That didnt sound good!!! (or smell good, or look good, or cheap, etc)

[MiniRichy]

All I was doing was driving back from my Taids house, (down the A483 about 3 miles) at a steady 60 -65 mph and Bang:( there's a oily smell and thick white smoke everywhere, I couldn't even see the cars behind me.

I nursed it home and it seemed to be running OK (by that i mean no clanging or other such bad noises) The back of the car is covered in oil, but it seems the oil has dripped onto the exhaust and caused the smoke.

Now it is parked up, there is no oil touching the dip stick, and two patches on the floor, one by the exhaust flexi-joint, where it has run down the exhaust, and another patch on the floor just underneath the sump plug (no oil on the sump plug though)

My dad seems to think there is a oil pipe/filter on the rear of the engine that could have got clogged and then pop off, as that happened on a old rover he had, but i don't no of any such pipe.:confused:

Any ideas of what went wrong/how much it would cost to fix are welcome! I'm just a little gutted at the moment!!!:(

[Greggo]

Can't offer any answers, but I really hope that u get it sorted fast and cheaply :confused:

[Steve]

Sorry to hear about your mini. When you say there is oil on the back of the car has this come out the exhaust or from the engine. is there oil all over the back of the engine bay or all over. There is a pipe at the back of the engine which runs to the oil breathers, but you should not get that much oil out of them if the pipe as broken as they are breathers. Top the car up with oil and start it and remove the pipe from the breather and see if smokes. There are no seals that would leak that much on the back of the engine apart from the rocker cover and the seal on the rod change on the gearbox. Does the car now smoke from the exhaust when reved.

[MiniRichy]

Sorry to hear about your mini. When you say there is oil on the back of the car has this come out the exhaust or from the engine. is there oil all over the back of the engine bay or all over. There is a pipe at the back of the engine which runs to the oil breathers, but you should not get that much oil out of them if the pipe as broken as they are breathers. Top the car up with oil and start it and remove the pipe from the breather and see if smokes. There are no seals that would leak that much on the back of the engine apart from the rocker cover and the seal on the rod change on the gearbox. Does the car now smoke from the exhaust when rev ed.

The oil seems to have come from the engine not the exhaust. There isn't any oil on the top rear of the engine bay or on the front of the engine or around the rocker cover, i will put it up on ramps tomorrow to get a better idea where it has come from. The engine starts and has not seized, and there is no smoke from the exhaust when revved, i will get some more oil tomorrow at work and let you no what happens.

[Deano]

Does it still drive? ive had that happen many a time It usually happend when the diff didnt like being in the gearbox:( and exited out the casing.

I have also had it when a bit of gear has snapped off and caught in the diff and ripped thru the diff casing.

I hope it not as bad as any of then and a drivedshaft seal or something has come out.

Keep us posted

[Deano]

Ive just been thinking I wonder if the presure used to try and get the castle hub nut off has damaged the diff:confused:

[Steve]

Hi Dean he said that he nursed ( I take that is driven )it home and it seemed to be running OK. it does not sound like the diff I may be wrong, if the diff pin goes ,he should be able to see a hole in casing. It a strange one as he says it is running ok. :confused:

[Deano]

Sometimes it only puts a hole thru the top of the casing and the diff can break and lock I know it sounds one in a million but its happened to me But i didnt drive it far as all the oil had left the engine:(

You can feel from under the gearbox to check.

[Steve]

Its a hard one to tell without looking at it.:confused: Could do with a bit more info.

[TONYELF]

You said white smoke.could be steam.headgasket gone ? checked your water???:eek:

[Deano]

Spot on mate you can never tell without looking at it ;)

Just found this on net


The standard mini diff is a weak item. It does not like wheel spin at all. The more torque you have, or the faster you wheelspin, the shorter the life of the diff. There are two types of differential in the Mini, the A differential fitted to all cars from built before about 1981 or 2 and the A+ differential fitted to all cars bild after the changeover. Both differentials have essentially the same construction, but the A+ has one important difference. The copper thrust washers behind the spider gears have locating tags to prevent them turning. This dramatically improves the life of the differential.
There are a few failure modes that I know of. The first is simply wear. As the spider gears wear on the diff pin, they get loose. There are copper thrust washers behind the spider gears which for some reason do no wear very much. On the orginal A differential these washers are free to turn against the rather cast iron diff cage. For some reason, the cage wears quite dramatically while the copper remains largely intact. This wear allows the spider gears to get even looser. Eventually it gets too loose, and the gears jam and break.
http://www.carrott.org/mini/PlanetGear.jpg
The other possible failure mode is due to the roll pin that holds the main diff pin. This roll pin is made of sprung steel, unfortunatly it isn't strong enough. It can be crushed by the big diff pin which is trying to turn inside the housing. Once the roll pin is crushed, the big pin is free to slide out of the diff cage. It hits the aluminium of the gearbox casing and grinds its way through it. Eventually it comes out of the cage at one end and the diff jams and thats the end of your differential, and also your diff cover, which is nearly cut in half by this time.
I have had both these failures in less than a year. The diff blew shortly after I purchased the car and I rebuilt it with new diff pin, spider gears, fibre washers and copper washers. I used A+ type copper washers with locating tags (indeed, you can't get the pre A+ type anymore, you have to snip off the locating tags if you don't want them). This requires a slot filed in to the diff housing, it took a little while but was not difficult. If you put the washers into the diff, then it is obvious where the slot has to be filed. If you have access to many diff cages, then find the cage with the least wear under the copper washers, as the more wear here, the weaker the diff.
That diff lasted about a year and then my engine dropped a valve (http://www.carrott.org/mini/ValveDeath.html). When I took the engine apart I found the diff was about to blow big time. The roll pin had failed and the big pin was munching on the aluminium gearbox housing. The gearbox was FULL of aluminum filings. It didn't damage the engine, but I'm pritty sure it wore out my syncros.
Part of the reason that I experianced roll pin failure was that I incorrectly inserted it. You must drive the roll pin all the way into the housing. This means significantly below the surface of the housing. If you do not, then other end of the roll pin is more likely to get crushed. I did not push my pin in far enough, and when I stripped the diff later (I was rebuilding the gearbox so I checked the diff as well) I found that the far end had been crushed. Like a fool, I replaced the same half crushed pin in the opposite direction to use the non crushed end. I believe that if I had had used a new pin, properly inserted, I would not have had a catastrophic roll pin failure.
I now have a Mini Spares cross pin differential (http://www.minimania.com/imagesbig/C-AJJ3385.JPG), which is said to be bullet proof... I hope so
If I ever build a standard diff again I will either use a piece of "silver steel", or more likely a drill bit, in place of the roll pin. If I do use a roll pin, it will definatly be a brand new one, and whatever I use, it will be pushed all the way into the housing!

[Steve]

Your fast at typing. ;)

[TONYELF]

Says he got it off the net LOL

[Steve]

You may find this handy.

FAULT CAUSE CURE
Noisy tappet (with correct clearance) 1. Wear in rocker pad face and/or rocker sleeve and shaft (OHV). 1. Reface pad surface, replace rockers or shaft (OHV).
2. Worn cam follower (OHC). 2. Fit new followers (OHC).
Lack of compression 1. Faulty valve seat, excessive wear in stem or guide. 1. Recut seat and valve, fit new guide and valve.
2. Faulty head gasket. 2. Fit new gasket or reface head.
3. Worn pistons, rings and bores. 3. Either fit new rings, pistons and rings and rebore. If engine badly worn then recon. engine.
Smoke from exhaust. 1. As above. 1. As above.
Lack of power 2. Blocked crankcase breather. 2. Check breathing apparatus as above.
Piston slap 1. As above (except blocked breather). 1. As above
Big-end knock 1. Wear between big-end shell and crankcase. Wrong torque on bolts. 1. Depending on wear, fit new shells, regrind crankshaft and check torque.
Mains rumble 1. Wear between main bearing shells and crankshaft. 1. As above.
Cam follower tap 1. Camshaft worn or follower dished. 1. Examine and replace followers or camshaft. Or both.
Knocking when clutch depressed. Movement at crank pulley 1. Excessive crankshaft end-float. Wear between crank and thrust washer. 1. Fit new thrust washers and recheck clearance.
Clattering from front of engine 1. Worn or slack timing chain, worn chain tensioner. 1. Fit new chain and tensioner. Adjust chain where necessary.
Small-end or gudgeon pin knock 1. Excessive wear between gudgeon pin and con-rod. 1. Fit new bush to con-rod.
Lack of oil pressure 1. Excessive wear in crankshaft journals. 1. Overhaul engine.
2. Faulty oil pump. 2. Fit new pump.
3. Blocked oil pick-up strainer. 3. Clean pick-up.
4. Faulty pressure-relief valve. 4. Fit new relief valve.
5. Blocked oil filter. 5. Fit new filter.
6. Lack of Oil. 6. Install fresh oil.
Oil leaks 1. Sump gaskets or packings. 1. Fit new gaskets.
2. Front and rear crankshaft oil seal. 2. Fit new seals.
3. Rocker or camshaft gasket. 3. Fit new gasket.
4. Oil filter. 4. Check filter seal.
Lack of power (engine in good condition) 1. Faulty ignition timing. Faulty sparking plugs, points or condenser. Wrong valve clearance. 1. Tune engine.

[moddinmad]

hows it coming along mate??

[MiniRichy]

Slowly! I found this Massive crack when i was undoing the gear linkage, I still cant believe that I drove it for 1 1/2 miles to get it home! The engine is out now and I'm gathering funds to start the rebuild.:D

[moddinmad]

oops :S it doent look healthy? bet you cant wait

[Gafmo]

I was going to say the Rocker cover gasket aslo as its happen to me a number of times also.
Do you thin you could put a Picture up of what youhave.
Never seen this happen.

Cheers

[moddinmad]

how you gettin on mate??

[MiniRichy]

Well Im now saving up for the bits and pieces i need to complete the job! The Engine and gearbox are in bits in the garage with the driveshafts etc, The gearbox was so bent and cracked out of shape thet the driveshafts just pulled out using my hands!:eek: I am aiming to get it back on the road for my 21st b-day next february!

[moddinmad]

good luck mate. if you need a hang give me a shout