15 replies to this topic

[GregAndAbbie]

Hello all!,

 

We're back again and armed with a few more questions, we've noticed we've got quite a bad oil leak which is leaving a nasty mark on our garage floor. Being a bit new to Minis still, we were wondering if anyone had seen anything in a similar place or had to deal with similar? We're hoping to do an oil change soon, although there's just no point whilst she's leaking oil. Any tips or advice would be hugely appreciated

 

Thanks,

 

Greg And Abbie

 

[smartie93]

A quick tip, clean up the engine, the oil leak will be easier to trace :)

 

Unfortunately that does look like a leak from the timing cover, which is a bit of a pain to sort

 

Clean it up and hopefully it's actually leaking from somewhere that's much easier to access :)

[GregAndAbbie]

@ smartie93 - Thanks for the tip, we'll give that a try at the weekend to see where exactly it's coming from. At the moment it's so hard to tell with so much gunk on the engine, although it's probably doing a nice job of rust proofing things haha.

 

I do hope it's not coming from the timing cover, is there any common spots for the A Series engine to leak oil at all?

[smartie93]

Umm it's more common for them to be leaking than not, keeps the front subby rust free as you said haha

 

The most common oil leak would probably be the gear selector shaft seal, it's almost a routine service item haha, but that wouldn't lead to a puddle in a place like yours. 

 

You might be lucky and its the rocker cover gasket that's gone, though I wouldn't hold my breath

Edited by smartie93, 29 September 2013 - 10:18 PM.

[GregAndAbbie]

@ smartie93 - Thanks again for you reply, we're learning more and more every day, still such a long way to go though haha. Luckily I don't think we've got any other leaks, although this one is bad enough as it is, so I think we're lucky on that front but all will become clear when it's a bit cleaner in there. I would love for it to be the rocker cover gasket, I did check that initially and it doesn't really look like that's where it's coming from but I'll double check just to be sure as I would love for it to be (I even have a spare in the garage). 

 

If it is from behind the timing cover, would it be an engine out type job?

 

 

Thanks again!

[smartie93]

@ smartie93 - Thanks again for you reply, we're learning more and more every day, still such a long way to go though haha. Luckily I don't think we've got any other leaks, although this one is bad enough as it is, so I think we're lucky on that front but all will become clear when it's a bit cleaner in there. I would love for it to be the rocker cover gasket, I did check that initially and it doesn't really look like that's where it's coming from but I'll double check just to be sure as I would love for it to be (I even have a spare in the garage). 

 

If it is from behind the timing cover, would it be an engine out type job?

 

 

Thanks again!

You can probably get it striped down in situ but I can't imagine there would be enough room

 

I'd pull the engine, they're very straight forward to take out and it's worth trying yourself, obviously as long as you have access to a hoist

[sledgehammer]

I would first check the breathers are clear , there could be a build up of pressure forcing the oil out ... but ...

 

that does look like a timing chain gasket fail

 

it's not the worse job to do with the engine in place

 

the worse part is getting the rad out & bottom pulley off

 

as said above get the engine warm then give it a clean , and look for fresh oil flowing

[klivins]

The timing cover side can leak in no less than 3 places.
First, the seal just behind the pulley. Sort this out by removing the cover, changing the culprit. Second, the gasket between timing cover and its base. Obviously the gasket needs to be renewed, but the timing cover often gets bent or damaged on the screw holes, place it on a flat surface and check for trueness. I had to work with a flat file and sandpaper for a while to sort this out on mine. Third, the half moon rubber seal behind the timing plate can leak. Now, this can't be replaced without engine out procedure, as far as I know.
The OP pictures does look like it's timing cover related. Get the engine a good clean, then lie down with good light, and closely monitor a running engine. You might be able to notice where exactly the drop of oil appears.
And, as above, with luck the leak might stop if the breathers are cleared from blockages.

[bpirie1000]

Another top tip.......(saves hassles and mess in your driveway...)

Drive to local auto centre.buy some gunk or similar to disperse the oil... Then blast some on... Find a jet wash and use their forecourt to put the oil down in... Save yer own... Then have some wd40 handily and watch the plugs and leads....leave her running while you wash it....

[Cooperman]

It looks as though it is the timing cover gasket.

This is not a difficult job to change. Basically you remove the front grill for access, remove the radiator, remove the front pulley after taking off the fan belt, remove all the timing cover bolts, take off the timing cover, fit a new gasket & oil seal and replace everything.

It is a good idea to remove the starter motor so that you can lock the flywheel/crankshaft in place when undoing and tightening the front pulley bolt.

Whilst the timing cover is off it's a good idea and very easy to change the timing chain.

[sledgehammer]

as above - also check the timing  cover  is flat on the gasket surface

 

it's easy to over tighten - & warp the edge , so it won't seal 

[GregAndAbbie]

Thanks all for the replies!

 

@smartie93 - If it's a relatively easy engine to remove and take out then should it come to stripping it down, we'll probably go down the route of taking it out to do the work, as there isn't masses of room to work in the engine bay, unless it'll cause unnecessary hassle. I am actually dying to give the engine block a coat of paint as it's looking really grubby, so it might be the perfect excuse haha.

 

@sledgehammer - That would be a really nice easy fix if it did turn out to be the breathers, I'm actually not familiar with where they are on the Mini, so that might require a bit of looking in the haynes manual. What would be the best thing to clean them out with? I have some vague memory of someone saying to use petrol but I'd better check before I do that. 

 

Is it worth using a torque wrench when reattaching the timing cover?

 

@klivins - Thanks for the tips, I do actually wonder if the timing cover will have ever been removed from it before. We have only got limited history, but for most of it's life it was owned locally by an old lady so I shouldn't imagine she did much tinkering. If after cleaning though we do take the timing cover off, I will certainly check for trueness to check it is sealing properly as it would be heartbreaking to see it start leaking again after putting in so much work haha. 

 

@bpirie1000 - Thanks for the handy tip, I really wish we could do that but sadly she's not on the road at the moment so we actually can't do that. It looks like it might be us getting left with the mess! She's actually kept in a garage as part of a shared car park, so I'm not too sure what we'll do about the mess haha...

 

@Cooperman - That's certainly a relief to hear again that it shouldn't be a difficult job to change. It doesn't sound too painful from what you've described, but after we've gone and done a bit more investigation we might be back to ask a few questions on how to do it. It's not something I've done before, so I'm not really familiar with how to lock the crankshaft, how would you actually go about doing it? (Please excuse my lack of knowledge!)

[Cooperman]

The crankshaft will turn when you undo the front pulley bolt, so you remove the starter motor and that gives access to the starter ring on the flywheel. You lock this with either a flywheel locking tool or, if you don't have one or can't borrow one you get a friend to hold a big screwdriver against one of the teeth and the flywheel housing whilst you use a lot of force to undo the front pulley bolt, and do the same when re-fitting it.

To get the rad out just remove the front grille, undo the top rad bracket, the top hose is removed and the bottom hose is undone from the water pump and left on the rad whilst it comes out. The heater hose must be removed from the joint on the bottom hose.

The only difficult bit can be undoing the big bolt which holds the bottom pulley on and getting the pulley off without denting the timing cover as the bottom pulley can get a bit 'firm' in the crankshaft end.

[kingo]

hi guys merry xmas and all that ....... proberly been said before how do I get the oil seal and metal sleeve out from round the gear selector as it is leaking and only advisory on mot .... not bad considering rebuilt mini without any machincal skills and lots of advise from guys on here  

[daenesh]

ive had this same leak as well.. was coming from the half moon seal.. which sits behind the timing cover ..sandwiched between the gearbox and block.. but a better clean up and then see where it leaks would be a better way to confirm :) merry christmas