Cowboi

Im the proud owner of an mg zr.

just a little 1.4. problem is it seams to have found its self an oil leak.

when i first noticed a small puddle outside my house i didnt think anything of it and ashomed it was one on my mates in their rs's.

when i noticed it again under my car in southend i thought i had better check.
found next to no oil in the poor engine.

So i topped it up and limped home.
Got the jack out and had a look. it looked more like it was coming from the gearbox, which seamed weird as the engine was running nearly dry.

i saw an allen key bolt on the side of a gear box (just like on a erst box) and thought it wont hurt to top it up any way.
when i took the plug out some oil came out in a steady flow so im guessing it dosent need topping up.

Does anyone know if there are 2 plugs on these boxes, and maybe im undoing the drain plug???


The thing that really baffled me is when i had a sniff of one of my puddles it smelt like gear box oil.


why o why did rover have to go down the pan????

Paddy

Ooh 1.4 K series

Keep a close eye on the water levels too cos they chew headgaskets like my nephew go's through smarties.

Cowboi

water seams to have been fine, just seams as if some tramp wanted to soba up and used my oil to do so.

might have to get a haynes manual just to check how to top up gear box oil.

NUTS RuS

iTrader: (35)

If it dripped all its oil out, and the engine had no oil in it, why are you suspecting the gearbox ?

Cowboi

the dirty oily patch on the underside of the gear box and the fact that the oil on the floor smelt like gearbox oil.

L33 BYT

Gearbox oil will have a very distinctive smell. If it is coming from the gearbox area then it could the crankshaft oil seal.
One question!? When did you last check your oil?

matts1

I had a leak on a 3i once, couldn't find where from so cleaned the block and used a flushing treatent that is not as thick as engine oil, ran the car on the drive and found the leak, oil temp sender, £2.50 and all sorted

Had a 1.6l rover engine, started making a squeeling noise from the top end just now and then. turned it over one day and it was rock solid, took the head off to find a vavle buried in a piston

Figure the camb must have been starved of oil and stuck, then up came the piston to meet mr valve

Clean the block down, fill it up with oil and run it, then see if you can isolate the problem.

digita1dragon

the old k series used to have lots of propblems with the head gasket.
There is a revised gasket availavle from Rover though and I would assume that all the modern engines have the proper gaskets in

Cowboi

i kinda took for granted that it was a new car and didnt pay it as much attention as i should of.

i hadnt checked the oil for about 6 months or so.
it needed a change anyway so i think i'll get a new oil filter and some oil and change it.

I'll keep an eye on it.
only thing im worried about is that im not looking at the right bit on the gear box to check its full.

can anyone conform that u fill it up the same way as an rst box?

is there just the one plug? or is there a fill and a drain plug?



cheers for the help

NUTS RuS

iTrader: (35)

Was this fill plug about 1/2 way up the box or was it at the bottom like a sump plug ?

Cant help you on the gearbox bit as my Rover engine is mated to a Ford box, but Im thinking same as Lee - Engine crank seal is leaking oil into the bellhousing making you think the oil is coming from the gearbox.

Rover didnt do many mods to the headgaskets themselves but changed the plastic dowels in the engine to more substantial metal ones. You get these metal dowels with all gaskets purchased. Bit this isn't a head gasket problem.

Al Bags

Remember peeps, that there is the good old EP Gear Oil .. Very distinctive smell ... and there is the newer light oil (the Red transmission fluid) that so many use these days.
Maybe you have a leaky Crank rear oil seal?

Cowboi

i must admit it did smell like gear box oil but not so distinstive as other gear box oils i have smelt in the past. it was a scaled down version of it to be honest.

but the plug was about half way up the box and oil did come out of it so maybe im just hoping it was gear box oil instead of engine oil.

no drips today from anywhere.

cheers again for the help guys

James

Some boxes also use normal 10/40 synthetic..

Re: Head gaskets.. i'm doing one on a 20k miler 02 plate atm so the well known problems still exist..