7 replies to this topic

[david_777]

Hi all,

 

My mum seems to be getting tired of my Mini marking its territory on her driveway so I need to get to the bottom of its oil leak.

 

I cleaned the engine, let it run and have traced the leak back to the bottom of the timing chain cover. It looks like whoever sealed it previously has done a fairly messy job of it so I thought at first that it should just be a simple job of cleaning up the surfaces and replacing the gasket.... that was before I hopped on here though!

 

Apparently there are two potentially suspect oil seals beneath the cover; one on the pulley and another between the engine and the gearbox? 

 

These sound slightly more involved than replacing the gasket so essentially I have 2 questions:

 

1) How likely is it that just replacing the gasket will stop the leaks for the foreseeable future? Has anyone had success doing just this?

 

2) How difficult are the other 2 seals to replace? (Novice here!) 

 

Cheers in advance guys!

[nicklouse]

Ok there are actually 2 phil seals and 2 gaskets that could be at fault.

But one of the gaskets is unlikely to be the cause.

The pulley damper can leak if the cover has not been fitted straight and the cover gasket can also leak if not fitted correctly.

The rubber seal between the box and the block us a much bigger job.

Got a Haynes manual? I would get one and star reading. Easier option is put something under the car to catch the drips.

[david_777]

So after consulting Haynes it looks like if I'm going to take the rad out and get the cover off to renew the gasket I might as well renew the seal that goes around the pulley and fits into the cover too, is this what you refer to as the pulley damper? 

 

Also what is the other gasket that you mentioned, mainly for me to check whilst the rad is out of the way.

 

Thanks very much!

[Jonny1812]

The other gasket is the other side of the plate that sits behind your timing chain.
I'd replace the cover gasket and crank seal and see what happens.
If it carries on then could be quite a big job

[Pigeonto]

The timing chain cover fits onto a plate. That plate fits onto the block and has its own gasket-to-the block. As said, not normally such an issue. But also, lay the cover on a flat surface. Where the bolt holes are, has the metal been 'pulled in' around the holes so it sits on those high areas only? If so, the gasket won't get compressed between the bolt holes and won't seal. I always tap them back with a ball pein hammer. Doesn't matter if you go a little far, the bolts will soon flatten the metal when tightened but importantly, the gasket will get compressed properly.

[david_777]

Righto I'll get a timing cover gasket and an oil seal, thanks both for the advice.

[klivins]

I had to get the cover sanded flat on a piece of glass covered in emery paper to get the screw holes even. It's very crucial how flat the surface is, IMHO

[Spider]

When re-fitting the cover, you'll need to centralise it around the seal for the Harmonic Damper. You can simply look at it and move it around (it'll only move a little), and perhaps even measure it in 4 place, from the seal pressing to the crank nose. I've heard of some guys just fitting the Pulley to centralise the cover, but that won't (and doesn't) work. The factory did offer a tool for doing this, which no doubt would be NLA. I made one.

 

Also, have a look on the Harmonic Damper, were the seal runs, if it's grooved or worn, you'll need another Harmonic Damper.