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MG MGA - Oil Leaks - whats the norm?

Problem is oil leaks. Recent motor rebuild. Found a few and fixed (side covers, oil filter gasket, etc). Put dye in crank, nothing. Everytime I go out for a good ride (20+ minutes) and park it, I get a puddle and a bunch of spots. The frame and tranny are soaked. My problem, the guy who rebuilt it says that this is normal!!!! Any suggestions?
Bob

Depends on teh rebuilder. Some guys swear that all British cars leak oil. Others say that's hogwash. I have two Bs. One leaks a little and the other not a drop. I happen to know that the one that doesn't leak was build by a very talented man and the other was rebuilt by a mechanic's apprentice.
Steve Simmons

Since there is no rear oil seal on MGA's, a litle leakage is normalthere...shouldn't really be much --a few drops. B's are different--they have a seal back there, except for the early 3 main cars. The Original front seal is felt--It can be replaced with a later B timing cover and a better seal. Oil pans, valve covers etc should not leak. What you've got isn't normal at all. Take it back and get it done right.
R. L Carleen

Tought a bit more on this topic...Make sure the crankcase and valve cover are propery vented--you may be blowing oil out the vent.
R. L Carleen

If you have oil leaks anywhere except the front crank felt seal & rear crank, revisit your mechanic and ask him to do the job correctly. Replaceing the front cover with the "B" cover will greatly reduce leakage in that area. Watch your trans oil level, you could also be loosing oil from the front or rear trans seals.
John H

Suggest a REAL CLOSE LOOK at the FRONT RUBBER engine SEAL. I don't think you can even find a FELT type any more and you want a rubber seal anyhow. If you have a CHOICE between BLACK RUBBER or RED RUBBER, go for the RED as it is a much better rubber compound! My BLACK RUBBER SEAL had "PLASTICIZED" FROM EXCESSIVE HEAT at some time in the past. The seal was SO HARD I was able to use it as a "DRIVER" to install the NEW SEAL! Valve covers used to leak A LOT because a "so-called" mechanic failed to notice that the TORQUE SPEC on the VALVE COVER SCREWS was listed in POUNDS-INCHES, and NOT POUNDS-FEET! Lots of WARPED VALVE COVERS on M.G. & Jaguars, after which it might ALWAYS leak EVEN WITH NEW CORK & SEALS! My method for valve cover cork seals was to use "PERMATEX #1" (The type that HARDENS!) on the Valve Cover and "PERMATEX #2" (The type that DOES NOT HARDEN) on the CYLINDER HEAD SIDE, tightening it down until the #2 JUST SQUISHED OUT ALL AROUND, while watching my TORQUE WRENCH to be sure not to overdo it. With this combo of "PERMATEX #1 & #2, you could remove the Valve Cover to adjust the tappet clearances SEVERAL TIMES before doing it all again!
wattswh1

A good idea is to run the engine while the car is on ramps/over a pit etc.
Clean the block beforehand and then take a look into all the areas mentioned above.
I was at Silverstone last weekend and found that my dramatic oil loss was due to my not fitting the oil filter seal correctly (twice now out of the 10 times it has been done since I owned the car!!). Running the car with my hand underneath the filter had oil in my hand within a couple of seconds (I had lost 5 litres in 400 miles of motorway running though!!).

As someone said to me last weekend, if it doesnt leak then your most likely out of oil!!

Best of luck.
Neil Purves

High Bob,
to my knowledge it is not possible to fit the B timing chain cover to all earls A´s. I have a ´56 1500 and the curvature of the cover is a bit different. There are suppliers for the felt seal and some people say that if installed correctly it could be quite a good seal. Just be sure that the "oil thrower" inside is mounted the right way. Thats a curved "washer" mounted on the crank. the curvature has to show towars the cover and not towars the engine. Oil is suppoed to run up that washer due and then to be spashed away from the crank and thus not to run against the felt seal. The other possible oil leak is as mentioned in the back of the crank, where there is no seal. Barney Gaylord gives instructiones on how to modifiy the back engine plate to install a seal.
If you have severe "by blast" due to bad rings ore valve bearings this could cause oul to leak from the carbs. Usually there is a vent hole in the valve cover that is connected via a tube to one air filter. All other fittings should not leak. It is usual hard to tell from where the leaks originate. It could also be the gearbox, the tachometer or speedometer drives can leak if the sela goes bad. If the oil runs along the cable it can drop anywhere between gearbox and engine....
As mentioned the oil filter could be a reason for oil leaks, there is not only the posibility that the seal is forgoten but also that the old one is still in place hindering the new one to take a seat.
Good luck
Simon
Simon Beyertt

The MGB timing cover with rubber seal can indeed be fitted to the MGA. Late MGA MK-II timing cover has a rubber seal and uses the same oil thrower ring as the felt seal cover. Some very early MGB engines may also use the same timing cover with the early cup shape oil thrower ring. Later MGB covers may also be used on the MGA engines, but you have to use the matching flat style oil thrower ring. See here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/engine/cs201.htm
Barney Gaylord

Hi Folks. To the naysayers regarding felt oil seals in the timing cover: I have rebuilt my 1500 cc MGA engine twice in 25 years, the last time being in 2003. Both times, I replaced the felt oil seal in the front timing cover, and can happily report that I had NO LEAKS from the front seal(s) in all that time! The felt oil seal must be soaked in clean motor oil prior to installation in the timing cover. Failure to do so would probably result in leakage. The motor oil soaked seal is difficult to insert into the timing cover as it swells quite a bit, but with patience, it will go in, and will seal perfectly. Cheers! Glenn
Glenn

Everyone,

Thank you for your support, input and some great suggestions. The rebuild is on an early B, 1963 3 main bearing. The mechanic thinks it is the rear crank where he says there is no seal and there isn't much he can do. He offered to find another block (at his cost), but thinks the results will be the same. Running on blocks/ramps, shows little dripping. Road trips it gets much heavier (underside gets very wet).

Simon & Barney, I'm going to speak with him about your solution to modify the back engine plate and add a seal. Barney can you send me more information?

In the meantime, I'm driving it!!! Summer is too short.
Bob

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/engine/cs202a.htm
Barney Gaylord

This thread was discussed between 25/07/2005 and 01/08/2005

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.