup for a few seconds and there seems to be a notable amount of vapour from the exhaust.
However, there's no mayo on the dipstick or oil filler cap, nothing in the expansion bottle and the coolant looks clean, so in my case I don't suspect HGF.
Maybe some of that rings true with your ZR too?

 

Yeah after I thought about it a bit I actually think I came to that conclusion last year about mine which is why I didn't change it then and then completely forgot about it as the white smoke wasn't as obvious in the warmer months. I was going to change the HG as I don't know the history of this engine so I'm not sure if it's got the MLS one or the original cheese one and it was only £40 for an MLS kit. I'd need to take the intake manifold off to do the head anyway so I could check that on the way through. As I've decided to be lazy for the past few weeks I've actually done nothing with the car but I really should try to get it sorted so I might pull the intake manifold off and have a look when I eventually get round to sorting the oil filter. I've got the MOT due this week so hopefully that won't add to the list of jobs.

 

Maybe the filter has been staying somewhere on the shelf for 10 years or so, the aged rubber ring lost its flexibility to compensate for dimension changes when heating up, making it unwind itself.
Are you sure it is the correct filter? Although they may look the same there are differences in the internal construction, such as pressure of the bypass valve or the position of the non-return valve. If the filter empties itself while parked it must fill up again before oil pressure can be built up, making the engine noisy. So change the filter for a fresh one with the correct specs.

 

OK so it failed it's mot so I guess I'll do the oil filter at the same time I do the cv boot (which definitely isn't leaking because I couldn't get the big clip on tight) and re-thread the hole for the battery securing bolt.

 

I hate CV joints so very much. However after signifcant amounts of swearing and hammering I finally got the CV boot changed (it turned out to be the one I didn't do so I'm not a complete failure at least) and the suspension back together and after a couple of mot fails for the battery not being secure as apparently a rachet strap isn't secure but one of those rubbishy universal battery clamps with some cardboard to space it out is I've now got a fully legal car again :bgrin2:. Still haven't got round to sorting the oil filter though.