Hi,

I recently bought a 1976 Clubman, and while everything seems to be in pretty good order, there are a few oil leaks which I am trying to hunt down/fix.

By the way, this is the first time I've fiddled around with a car, so I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing :p

Oil is dripping from 3 places: the round plug-like thing (I'm not actually sure what this is...) on the bottom of the transmission case, the edge of the hole where the selector shaft enters the transmission case, and the spring pin on the selector shaft.

I'm pretty sure there is a crack in the transmission case - I've got a couple of pictures (taken about a minute apart) showing the oil spreading from it:



Is there some sort of glue I can use for this crack, or will I need to replace the transmission case?

Here is a picture of the selector shaft (I've marked the places where the oil drips with some nice red arrows) - does anybody have some ideas of common problems which would cause oil to drip from these places?


Once again, I'm new to all this stuff, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Harry

The final pic is probably oil from the selector shaft seal. Very common problem, reasonably easy solution. Not sure about the first two though.

Oil can really get around, and there's a lot of fresh wet oil around the back of that engine. It might be wicking down from elsewhere.
The first job is to get a can of degreaser and spray it with g.ay abandon all over the back and underside of the engine and clean it off.

After a short drive you should be able to see where the oil is originating from a little more easily. You can track the oil leaks back to their source by following the trail. I'm hoping that by cleaning it you might find it's not as bad a problem as a crack.

Oil can come down from the tappet covers on the back of the engine, from the driveshaft seals, or from the gear change seal or even (god forbid) from cracks in the tranny case.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Hey Harry, welcome to the madhouse!

More know how on minis does not exist outside this room. Enjoy the car, enjoy the journey.

bam

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1964 Cooper UK 970 S 'CZ 4289'

The first two pics are the same leak just from different angles correct? anyway to me that doesn't look good It looks like it's coming from a crack in the case although I can't see a crack. (I really hope it's not a crack though).
The last pic looks like a simple selector seal leak, someone on here will be able to tell you the exact name of the part you need and it is something you can fix yourself.
Do what Mick said and degrease your engine then try and track the leaks down.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy the little thing.

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Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

Thanks for the suggestions!

When I have some time I will degrease the engine, but I'm still quite sure there is a crack .
The main reason I'm thinking this is that after wiping the oil away from that area, I can see oil starting to appear in the middle of a clean area of metal.. Meaning it can't be coming from somewhere else..

And Konnomini: yes, the first two pics show the same leak.

Thanks,
Harry

Yep, I reckon you're not silly, and you probably have it right...but the suggestions after here can get very expensive, and the wrong piece of advice might see a lot of money lost, or you might just lose your interest in minis. It's worth a thorough clean to see what you are up against.

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.