losing oil

[docgibbons]

i know the old moggie is not exactly camel-like on the oil front, and needs a drink at regular intervals, but it think my 58 saloon is a dripping a bit more than it should be. when it's cold, there is no sign (well, miniscule anyway) of oil under the sump area, but if parked when hot, it does seem to leave a fairly large deposit. and after a week's motoring (about 100 miles or so) the dipstick has normally gone from max to somewhere around halfway between max and min, or even a bit lower. by the middle of the week, or 50 miles or so, the green oil light on the left of the speedo starts to flicker and sometimes glow when idling, at traffic lights etc, although it does go out when accelerator is depressed. is she glugging more than she normally would? and if so, where might i look for a fix.

[Willie]

You have to find out where the oil is coming from which means
cleaning up the underside of the engine and then watching for
where the oil emerges. You could tighten up all of the sump bolts
after the cleaning. The common leak points are 1. from the front
or rear of the sump where the cork seals are located. 2. from the
timing chain cover where the starter dog is fitted. or 3. from the
drain hole (with a split pin dangling)in the bellhousing. Regarding
the flickering oil light on tickover, this could be correct and letting
you know that the oil pressure is a bit low on low revs or it could be
the oil pressure switch getting a bit tired. Easy to change(behind the
distributor).

[bmcecosse]

More likely the green light says 'worn engine' - but change the oil to 20W 50, with a new filter, and it will probably be fine for a while yet.

[docgibbons]

thanks lads. will try the change of filter and switch, plus 20-50 instead of 15-50, and we'll see what happens. i think it may well be a tired engine, but i'll get the compression etc checked out at next service time in november.