Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi Folks, I have fitted a 1275 midget gold seal engine to my '58 minor, and all seems to be going well so far. (Thanks for previous advice -this is a great forum!). The donor 1275 didn't have a dipstick, so I just used the one out of my 948 engine. It was a bit 'rattly' so I've put a couple of o-rings under the collar, held in place with PTFE tape to make a nice snug seal ( a tip I saw on this forum i think). I also thought it best to check that the dipstick was reading correctly, so I checked the position of the min/max marks based on the measurements I found on a midget forum thread. All were exactly in the same position: marks in the same place, collar in the same place, metal dipstick tube sticking up out of engine block same height etc. To be doubly sure, I decided to err on the side of caution and drained the sump and oil filter and re-filled with the requisite 6.5 pints, which I understand is common for all A-series engines.

However, now my oil level is at about 3/4" above the max mark on the dipstick. From reading other threads on this forum, I think that much overfilled will lead to trouble, but I'm now unsure again whether I should trust the dipstick or my 6.5 pint filling. Could there be more oil in the system somewhere that isn't drained when I remove the sump plug and the oil filter ( oil filter is the type that sits inside an external canister).

Any advice would be much appreciated, as the engine seems to be pretty good, and I don't want to cause any unnecessary damage.

Thanks in advance.

If you drained the oil when hot, and let it stand for a while to completely drain,( on level surface) then filled with the correct amount. I would suspect the dipstick.,

Hi Les. Thank you for the reply. It wasn't hot when I drained the engine but I did let it drain for 15 minutes or so. Is there any way that over filling would present itself that I could see before it causes any problems?

Well not really, it might tend to cause oil seals to leak a bit and the crank scroll seal, actually I'm not sure the 1275 has this scroll.
Even drained when cold would not leave enough oil in to cause a 3/4 inch overfill. Double check the dipstick. I think I have one to measure if you have problems. Best not run it too much if it overfilled. Another thought some engines have a plastic furrule pressed into the dipstick hole, if yours should have and it's missing, that would raise the dipstick a reasonabl amount,

As long as you only put the correct stated amount in, it won't be a problem. Maybe you should try and get the correct dipstick for the engine just to be sure your not overfilling it in future.

IF that is overfilled - it's only by a small amount, and won't do any harm whatsoever.

bmcecosse wrote:IF that is overfilled - it's only by a small amount, and won't do any harm whatsoever.

Quite right. Bear in mind that some modern cars don't even HAVE a dipstick(!) so all a garage can do is what you have done: drain the old oil and then refill with the recommended quantity.

Out of habit, I still check the oil level on my modern car even though it never requires topping up between services. Just habit really, but some modern cars do use oil.

If you are sure that the right amount of oil is in there you could always cut another notch on your existing dipstick where the level is.

Are you sure some moderns don't have a dipstick? Seems unlikely. Mine is attached to the filler cap.

Many newer BMW and Audi cars are no longer supplied with them. No doubt others will follow.
Seems mad on the face of it.....

a friend of mine has a bmw without a dipstick

Wonder why they have a maximum mark on a dipstick.

les wrote:Wonder why they have a maximum mark on a dipstick.

Some dont have sump plugs aswell, they just suck out what they can. Tho thats for another thread.

Have the Beemer owners checked under the fill cap? I know many moderns give an oil check reading - but I'm surprised they don't have a physical 'dip stick'.

Going back to the original question, does the lump you have allow the filter to be attached when full? If so, did you take the amount required to pre-fill the filter out of the 6.5 pints that you used? If not then you will have slightly overfilled, but nothing to worry about.

3/4 inch higher than max would mean that level over the entire area of the sump; quite a bit of oil. It is surely the dipstick sitting too low or the wrong one. The max mark is not there for decoration, it's not a ceremonial item!

Hello again. Thank you for all the replies and advice. Even the little detour about BMWs was interesting. So, I have solved the mystery, and as usual, it was a very simple thing. Unfortunately a bit embarrasing too. I managed to convince myself that all was correct with the length and positiion of the dipstick and its markings, so I thought the only thing to do was to check how much oil was in there. Now here' s the embarrasing bit.....apparantly I can't count. I had filled the engine with 7.5 pints, not 6.5 pints! I am really sorry if I have wasted everyone's time

The only redeeming factor I can think of is that I can categorically say that the dipstick and oil caacity of the 948 engine and the 1275 are identical! I hope that sometime in the future someone finds this information useful!

Thanks again for all your help folks. As ever, you are most helpful.

Until the next time....

Oops