yeh doc, point taken. i do agree. so i was gonna get a 2nd hand 1100cc out the paper and put that in, alot of muckiong around though as i need an engine hoist, trailor etc etc etc...any ideas cos i can pick one up for $200...

i have been told by 2 mini speicalists now though that i wont need disc brakes here in ye olde WA?!?!?!

SG- i have been running my 998cc on low oil levels for a while npow with lots of freeway driving and my baby runs fine..........no guarnantees for urself though

.....no-one else has actually said it...

Engine AND gearbox AND diff ..... all use the same oil from the same location.

Pull the dipstick out, wipe it dry with a rag, put it back in the hole.... and check it again. IF it comes out dry, you have NO oil (engine, gearbox, diff.... all empty)

IF the dipstick comes out wet with oil, just your oil filter may have leaked (as mooman said).

Other things could be....
-maybe a CV pot joint has dropped its guts (cracked rubber)
-Got an oil cooler?? Maybe IT has a crack somewhere and has emptied itself.
-Or MAAAAYBE nan took if for a thrash?

AAAH the joys of owning a mini....

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[NATHAN] -- Sold everything mini related and am back in big beautiful BMWs

Just before I moved the Mini to it's present location on a painted floor (easy to see leaks) I had changed the oil. After a couple of days I had a big oil leak. I had been working on the brakes and thought it was coming from the LF wheel but after a couple of hours of frustration I realised it was engine oil - funny the dip stick was still showing near enough full. The oil was coming from the diff housing bolts. I mopped up the oil and left it to worry about later and stuck a drip tray under. Funny thing is there has been no oil in the drip tray and the dip stick still reads full. So I guess that the leaking bolts or what ever are near the full level and once the level had dropped no more leaks - be a different matter driving I suppose but then it would spread over the bottom of the car and the road and not be noticed as much

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

wombat that is the mini going into self presevation moad by coating all the underpinnings in oil it cant rust
makka

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Mix with a bit of dust and it becomes a sound deadener as well

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

lol

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Hmmmm..... very interesting wombat, i'll check for that...... i can say for sure that since i have cleaned the puddle up there has been no more leaks on the floor. You might be right.

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I got nuthin......................

Ok, here are some pics................

firstly, these are the bolts that were loose under the car, i'm assuming they are the subframe bolts??????? These bolts had oil hanging from the end of them


This is the oil patch that was left on the floor of the garage...... note the edge of the trolley jack for size comparison


Lastly, this is a pic of the driveshaft/cv boot...... i noticed that there was some oil on the ends of these and sprayed on the block, is that normal?????


Any ideas by looking at these pics????

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I got nuthin......................

I'm no expert, but those bolts looks like subframe mounts, shouldn't be oil there, but it could have easily travelled there and dripped off them from somewhere.

Pic two..that's a pretty substantial oil patch!

Pic three, grease and oil and stuff is normal, think of it as a self lubricating chassis that prevents rust

Looks like that's a pot joint boot..Mattic's had pot joints? If it is, looks like the boot could be pushed in more in the middle and i can't tell, but it should have a cable tie or metal brace on it to keep it in place..

Oil only comes from the engine/gearbox/oil filter...

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I think you drive shaft seals have gone and the spinning shafts are splashing oil around everywhere.

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"Show me the Mini!"

it has a boot on it but no clip holding it on
makka

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Anonymous moderation means the agro that is built up towards the mods isn't aimed at an individual (fewer "Makk" attacks). Less stress for mods means less moderator "retirements".

yea, i couldn't really be sure, may have been covered in grease, i know mine were...i think the middle should be pushed in more, you can see a crease towards the right where it's coming out too far..

Can someone explain where the driveshaft seal is?..AFAIK the driveshaft goes into the pot and has a joint on the end with big bearings..why would this need to be sealed from the engine oil? unless there is a seal at the back of the pot?

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Check the boot is not torn anywhere.

Get some tie wire and carefully wrap around twice - then use combination pliers (or proper tie wire pliars) or a screwdriver to twist the ends of the wires together. Cut off the twisted wire about 3 cm out from the boot then laydown the twisted section so it don't catch on anything.

Alternatively, you could use a cable tie about 5 mm wide.

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"Show me the Mini!"

The pot joint boot does not keep the oil in the gearbox, it has Molygrease in there for lubrication.
There is a little welch plug in the back of the pot joint that keeps the gearbox oil from leaking into the joint. Worth checking if there IS oil in the pot joint.
I suspect the driveshaft seals gone hard. These are in the diff side covers, inboard of the pot joints..
Not hard to fix once you drain the oil then pop the whole pot joint out.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Ahh..Makes a bit more sense

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