Bad oil leak - help!

I

IanMGBV8

New Member
I'm new to the forum and I'm looking for any information you guys may have on V8 engine oil leaks.

I have an MGB roadster with an SD1 V8 which has had an increasingly bad oil leak from the back of the engine sump/gearbox area. I thought it was the sump gasket but I have replaced this and the leak is still as bad ( even after tweeking up the sump bolts a little).

Does anyone know if there is a problem seal or gasket that causes leaks in this area between the engine and gearbox - a mechanic friend mentioned it was probably the crank seal but he admitted he was not familiar with Rover V8 engines.

Any info on this issue would be much appreciated.

Ian.
 
I would clean the whole of the back of the engine, bellhousing, gearbox and sump thoroughly and dry it all off. Take the car on a short run and then look and feel all of these areas starting from the rear of the rocker covers down. The rocker covers leak at the rear and oil runs down over the bellhousing, the rear of the valley gasket can leak. The crank main seal can leak, the sump gasket can leak.
The only way to find the leak(s) is to get it clean and dry and then keep crawling under it until you find where it is coming from.
 
Replace the flame trap and engine breather filter, then make sure that all the breather pipes are fitted as they should be and clear, then after cleaning everything as suggested above, see what leaks you have then.
 
I've checked and cleaned the breather pipes from rocker cover to carbs and ordered 2 new flame traps as you advised.

Where is the engine breather filter normally situated???

I can't see anything that looks like a breather filter of any description on my engine but of course my MGB has had the V8 transplanted at some stage and this filter may have been altered and / or removed.
 
The engine breather filter is in a hose between the O/S rocker cover and the air filter housing. A 10A SD1 engine shouldn't have 2 flame traps it should have one large one screwed into the rocker cover opposite the oil filler cap. Make sure that the pipes going into the carbs are clear as well, not just the hoses.
 
cobraboy said:
I would clean the whole of the back of the engine, bellhousing, gearbox and sump thoroughly and dry it all off. Take the car on a short run and then look and feel all of these areas starting from the rear of the rocker covers down. The rocker covers leak at the rear and oil runs down over the bellhousing, the rear of the valley gasket can leak. The crank main seal can leak, the sump gasket can leak.
The only way to find the leak(s) is to get it clean and dry and then keep crawling under it until you find where it is coming from.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the info.

I gave the engine a good clean today ( or as much as I could in the very confined space of an MGB engine bay ) and I found a leak that I didn't know I had. It wasn't the oil leak I was looking for but there was a pool of coolant lying on top of what I presume is the valley gasket just under the SU carbs so I don't know where this is likely to be coming from ???

Another job for tomorrow before I fire up the engine to try and find the oil leak.
 
Check you don't have coolant in the oil. The valley gasket may be leaking, there are coolant passages at the ends of each head. If the coolant is getting out on top of the valley gasket it may also be getting out under it.
Of course it may be leaking out from a core plug, heater hose connection, steel heater pipe return, or somewhere else higher on the intake depending on what pipework you have.
 
For the coolant leak I'll lay 5 bucks on the steel heater return pipe, and another 5 on the inlet manifold if the engine has ever sat for an extended period.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top