I went out to find a patch of oil beneath the transmission case - a patch about 4 inches long by an inch wide... because it's my usual parking spot, it might have been leaking for a few days but I've put a fresh peice of carbboard under it to see how bad it is. Something's definietly dripping a bit.

Everyone jokes that some amount of leakage is normal in a British car, but at what point should I be concerned?

 

Now you know it is an original and not a fake

 

Yeah... weirdly enough that doesn't make me feel better.

 

If it is the transmission I would be really concerned if you lost quite a bit because it can affect your shifting and performance. I have learned the hard way.
I personally have had issues with the seal around my oil pan. I dropped it off at my local dealership and they fixed it no questions asked the first time. Now I am going to take it back in for the second time to get its oil pan seal replaced.
Just monitor the levels until you take it in for service.

 

Mine leaks from the shift rod and one more place (can't remember exactly where). I can fix it, but I have been doing other things. I am not sure how much is too much, but in the Army world it is classified as a Class III oil leak.

 

It is a classic Mini, so I doubt he will be taking it to the dealer. Also, the tranny and gear box share the same oil.

 

I wasn't sure if it was a new one or not.

 

There looks to be a bit of oil near the shift rod yeah... It might be from there.

Shifting so far is smooth with no issues. I'll keep an eye on it - hopefully it won't get any worse. I've always heard on the classic that the transmisison and gear box all share a common oil supply as well, so I'll definitely need to stay on top of it.

 

When it stops leaking

 

If its the shift rod you can fit this oil seal upgrade kit from Minispares to cure it.
Gearbox Rod change anti oil leak seal kit
Oil leaks on classic Minis are pretty common just like old British motorbikes! Just check the level more than a modern car and use a 20-50 oil not a modern thin synthetic oil which leak worse and harm the gearbox. The other common leak points are gearbox driveshaft oil seals and crankshaft pulley oil seal but all can be lived with unless they get worse or annoy you.

 

I looked and it does feel like it's coming from where the gearshift rod mates to the gearbox - I wiped away the dripping oil there and a miniute later it was pooling there again. I can't feel any oil on TOP of the shaft, so I don't think it's dripping down ontp the gearshift rod. I do see a mention of a gearshift shaft oil seal in my old Haynes manual (it only goes to '85 and my car is a '92) - it looks like a washer.

So, it sounds like these just leak/go bad from time to time? it seems non-trivial leak-wise - after about 30 minutes enugh had leaked to pool a little bit at the bottom of a sloped cardboad box (it was in my driveway).

EDIT - How hard is it to get that shaft out of the gearbox to affect a repair? The only thing in my manual is a full gearbox dissassembly, not something simple like this. ALso, what's a "Woodruff key"? I see it has to be removed as part of rhw work, but the photo is... well... "sub-optimal".

 

PS - they have the kit at MiniMania... Looks exactly the same.

http://www.minimania.com/web/AddedFr.../InvDetail.cfm

 

This is a woodruff key half moon shaped goes in a slot in a shaft and normally locks a pulley in position on it.
Woodruff Key
Drain the oil, undo the gearchange steady rod from the gearbox/diff housing and pull back when you have released the change rod roll pin.
The worst part of the rod seal replacement is knocking out the roll pin which fixes the rod collar to the gearbox selector shaft. You need the correct size of parallel pin punch to remove it. The old seal can then be hooked out and the new kit fitted with the rod dropped out of the way. All more detailed in the later Haynes manual, should be in the 1985 one as rod change came in about 1975.
I think Minimania have most things that Minispares UK have in stock so even special Minispares parts are easy to get in the US.

 

It's in the Classic Mini section for a reason.

 

All my minis used to leak like a sieve until I found out what the problem was. My leaks were caused from using the wrong oil. The synthetic/semi-synthetics oils are thinner and will seep through the gaskets make your engine leak. Make sure the oil is a classic (mineral) oil and a heavier weight such as 10/40 Cold climate or 20/50 warmer climate.

Ash

 

Welcome to the world of old British cars ...lol.

 

You can always sell the mineral rights to your parking spot - might help offset the bux you are investing in the new-old Mini.

 

My car leaks from about every seal in the engine. A leak will not hurt the engine unless you let the oil level get too low. Just keep a spare quart (or 2) of oil in the boot and check you level often.

 

So no synthetic oil for the mini?

 

That's good to know about synthetic oil... I just bought a case of Castrol 20W-50 synthetic oil to replace what I'm losing out the bottom - my book mentions Castrol by name in the weights and measures section, but it does not say anything about synthetic vs mineral oil.

Is there a Castrol oil (or another brand that people have had luck with) that's mineral-oil based? If so, what's the name, so I know what to get (or special order if it's hard to come by in today's modern synthetic oil world)?

What did you use, Ash, and did you have to replace the leaky seals, or did simply swapping oils fix it up for you? I have the gearshift oil seal kit on order from MiniMania, but I wonder irf that's often referred to as an "upgrade" kit because it allows you to run modern, synthetic oil? I'll ask that on MiniMania's forums and see what people think...

 

You can find it at Walmart...comes in 5 qt bottles for a reason. I always kept a bottle in the back of my pickup.

 

5 qt bottles! Bwahahah! So the "High Mileage" stuff is non-synthetic? Maybe I'll do an oil change before I yank out the gearshift oil seal and see if that helps... I can do that while I'm waiting for the kit to arrive anyway. The guy that sold me the car JUST changed the oil though, but God only knows what he put in... He seemed pretty in-the-know about it, though...

Since the filter is also new, should I also swap it for a newe one, since I'll be swapping oil, or should I just leave that alone?

 

I have used Castrol GTX High Mileage 20w-50. Yesterday when I changed the oil I used Valvoline High Mileage 20w-50 because Autozone had a special on it with a filter. I don't know if high mileage is necessary, but I figure it can't hurt this old engine.

 

My Mini only has 46,000 miles on it but I don't think it'll hurt to put high mileage in it. It already looks like it has a 100,000 miles on it. LOL

 

Mine reads 76K...