14 replies to this topic

[jaystar89]

1994 mini cooper

Hey - not been on here for a while as the minis been garaged for the winter and ive been up to my eyes in work.

Ive gone back to give her a wee run, and theres oil all over the floor - I have no idea whats happened as it hasnt been there the last few times ive been in to start her up.

After speaking to a mechanic (friend) he seems to think it is a washer/rubber that has something to do with the gears? - Im not entirly sure if what im quoting is corect but apparently its reasonably simple to fix.

Any one have any other ideas to what it could be or how to put it right?

thanks

[tommy13]

1994 mini cooper

Hey - not been on here for a while as the minis been garaged for the winter and ive been up to my eyes in work.

Ive gone back to give her a wee run, and theres oil all over the floor - I have no idea whats happened as it hasnt been there the last few times ive been in to start her up.

After speaking to a mechanic (friend) he seems to think it is a washer/rubber that has something to do with the gears? - Im not entirly sure if what im quoting is corect but apparently its reasonably simple to fix.

Any one have any other ideas to what it could be or how to put it right?

thanks

He probably means the gearchange seal which commonly gives trouble.
Top up the oil and run it over a pit or ramp so you can see clearly where it has come from.

[minimadgriff]

Could be driveshaft oil seals too. Mine have been leaking on drip tray in my garage for the last 10 years lol. I might actually sort them out this year, now its coming out of hibernation.

[jaystar89]

Ah brilliant! thanks! ill keep both of them i mind!

[jaystar89]

on that note, are they both cheap/easy to replace/fix?

[tommy13]

The seals are all around £1 each on the minispares site.
Gearchange seal only needs a roll pin knocking out of the linkage to gain access. Dig the old one out with a small thin screwdriver and fit the new one keeping it as square as you can. There is no need to drain the oil to do this.
Drive shaft seal is more difficult. The drive shaft will have to be removed from the box, which will mean removing the top ball joint (and possibly the bottom one too) to allow the hub to swing out enough to disengage the shaft from the box. Oil will run out so either drain some off first or arrange to catch what comes out .
All the new seals can be tapped in carefully and evenly with a small hammer. A plug socket may help as a drift with the gearchange seal.

[jb93]

My mini also developed a leak, and my first assumption was the gearchange seal or driveshaft seal. However luckily, on closer inpection it was coming from around the dipstick seal; a new one soon fixed it!

[jaystar89]

The seals are all around £1 each on the minispares site.
Gearchange seal only needs a roll pin knocking out of the linkage to gain access. Dig the old one out with a small thin screwdriver and fit the new one keeping it as square as you can. There is no need to drain the oil to do this.
Drive shaft seal is more difficult. The drive shaft will have to be removed from the box, which will mean removing the top ball joint (and possibly the bottom one too) to allow the hub to swing out enough to disengage the shaft from the box. Oil will run out so either drain some off first or arrange to catch what comes out .
All the new seals can be tapped in carefully and evenly with a small hammer. A plug socket may help as a drift with the gearchange seal.

Great reply there - thank you - I will be sure to check both!
I wil also check the dipstick seal!

Luckily I have plastic sheeting down under the mini so the oil leek hasnt ruined anything lol.

[jaystar89]

http://www.minispare...=...6414&title=

Is this the correct seal?

The mini spares discription states that it can only be replaced when the gear box is stripped down?

again is this correct or is it as simple to change as tommy13 said?

thanks


**EDIT**

got it;

http://www.minispare...=...5549&title=

Edited by jaystar89, 30 December 2010 - 12:38 PM.

[mikey72]

Diff seal should be something like this one

http://www.minispare...ty=pb&pid=35753

I have to do ours, it leaks when you park it facing uphill. Quite easy to see the leak though.
Supposed to be easy to fit, but I would get a Haynes manual if you can.

I originally thought it would have been the gearbox seal on ours, but it wasn't
(I have also read that it's better to fit the new gearbox seal on top of the old one, rather than replace it directly, as there is too much space in the actual fiting area on the gearbox.)

Edited by mikey72, 30 December 2010 - 08:54 PM.

[tommy13]

If the leak turns out to be the gearchange seal, there ia also a modified seal kit which contains a spacer with an O ring wich fits into the space behind the outer seal as mentioned by Mikey72. I have never used these but they are supposed to be an improvement. Reputable seller on Ebay here,

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item5d2c77d116

[Scallywag630]

If the leak turns out to be the gearchange seal, there ia also a modified seal kit which contains a spacer with an O ring wich fits into the space behind the outer seal as mentioned by Mikey72. I have never used these but they are supposed to be an improvement. Reputable seller on Ebay here,

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item5d2c77d116

And a member of TMF.

[Kam]

First off, clean all the oil you can from topside/downside as best you can, I know you can't get in everywhere but try your best, lay some papers on the floor

Next morning check again, if its seeping out from higher up you'll see from where

If there is nothing atall (which I doubt) then as above start her up and wait, if still nothing then switch off engine after sometime and check again following morning, Its only gonna come out of a handful of known places

[Kam]

Reputable seller on Ebay

Very reputable on here aswell

[jaystar89]

Have emailed him over ebay but hes on his hols untill the 4th (understandable )

The pool of oil is still there as its on plastic sheeting and the car hasnt moved so ill have a little look to see if theres an indication of where its coming from