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MG MGA - Oil Leak

Hi I believe its quite a common problem to have an oil leak between the engine and gearbox. What's the best way to cure this ? I believe their is a modification thanks
DJ Joy

This is not a problem it is by design.

The MGA engines, and also 3 bearing MGB ones, do not have an oil seal as such on the back of the engine. What they use is a reverse scroll which means that oil that get to the back of the crankshaft is fed back into the sump but only if the crankshaft is rotating. Hence some oil gets into the gearbox bell housing and drains out through the hole in the bottom that has a cotter pin in end.

This can become a problem if the scroll gets damaged and doesn't function correctly hence you get more in the bell housing which can then get on the clutch.

This is one of the 2 places the engines are designed to drop a bit of oil when you stop. The other is the down pipe under the exhaust manifold. Both these crude designs were fixed in fairly early MGB years.

Paul
Paul Dean

Some people have fabricated catchment containers that bolt on to the bell housing. Quite a bit in the archives if you can find it. One is titled 'MGA Nappy'

Steve
Steve Gyles

Well there is a solution which works, but it does take a bit of machining; see attached link :

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/engine/cs202a.htm
Nick Kopernik

Just marking its territory.
Bill Haglan

Well, I'm still working on my oil leak. I fixed the one on the spin on filter housing, then I thought I was home free until I noticed a spitting image of the oil sump printed on the parking area!
Under the car with a 7/16 socket and all the screws took another 1/2 turn to snug up. (4,000 miles since rebuild) BUT the screws at the front of the pan are unreachable unless the mounts are disconnected and the engine prodded up!
Another plus since driving it is that the steering has loosened up. It was quite stiff to start with. Now has a very nice feel to it. 33.5 mpig average.
Art Pearse

Art

They can be accessed without doing anything else. The instructions are on Barney's site. I have done it a couple of times and from what I remember it involves using a 3/8 universal drive for your socket. It is fiddly but works for me and it is a lot easier than lifting front of engine. Any issues I will see if I can help further

Paul
Paul Dean

This thread was discussed between 24/07/2016 and 04/08/2016

MG MGA index

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