I have a feeling it isnt lol.

put the car up on ramps this morning to try and find out where exactly my leaks are coming from as I was told the seals were only done recently when the diff was changed...

On the sump towards the rear (same as the other photos I posted before) I noticed there was some oil about to drop on the ground again. So I sprayed it with degreaser all around and cleaned it off.

had another look and it appears the oil is only coming from this part.. theres grease around the CV boot (i know at one point it came off) but no 'oil' in that sense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzo0I9-cIbA first video is blurry

Second one you can watch in HD and if you look it appears the crack doesnt go all the way up and is only in that general area. Now is this meant to have a crack? like a little extra bit of metal covering it? or is this definately a no no and the cause of my leak?

also, if it is a cracked sump, how do I fix it? I don tthink I can weld it... lol

2nd HD vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX_lh_n0IsI

please halp!!

It does look like a bit of old silastic, or a fillet of devcon. Best it will be silastic with a little oil behind it, worst it will be a crack which has been repaired with devcon.

We will have a look tomorrow, but at least its clean under there!

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

if it is a crack, what would be the go? cover again? lol

Ultimately it would need to be repaired. In the short term it might bare up with another application of devcon. I don't use the stuff at all, I usually go straight to repair mode, so I'm not sure how well, and how long it keeps itself together, but some people swear by it.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

i'd rather repair it than have to deal with it again int he future (but then again being british, one will pop up again in the future) lol

I'll see you tomorrow. it looks like we may not need seals after all!! lol

It might just be residue yet...we'll see.

It is in the diff cover, which with much care can be replaced. Its still an engine out job at the worst.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

so its been about two hours since I've cleaned it. I see no drips under at the moment. the car is still up on ramps though. The true test will be if there is leaks later when I get home lol.

Looks loke a crack to me. Probably not leaking now as the oil is thicker (cooler).

Let us know how you go.

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The bitterness of poor quality (or Crappy Workmanship) remains LONG AFTER the Sweet Taste of Low Price is forgotten.

I'm of the same opinion as Tk , i think it is a crack unfortunately .

Wait until Mick has a look at it and then see what your alternatives are .

You could get the oil hot and drain it for a few days , ( or more , with the sump plug in the down position ) then spray the cracked area with Thinners or Electrical spray or something similar , get it as clean & dry as you can , ( might take 2 or 3 go's ) heat & dry with a hot air gun and then patch it with Devcon or something the same .

Other than that , it would be engine out , split gearbox and have it repaired .

hmmm... I'll see what mick says tomorrow. I may patch it up temporarily.

Cause if its engine out i may as well do some engine mods whilst its out! lol wouldn't mind cams and such! lol

That's my plan. Only we will have to shorten the waiting part to an hour or two...

I reckon the prospect of changing oil seals was more pleasant

Never mind, we'll work our way through to a solution.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

I come bearing good news!!!

So I asked mick to have a look at what looks like a crack, and yes, there is definately a small part that has a crack (from what looks like its already been repaired)

but on the drive down to micks I also noticed smoke puffing out from the back with the burning oil smell... we looked around the crack and saw no traces of oil dripping onto the exhaust...

Check the back of the rocker cover and lo and behold. dripping wet with fresh oil!!! lol

so tomorrow I'm gonna do the rocker cover and clean the engine bay down good. Drive it over the week and do a few more things mick suggested and weekend is judgement day.

I know oil leaks dont 'fix themselves' but this time around I'm happy to say its gone from what would have been worst case to best case!!!! lol

at this point I'm only 99% sure its the rocker cover gasket. the other 1% will come once I;ve actually changed it out!!

Yep, you've gotten away with this one. There is a little Devcon there from a crack caused by pulling up the diff housing to the gearbox housing in an awkward manner. But there is little or no sign of any oil coming from the repair. All the oil is coming down the back of the engine from the very worn out rocker cover gasket. Even the drive shaft seals are top notch

Happy days Paul. I'd rather a rocker cover gasket any day of the week!

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

Some days you can be just plain lucky !

Happy news...reminds me of the mysterious oil leak that survived a thorough cleaning of the power unit out of the Mini, new crank seals, timing cover gasket, head gasket, valve cover gasket etc. (when we were renewing the clutch plate/release bearing). All completed just before an arduous road trip.

The day before the multi-day 1,600 km. rally...the dang oil was still leaking...and we finally found the source - the exhaust manifold stud at the fan end of the engine...the oil was coming out the threads, through the nut and dropping off the stud tip...and we were supposed to be driving to overnight before the start.

Thoroughly cleaned out the threads in the head and manifold stud, used red thread sealer, left overnight, fired up first thing in the morning...leak had been stopped, left at 7:30 a.m. to drive the 50 miles to the rally start. Leak never returned.

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Select a gear, bring up the revs and release the clutch...off you go!