Morris Minor Owners Club

I've finally decided to do something about the tiny but annoying oil leak I have from my chain cover.
I've bought an oil seal and new gasket - assuming that the oil is coming from the crank end -and fancy doing it over lunchtime.

Will the pulley be difficult to remove?
And,
Are there any silly things/hints/tips I need to watch out for?

cheers
jon

The pulley might be an absolute swine to remove, and I'm not sure how easy it is to get at the tab washer on it with everything fitted either.

Once you've got that done, the nut itself shouldn't be too tricky, if it's not budging then the old starter motor trick should do it (although I have my doubts how good that method really is for the starter, ring gear etc!).

Not something I'd want to be doing in a lunch hour though, especially if I had to drive home!

Since you probably need to pull the radiator out to get at it all properly - it's going to be a very long lunch !

Hello Jon,

a couple of things about seals, one is that you will usually find a groove in the pulley boss. Fit the seal in a slightly different position so it runs on an unworn part of the boss. Fit the pulley and turn the engine a few times then tighten the front cover, this helps to centralise the seal on the shaft.
Oh, and oil or grease the pulley boss before entering it into the seal.

Alec

Cheers all.

For some completely bizarre reason I had totally forgotton about the radiator at the front (perhaps I should buy a mini... no wait, the engines in the wrong way in them...)

It'll be a saturday job then - just hope the front cross member doesn't get too much in the way.

It is worth to take as much care as possible not to strip the threads when re tightening it. The first one I did (17 years ago when I was a bit less experienced). There are 2 sizes of hex screws depending if they go into the block or just into the end plate. The smaller ones in the end plate won't take a lot of torque to be damaged!
I used a socket set but forgot I was tightening one of the small screws and over-torqued it

Better to use a small 1/4" square drive socket set for these tiddlers - less chance of stripping them. They can be re-tapped next size up - and then use Allen head screws. Before you start - are you SURE the leak is from the seal - and not from the sump to block joint ?

Yup, I'm sure its from the seal. I still haven't done this job as none of my spanners were big enough!!! lol..

Hope to borrow a spanner from my mate, a landrover enthusiast, and do it next weekend. I did however check the breather system (as much as you can as its so basic) to make sure it wasn't simply a matter of excess pressure build up.

The starting handle dog can be a real swine to remove - sometimes necessary to jam a wrench on the dog and lean it on the chassis member (keep it clear of the brake pipe and wiring) and then use the starter with the ignition OFF. Not sure what this does for the starter though !