Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi guys.bled my brakes and reversed the car 100 yards up a hill to test the brakes.job done put the moggy in the garage and noticed a oil leak coming from the back of the sump and dripping of the bottom of the bell housing i,d say its every 5seconds its engine oil that i know.would this be the crankshaft oil seal?and is this an engine out repair?

could be a breathing prob with the engine

You may get away with replacing the sump rear cork seal, after sump removal, of course. Renew all sump gaskets while off. I removed the flywheel and backplate, to renew that gasket as well but probably didn't need to. Engine out for that though.

If between sump and backplate - then that is sump gasket/cork seal problem - which is easily attended to. Drips from bell housing are the rear seal - but there is no real seal there - just a scroll and labyrinth. And as mentioned above - excessive crankcase pressure will be the problem. Clean the breathers and make sure the connecting pipes are clear. With a hot engine, idling - remove the oil filler cap and rev up - is there a plume of smoke/fume?

Thanks guys.when you say check and clean breathers do you mean air filter?

No - the breather pipes .... on rocker cover and cam follower chest cover......

Thanks i,ll check these out first.

I don,t have a breather on my rocker cover.but theres one on the side of the engine!

Well - there's a possible reason..... Have you done the smoke/fume test ?

Its the first thing i,ll do tomorow evening after work and i,ll report back!

Done the smoke/fume test not alot of smoke when i done it the fumes seem to be coming out of the breather pipe on side of head which prob is normal? I right now have the sump of and notice that there is no cork gaskets on front or back of the sump just the two paper halfs each side! Am i right in saying that the two cork bits go over the half moon bits each end?

Correction the two cork gaskets are present think this could be the problem ok think oil could have been escaping on the back end!

If between sump and backplate - then yes it is cork problem.

Well new sump gasket on new end seals on and still leaking! I have to say that i wasn,t impressed at all with the new cork end seals as when i put them in there slots they looked very narrow trying to get them to sit right isn,t easy also.disappointed i have to say..
Any ideas chaps?

Are your big end and main bearings in good shape? Wear in this department can cause the crankshaft to run on the oil thrower cover causing wear, ( arrowed in picture ) thus allowing oil to run past, it should be smooth on the inner side. It is held on by 3 x 1/4 bolts. You will have to remove this to inspect and it will be obvious if the crank has been running on it, there will be grooves present. There should normally be a 3 thou gap so the crank shouldn't touch it. Unfortunately the engine will have to be removed to do this. I'm not saying this is your problem, just a possibility. I've come across this fault many times with different Minors I've restored for customers in the in the past. Another possibility is that the oil pump gasket might need changing.[frame][/frame]

Would,nt have a clue if the big end are bearings are worn.just learning as i go mostly the hard way lol . Don,t really want to take the engine out until i,m sure thats what needs to be done.

Are you sure you put the cork seals in the slots RIGHT WAY ROUND ?? They are generally a very snug fit in the slot...

---and usually need some trimming off the length, so they sit about 1/8'' above the sump flange. If you leave them too long it prevents the sump pulling up tight onto the engine block.

Well to be 100% honest i,m starting to think that i,ve done just that.If you can picture them sitting flat i looked at them and thought they look too broad to fit in like that so i turned them side ways and put them into there slots and there was room on each side.believing that when i tightened the sump the seals would press down and fill the void !

Right thats another job complete no more leak put another new sump gasket on from bullmotif better fitting end seals than the last some instant gasket and the jobs a good one.Many thanks for all the replys..