I'm hoping that somebody with more BMC knowledge than me will know the answer to this.

My mini has a morris 1500cc OHC motor with 5 Speed cable change gearbox in it. Since we bought it, we have had constant problems with the remote gear change housing filling up with engine/gearbox oil over time, as the oil runs down the gear change cables and into the housing (I assume only because it is slightly downhill of the gear box. There is no outlet for the oil from the remote housing, and it eventually fills up and starts leaking out of the base of the shifter...

It is a minor pain to have to either remove the reverse switch to try and drain the oil, or remove the lid off of the housing and mop the oil out with cloths.

Should the cables (if they were in brand new condition) not be able to allow oil to run through them, or are my cables worn out?

Does anybody know of this happening elsewhere and have any suggestions as to how best to deal with it?

I am open to the idea of have brand new cables made and fitted, but I want to make sure they are sealed and wont leak oil into the remote housing before I fork out the money.

Thanks in advance!

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so the cables go into the gearbox? they don't operate external levers?

you'd *hope* they were sealed from the factory, but I have read on here that the cable shift was awful...

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Correct. The cables actually thread into the gearbox and actuate internally. The inner cable threads in first, then the outer cable or insulation threads in separately.

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If they are the same or similar system to the Austin 1800 then there were known problems that were fixed in the field and in production. I haven't found anything specific to the E Series transmission but I'll keep looking.

In case it's relevant here's what was done for the A1800.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

I really don't know if this is even close to being helpful.

http://www.amvcnsw.com.au/austin1800/Ne ... tter09.pdf
See page 16

They've always been a pain, on 1500's and 1800's. A couple of layers of shrink tube with silicon coating on cable first. This stops the cables leaking externally but by my interpretation of your description, the oil is travelling down the inside of the outer cable and filling the remote housing. It was a design fault as theres no sealing there......just a normal pommie design. Only thing i could suggest is small 3-4mm hole in base of remote to stop it filling up. Not really a cure...sorry.

We did think about trying to engineer some kind of oil return from the remote back to the engine using vacuum pressure to "push" the oil out. It sounds logical in theory, but the practise might not be so straight forward.

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The cable change gearbox was a nightmare!! I overcame this problem, a few years back
by importing an Alegro rod change gearbox from a 1500 or 1700 cc it worked great for many
a year without any of the problems we had with the 1500 cable change type.

I understand this does not answer your original question, however it will put a stop to your current
problems and go a long way to negating other problems usually experienced with the
cable shift type

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" A Hundred Years From Now It will not Matter what my Bank Acount Was,
The Sort Of House I Lived in, Or The Kind Of Car I drove ... But The World May Be A Better Place
Because I was Once Important In The Life Of A Child"

Is there somewhere in the cable assembly that an O ring can be fitted to minimise the oil transfer.

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Find a job you love and you will never have to go to work !

Are the engine breathers up to the job? Or is it just gravity winning?

I remember my 1500 from 1976. The gearbox was so low that it cracked on a bump. The gear stick mechanism was therefore above the level of the oil. The easiest solution is to park it facing down a steep hill so that the oil only leaks from where BMC designed it to leak.

There may be a way of inserting and o-ring on the cables to reduce the oils chance of running down the cables, but I'm not too sure.

The engine breathers are fine. It's just gravity unfortunately.

I would love to find a 5spd rod change gearbox and shift assembly and convert mine from cable change if possible. I just haven't been successful in figuring out A) if it will fit the same in the mini as the cable change, or need re-engineering. And, B) How I go about getting my hands on a rod change box and shifter.

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Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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"Show me the Mini!"

I know the what John wrote. That was what I was referring to in my response.

What I mean is, the motor and gear box aren't supposed to be in a mini. With the cable change gearbox and remote shifter housing the cables are able to connect the 2 items together without a "transmission" between them, and the cables are routed "out of the way". Without having seen how a allegro or maxi rod change gearbox and shifter attach, I have no knowledge of whether there will be enough room for it to all bolt up with my current configuration, or whether I would need to redo my exhaust or other pieces to make room for it to fit...

Also, I am aware that they were released in Europe and NZ, but that doesn't helpe get my hands on one in Australia. I've put my feelers out to try and get one, but haven't had any luck. Unfortunately I don't have contacts in the industry in either of the locations, so I can't just call somebody and ask them to find me one and import it to Australia.

I hope that clarifies my previous response a bit.

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Sure...the alternative is to get Matt Read to build you a super dooper stroker (1510?) A-Series and swap it in for the very tall Morris 1500 donk

https://www.facebook.com/Readspeed-688922494518057/

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"Show me the Mini!"