Hi, my newly reco 1275 (morrie 1100s derived) is leaking oil out of the dipstick hole.


I have done around 80Kms in it since the rebuild, oil pressure is a good steady 50psi at idle warm, 70 under load, using castrol CRB30 as a running in oil.

Any ideas please???

Matt

maybe it's too full?

try an oil change so you know you've only got the 5 litres in there..

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I'll make a few assumptions here like it's not overfull or anything , how much is coming out ? WHat type of breathers do you have on the engine ? Does it seem to be building up pressure in the crankcase , does it blow the oil cap off if you don't tighten it ?

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Thats sound bout right. You should look to see if you have a Crancase breather on the clutch end and if so put either a filer on it only or run it back to the aircleaner. I also have a breather oil filler cap on mine. some others also have a breather on the timing cover as well.
Or you may have a broken ring and allowing the gases to bypass and cause excessive pressure in the crankcase. Hopefully it is the breathers.

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A Bloody Mini

1970 Mini K, 1380cc, 1.75 HIF SU, 30 70 Cam, 2" Zorts
1969 Mini K, Stock Standard and Orginal. (Slow as Hell)

Its almost bound to be excessive crankcase pressure because of everything swirling around in there. If its also smokey then you have a ring problem but if its clear then is just pressure.

Mini engines MUST MUST have breathers - get a rocker cover that has a breather attached and scour ebay until you find a pommie timing case cover thathas a breather attached. You dont necessarily need to plumb it into the air cleaners. K&N have a very good little filter arrangement for engine breathing. You need a filter on it coz while it may be positive pressure while the engine is hot and running, its negative pressure once the engine stops You dont want to suck dusty air into the engine.

Thanks guys,

I have a breather on the rocker cover and one on the flywheel cover both venting to 'atmosphere' through 1/2" ID hose and an oil catch bottle. No oil in it though.

I have exactly 5 litres in the motor less what has leaked out, so about 4.7l at the moment, this is from a completely dry long motor, fresh oil filter etc. Only put about 4.5 in to start, topped it up after the first small puddle was found and the dipstick read close to the bottom of the scale.

Any further ideas, keep em coming!!

Also it has extremely excessive engine vibration, my mechanic mate & I went over it for 3 hours yesterday evening, (I lOVE HOISTS) and there doesn't seem to be anything it could be but internal to the motor....


Does this and the oil symptom mean something? (oh, no smoke from motor)

Not sure off hand but start documenting everything from the start just in case , e.g , new motor fitted by so and so on the such and such day , oil leak found on such and such day , continued each time run , .5 litre oil added such and such day , X klm from rebuild , vibration noticed such and such day , checked by so and so etc .... It will help if there is a problem to have all the info on hand , if not , then you've just done a little exercise in note taking and it's no great loss .

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Not True i had a broken ring in my motor when i first got it and it would only blow smoke after i went down a hill then put my foot down. if all breathers are not blocked then i feel it ould be a ring. try checking compression on all cylinders as well.

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A Bloody Mini

1970 Mini K, 1380cc, 1.75 HIF SU, 30 70 Cam, 2" Zorts
1969 Mini K, Stock Standard and Orginal. (Slow as Hell)

Hi just bumping this up,

It has now been determined the motor is coming out to have all the rotating bits balanced.

It was also found that it wasn't just leaking from the dipstick hole, if you removed the dipstick you could see drops of oil actually coming out of the tube!! At idle!

Plenty of breathers, no smoke from exhaust, right oil level....

Any ideas on what to check while the motor is out ????

Cheers
Matt

IMO it sounds like the breathers are not doing their job. The steelo wool in there traps the oil before it gets to the hose but if these either are blocked or become blocked, the oil will piss out every orifice. I had the droplets hitting my glasses when I was peering down the tappet cover and was coming from the pushrod holes. Panicked initially but thought it through and deduced a blocked breather. Confirmed it when I took the timing breather off and there was a plug of off-white goop in the breather.

Because it gets really cold in these parts, the car cannot get warm enough so there isnt enough temperature to boil off the condensation hence the moisture getting into the oil. A quick dip in diesel and a dry out fixed the problem. It is starting again now we hit all of 0 degrees this morning so I guess I have to start blocking off the grille with perspex again.

I do hope this is all that is wrong with your mini - it is an easy fix if it is but I am hoping it isnt anything too sinister

Hooroo

Rob Forsyth
Miniot!!

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Rob Forsyth
Miniot!!

Often these old breathers are so caked in crud and stuff that a diesel or degreaser wash won't work.
If you hook out the wire clip underneath holding the `mesh' in, you can then wash the breather can properly, and fit a new S/S pot scourer in there. They are just the right size...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Can I very strongly recommend that you clean the oil traps in the breathers before you pull out the motor. Do it as others describe.

When you stop and think about it - you have oil blowing out the dipstick hole but nothing coming out of the breathers - why ????? Its the same crankcase pressure regardless of if its a motor out of balance, broken ring or any other cause.

Save yourself a lot of effort and money considering its already a recently reco'ed motor. If you still have a problem after cleaning the breathers then drop out the motor but .......

Thanks for the advice guys,

The transfer case breather is brand new, and the rocker cover breather was chemically cleaned. I could breathe through both of them before installing so not sure that's it. Also, with the oil fill cap off, it didn't change the amount of oil coming out the dipstick hole at all! It was flying out in small drops about 30 - 45 cm!!

Also the engine has to come out for a complete balance of the rotating bits due to bad vibration! I'd just like to know that whatever the oil thing is, I can get it fixed before dropping it all back in again!!!!

Cheers
matt

I have seen the oil coming out the dip stick hole, just as Matt says, it is the weirdest thing I have seen. Have no explanation for it, the breathers are not blocked, no leaks at oil seals.
As he says, engine has to come out for balancing, the reason maybe found then. Hope it all works out for you Matt.

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Steve

Can i just throw some caution to the wind here, maybe it is that your dipstick isn't sealing properly.... The crank as it rotates throws oil up and will leak out the dipstick if it isn't sealing right. I have seen GR stick a bit of paper in to help seal it when he has engines on the dyno. Just a thought and it's probably as simple as that.

Cheers

Aaron

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