54 replies to this topic

[69Cooper]

Hi All,

 

Last time I went on a Trackday (1st time in this mini) I had a bit of a scary moment where blue smoke appeared inside the car and a brief trail behind me, when I checked it was oil that had come out of the Clutch housing breather and had go onto the manifold, hence the smoke.

 

I now have a last minute Trackday booked for next Tuesday so need to fix this ASAP.

 

I think the correct fix is to fir an oil catcher tank, but don't think I have enough time to do that.

 

My other 2 alternatives are:

1. Connect it directly to the Rocker cover, will have to cut a hole in the rocker cover to fix a pipe to, then fix a flexable pipe from that to the Clutch housing breather.

 

2. fit a canister type breather I have and connect that to a pipe I have coming from the timing cover breather.

 

No 2. is the easiest option but I don't want oil going into the timing cover do I.

 

Anyone got any other ideas?

 

Not totally sure why this is happening apart from Hi speed cornering, but might have that completely wrong.

[nicklouse]

what breather set up is there on the clutch housing?

strait pipe or canister?

[69Cooper]

Currently has a straight plastic pipe, with some metal gauze in it, about an inch in diameter and about an inch long.

 

But I do have a canister type one that I can fit which has a 1/2 inch outlet.

[nicklouse]

fit the canister. the greater diameter will help.

also check your oil level.

[69Cooper]

But what do I fit to the end of the canister?

A filter?

Or connect the pipe from the timing cover?

 

Are you suggesting I might have too much oil?

 

Here's what I currently have:

 

Checking oil is a bit tricky these days?

[nicklouse]

just fit as it is now.

I can not see your pictures as it is a blocked site for me.

Edited by nicklouse, 15 September 2016 - 10:43 AM.

[phil hill]

I'm guessing you have no vac or breather ports on those carbs or manifolds ??

I would suggest the best course of action is to fit the canister to the transfer case, then pipe it and the timing chain cover separately to a catch tank/bottle/what-have-you. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, anything around a litre in capacity will be fine as a temporary measure. An old oil/brake/washer fluid bottle will be fine.

Phil.

[Carlos W]

Needs a catch tank of some sort

[69Cooper]

Thanks all, I think I'll just put a temp catcher in for now as per Phil's reply.

 

Quick trip to Minispares @ lunchtime then to pick up a few bits.

[nicklouse]

just been on the phone so I can see the pictures. and reread the original post.

I am not surprised you had oil on the manifold.

as above.

[Carlos W]

Please note, connecting it to the rocker cover will not solve the problem. 

 

The system needs to breathe, and doing this will prevent it breathing

[Orange-Phantom]

Just wondering why the likes of Swiftune connect the clutch breather to the rocker cover and then from the other side of the rocker cover off to a catch tank then?

[nicklouse]

Just wondering why the likes of Swiftune connect the clutch breather to the rocker cover and then from the other side of the rocker cover off to a catch tank then?

that works. but not having the outlet to the catch tank would not work.

[phil hill]

Just wondering why the likes of Swiftune connect the clutch breather to the rocker cover and then from the other side of the rocker cover off to a catch tank then?

They are using the rocker cover partly as somewhere to connect the hose to and partly as a volume to allow any oil mist to "drop out" there before plumbing to the catch tank. And, unlike the standard oil filler cap, the Swiftune one will be sealed rather than vented, allowing the system to breath in or out through the filter on the catch tank.

Phil.

[Orange-Phantom]

Cheers guys, just curious as I've got that setup except my catch tank has no breather on it, my oil filler cap has a tiny hole in the top.  This was done by Peter Vickers which is the same as he does on all his engines so I'm curious as to why there is no real ventilation to the atmosphere and what detrimental effects this may have.

 

I've got no mayonaise or anything like that though.