8 replies to this topic

[nerodino]

Gawd elp!
My sons mini (1275) which we are rebuilding has an oil leak from the timing cover oil seal.....we have replaced it twice now and this time included a modification by fitting the blank disc to the crank shaft pulley keyway that fits up tightly behind the oil seal when you replace the cover.....but whilst the engine is running there are no leaks but when you switch off and the oil sits in the bottom of the cover whilst slowly draining back into the sump it comes straight through the seal!!
I note that the bottom pulley has a a groove in it where it sits in the oil seal lip....is this supposed to be ther or is it wear? (which i find highly unlikely!)
Thanks in advance
Graham

[jonny d]

a photo would help

[Pigeonto]

The groove is wear sorry to inform you. I cant think of a repair for that which would be cost effective so best fit an un-worn one. Something else which can happen, if the seal is a really tight fit in the cover,when you press or punch it out the whole area around the seal can distort and move which puts the new seal at a diagonal to the line of the crank and bottom pulley. This can easily be seen--and put right again with a little subtle application!! How can I say this without risk of offending, I cant!...... No way you'd of fitted the seal in the wrong way round? no, highly unlikely but worth a mention.

[nerodino]

Thanks for that, I am suprised that it is wear but there you are! The lip of the seal does fit snugly in the groove but i am no Mini expert........i will get a new pulley and also a new timing cover just so all is well again.

[The Principal]

Are you running a DuplexTiming set up?

[tiger99]

Make sure that the disc, which is called an oil flinger, is facing the right way. That is of course not the main problem, as it is leaking when stationary, but it does keep oil off the seal when running.

Apart from what has been said about a new pulley to get around the problem of wear, don't forget to center the timing cover, i.e. pulley in place before tightening the bolts. An off-centre seal will leak.

[AndyMiniMad.]

+1 for fitting the pully before doing up the bolts..Im a bit confused as to how it has a wear line round it though..I mean its only a plastic seal its rubbing on!! Also make sure the oil thrower ring has the "F" towards the fan..

[tiger99]

I also wondered how ther was significant wear, as I have never seen an actual groove on any engine, Mini or otherwise, just some polishing. But I just took his word for it that there is a real groove, as it was not relevant to the immediate need to fix it.

But giving it some thought, I wonder if at some time someone had fitted an unsuitable type of seal? If it did not allow a residual oil film between the running surfaces, wear would be inevitable. (In other words, seals need to leak very slightly, or they or the shaft will wear.) All Minis have lots of history now, so who knows what may have happened in the past.

Grease the new one with Castrol LM, or oil with engine oil, before fitting the pulley, so there is initial lubrication.

A modern and slightly more expensive teflon seal, being self-lubricating, may well run without leakage and insignificant wear. I suppose it is a matter of time before those make their way into Minis. Certainly, modern cars leak very much less than any Mini at the driveshafts and both ends of the crankshaft, and if seals are available in the correct sizes, I don't see why we can not have these improvements too.

[nerodino]

Thanks for your replys gentlemen.......I tried to upload a photo of the offending pulley but the site said it was to big to upload!
it definately has a small groove cut in it!