10 replies to this topic

[TerryLee]

Hi , I am new to the site, of a fair age and have gone "mini mad" later in life! I love them.
Have a 1990 Saloon with a 998cc engine, single HS4 carb, and it is stock standard.
Its a "barn find" and I am slowly doing it up, I've stripped the engine bay,and have got it back together again.
The radiator water was very discoloured with rust and it has taken many flush's, using the hose both ways on heater pipes. 

I have a problem with water in the oil. I got it started, the oil was perfect and it ran fine.(timing,tappets etc done) 
Once it was at operating temperature it started to run erratically and there is a heap of water in the oil.

I compression tested it and originally it was (starting at cylinder 1) 170,185,160,170 lbs/inch. I've tested it again now that there is water in the oil and it reads 150,160,155,155.
The water in the radiator looks fine and did the rubber glove test, and there is no back pressure in the radiator and the water doesn't seem to drop.

Spark plugs look fine, brownish black and no sign of deposits.

What do you think? Is it just a head gasket or possibly a cracked head or block ?

How could the water jacket leak into the oil jacket without getting pressure from one of the cylinders?
Any help appreciated.

 

 

 

https://www.dropbox....0cpqn8e8qa&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rugsvfxztg2688vict45m/2025-06-14-20.02.10.jpg?rlkey=nlm23dymb70koqx22ovnpp7h8&st=d9azrfon&dl=0

https://www.dropbox....qbvwdyvm0z&dl=0

https://www.dropbox....xxry3biofy&dl=0

Edited by TerryLee, 07 July 2025 - 09:59 PM.

[Spider]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

 

Given the car's history and the checks you've done, it could be just condensate in the crankcase.

 

Perhaps drop the oil and filter, get yourself some cheap oil, say a 15W40 or even a 10W30 for a diesel engine. Run that through a couple of heat cycles, then see what it looks like. If it's cleaning up, then dump that, get a decent oil and an filter, change it out, then do a decent run of a say a hundred miles, do another change, then you should be right as per normal service schedules.

[TerryLee]

Thanks for that!
I am an Aussie living in Dublin for my sins...!

I've changed the oil once, ran it, and it still looks very milky brown. 
Its not on the road at the moment, as I have the wheels off and on jack stands doing some bodywork.

That wouldnt account for the poor running though, or would it?

 

I will try another dose of oil, and see if that helps.....

[Spider]

Mmmm,,,,,, OK, might be more than just condensate. It can take a couple of changes to remove it, but you can notice right away a marked reduction in the amount of water. The other thing of course is a head gasket, which doesn't always show up in compression tests etc, it can 'leak' from the waterways in to the pushrod holes.

 

 

I am an Aussie living in Dublin for my sins...!....

 

 

Wow ,,,,,, you must have had a damn good time then !

 

[nicklouse]

I see the Problem. Dublin. It’s a bit wet.

[TerryLee]

You were spot on there Spider !. Condensate in the oil. After the third oil change its reasonably clean now. Thanks for that. I owe you a beer...
I checked the fuel, float, mixture, timing again, plugs and points. The points were around 0.042mm and set them for 0.035.It runs perfectly now. 

 

Another question, when I take the oil filer cap off, or take out the dipstick, the revs go down and it runs rough.

Is this normal?

Could someone explain to me why this happens?

 

[Earwax]

Hi

 

If it is a build up of condensation etc, then i would be running it with a big rocker cover breather. If the engine is the very tidy one- again i would be giving the top end somewhere to breathe. Also thinking of trapped accumulated water - probably a couple of changes of oil filter after some heated up runs

 

Spinning up the cold engine a few times with spark plugs out can't hurt

 

 If the dismantled engine - ensure nothing was left behind in the timing cover breather ( i think i spotted a breather in the dismantled engine picture)  It may also be possible that the bottom of the timing cover was holding some water trickling back from that breather.

 

 

This one is more of a question than an answer -  the hose sizes attached to the tidy engine from cyl 4 to heater matrix....... does that car struggle to get up to a good working temperature? (the hoses are fairly big )

[TerryLee]

Earwax, nope it doesn't struggle to get operating temp even with the heater on.It sits around 85-90 degrees in 4-5 minutes from cold.
If i let the rocker cover "breathe" it runs rough and idle drops.
Any Ideas?

Edited by TerryLee, 07 July 2025 - 10:15 PM.

[Spider]

Thanks for that. I owe you a beer...

 

Noted and entered in to my diary,,,, "debt owed by Terrylee"

 

 

Another question, when I take the oil filer cap off, or take out the dipstick, the revs go down and it runs rough.

Is this normal?

Could someone explain to me why this happens?

 

That's actually showing it's in a fairly healthy state !  100% normal.

 

The Engine has a Crankcase Breather set up, which drawing in a small amount of fresh air through the oil filler cap, circulates through the crankcase and then is finally drawn in to the CCV (Close Crankcase Ventilation) Port on the side of the Carb. It is an excellent system, it removes fumes and normal blow by from the Crankcase and it also remove moisture from the Oil that together with blow-by, would normally form acids.  It really is one thing in my view that Leyland really got right.

 

Lifting the Oil Filler Cap, should increase the revs and make it run a bit rough as it's admitting more air than what the system was set up and tuned to run with, it also shows, at least at Idle, that you don't have excessive Blow-by.

[TerryLee]

Thanks for that.

I will leave one in the fridge for ya...

Terry

[gazza82]

Thanks for that.

I will leave one in the fridge for ya...

Terry

 

Friend of mine did that ..

 

Many moons ago we were invited up to Aberdeen for Hogmanay and as part of the deal I was asked to try to help get a Mini running that he'd recently bought. Obviously there was a fridge in the garage and I was handed a nice cold McEwans as I wandered in. They do have their priorities right north of the border..

 

Concentrating on the Mini, I didn't look at the can. A couple of "tinnies" in and we had the car started and were waiting for it to warm up .. so I stupidly scanned the can and noticed a competition .. then I spotted the end date .. 7 years before!! 

 

Mentioned it to my friend ... we'll call him Eric as that is his name .. just said "nah, it will be OK .. besides by tomorrow afternoon you won't have a clue what you have been drinking" ..

 

And he was right!!