12 replies to this topic

[markandamini]

This is an odd one.  1979 mini 1275 motor in Canada.  In the fall of 2018 i had clutch issues and rebuilt the clutch the clutch with the full rebuild kit in the spring of 2019.  I was lazy on this so did not finish the rebuild until July.  When I finally got it running the clutch is fine but i started leaking oil.  Lots of it.  Fresh oil ... not smoking or black.  Liquid oil.  The way i noticed it originally was i was riding on the highway at about 110 kph with a friends mini behind me and i gave him a free oil spray.  It was enough that he could not see.  Seems to happen at high speeds and clean liquid oil leaks out.  It's not the oil cap as i changed that.  Any other ideas? 

[cal844]

Where does it leak from? If it is leaking from the clutch area it will be the primary gear oil seal that has been fitted incorrectly.


You need to clean the motor and take a look

Edited by cal844, 15 April 2020 - 07:43 PM.

[Cooperman]

Where does it leak from? If it is leaking from the clutch area it will be the primary gear oil seal that has been fitted incorrectly.


You need to clean the motor and take a look

 

Yes, it sounds like the primary gear oil seal has been incorrectly installed or the lip of the seal has been slightly split during installation. 

There is a protective sleeve which fits over the splines of the primary gear when fitting the seal. If you don't have one you can clean the primary gear splines of all grease and then wrap masking tape around the splines and put grease on the tape. Then slide the sleeve over the tape and push it into the housing.

As said, check from whence the oil is coming. If it coming out of the bottom of the flywheel housing cover it is the seal. 

However, if it is coming out in a large volume, it might be something else not clutch related. If that much oil was in the clutch housing one might expect the clutch to be really slipping badly by now. Look at all the other possibilities such as oil filter tightness, oil transfer pipe end connections, rocker cover gasket, sump plug/sealing washer, diff housing seals, gear linkage seal, and anywhere else you can see.

[markandamini]

It is a lot of oil.  I will lose a liter of oil in twenty minutes on the highway.  I don't think its the primary gear seal as the clutch still works.  I thought if that leaked then the clutch would slip.

 

Where does it leak ... hard to say.  It's fresh oil so hard to see, and there's so much of it it's hard to tell where it comes from. 

[Steve220]

Best stuff for this sort of issue is UV die in your oil.

[Spider]

As others have said, best to find the source of the Oil Leak. It maybe from the Primary Gear (that somehow reminds me of another recent thread,,,,), but equally, could be from other places too.

[Quinlan minor]

 is it losing oil while standing or only while running?

Park it over cardboard sheet to get a sense of wher the oil is dropping from.

As Cooperman says above, degrease engine to find the locus.

Check the inner offset sphere (pot) joints. They seem to react badly to long periods of idleness.

Did it lose much oil (dipstick before and after)?

Might be worth doing a compression test and checking engine breathers.

Good luck.

[Rorf]

Only a few areas where one can have a major oil leak - clutch primary gear seal, pot joint seals, front crankshaft seal and oil filter loose.

 

Just jack the vehicle up and look underneath

[gazza82]

Only a few areas where one can have a major oil leak - clutch primary gear seal, pot joint seals, front crankshaft seal and oil filter loose.

 

Just jack the vehicle up and look underneath

 

Or being blown out due to too much crankcase pressure? ... If there are no obvious leaks from the engine/gearbox, what about rigging up a temporary oil catch can from the engine breathers? Using a translucent or clear bottle will show if it comes from that and at least stop it being sprayed all over the Canadian highways ...

 

[markandamini]

It does not leak when it’s not running. It did not leak much before. Maybe a few drips. Now it is way WAY worse

I hear about the primary seal but I did not get that far in. Just to the clutch. Plus if it was the primary seal then the clutch would stop working... it would slip on the oil wouldn’t it?

[Tds76]

I had the oil pressure gauge pipe split and that leaked a lot of oil - it runs from the front of the engine, over the clutch housing and then to a rubber joiner hose. It split just before the hose and I could only see it with the engine running. 

[Cooperman]

I had the oil pressure gauge pipe split and that leaked a lot of oil - it runs from the front of the engine, over the clutch housing and then to a rubber joiner hose. It split just before the hose and I could only see it with the engine running. 

 

I had a Mini brought to me which had a fractured oil pressure gauge feed pipe. Oil everywhere!

Edited by Cooperman, 17 April 2020 - 09:54 AM.

[Vudu]

I had the oil pressure gauge pipe split and that leaked a lot of oil - it runs from the front of the engine, over the clutch housing and then to a rubber joiner hose. It split just before the hose and I could only see it with the engine running.

 
I had a Mini brought to me which had a fractured oil pressure gauge feed pipe. Oil everywhere!

I had the same thing happen to my ‘79 Mini. The amount oil that sprayed out during a short drive was insane!