Hello all,
Hope you've been well. We're having our annual two weeks of sun here in Seattle, so I've been out and about.

Pulled the '70 S out of the garage yesterday, and went through a few things.
Compression: 180, 172, 188, 178 (from left to right as you look into the engine--which end is #1?)
Set plugs to .025.
Dwell was around 55 degrees
Couldn't find timing marks, but engine runs well enough for now
Idle set to 1200 or so

The mini has mostly sat in my garage, and has always lost a bit of oil on the floor. It started smoking as it heated up, and I could see oil burning off the exhaust, pretty much where the exhaust headers go 2-into-one and curve back. As the engine warmed up more, I started having a pretty steady drip, that originates somewhere above the left side spicer/universal joint, and drips off of the same. Within about 10 minutes I had a circle of oil about 6" in diameter on the driveway. I took a quick spin around the block, and left a trail of drips every 12" into the driveway when I got back. I also noticed heavy knocking in the valves if I give any sort of serious throttle, but it is much louder than I'd expect, almost like something loose and banging around, more on the right side than the left. I also feel like the engine runs really hot--one symptom is that the oil fill cap is hard to remove after the engine warms up, and there is steam/smoke inside the valve cover when you open the cap. I am still a total neophyte with minis, but it just "feels" too hot.

Something is clearly amiss. Picture below (mini on ramps).

Any common/obvious leaks in this region? Is my next stop an engine rebuild? How is the compression as listed above, i.e. normal or way low?

In any case, glad to have her running again, even if just for diagnosing a period of non-running...it is movement...

talk soon,
Ben McC

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Ben McCafferty
Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA
1970 ex-police mk2 Cooper S

No 1 cylinder is closest to the Radiator..
Only a couple of places the oil could be coming from. One place would be from the back of the rocker cover another would be the push rod covers on the very back of the engine. However.... Seeing the puddle under the car like that I would also suspect the timing cover seal. All pretty easy to fix just takes time. Compression looks is a bit down on 1 and 3 in comparison to the others but if it's running ok I wouldn't look at tearing the whole thing apart just yet.

I would also suggest a timing cover seal.

The oil leak that came from mine after that seal went is visible on google earth. Seriously.

Could be the fuel pump too, thats just above the driveshaft and can often leak after sitting awhile.

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Dean Hutton's first car was a Mini.

Hmmm...ok, I'll look at all those. Also heard from someone in Seattle to have a look at a rubber washer on a fastener on the rear of the motor. Will see about a mirror back there.
Thanks as always.
bmc

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Ben McCafferty
Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA
1970 ex-police mk2 Cooper S

give it a really good clean down the back of the motor and you'll find it easy enough



not on an S - doesn't even have a hole in the block

Its just horse power sweat, dont worry about it

I would guess it is a side cover leaking. My Cooper S motor started doing that just before I pulled the car apart. Very similar quantity in a similar place.
The cork/rubber gaskets can dry out if the car is not used for a while.

Horse power sweat--I like that.

The car definitely sat for some years before I got my hands on it. I just have this instinctive feeling that I'll be polishing a turd until I just go for it and rebuild the motor with new gaskets/seals/etc.

But I will try to clean things up and then have a better look in there. Maybe I can enjoy the summer before finally tearing into everything.

best,
bmc

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Ben McCafferty
Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA
1970 ex-police mk2 Cooper S

Likely that you'll find all the seals have gone rock hard. Gaskets, if fitted clean and correctly should be OK.

I'd suggest replacing all seals (which may also mean some gaskets too) before doing too many miles as the hard seals can damage the shafting that they are running on.

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