Oil Catcher

you all have probably come up with your own system but in case this could help someone... well...

i have oil leaking from the vent hole in the bell housing. it could be thru the new rear main seal i installed or it could be from the rebuilt gearbox. i don't know. but there are three things i do know.
1) it is leaking thru that hole
2) it is not likely to stop on it's own
3) i do not plan to pull the engine to figure out what it is or fix it at this time.

So i thought back to what i did with my old TD since it had the same issue. i made an oil catcher. it does not stop the oil but it does allow me to control when it hits the ground.. or a bowl in my case.

this is made from a simple top to a gas can. it was cut and turned upside down to catch the oil as it drips. it is not usually a lot of oil. i probably drained it maybe once a month on the TD. see below


as you can see, i go under about once a month and take off the top and drain it in to a bowl. then put the cap back on. i had already cut this top out for some reason (i rarely throw things away obviously) and so i ended up adding to the height of it in the back. i am not sure i want to leave it this height since it sticks down about an inch below the frame. not a big problem to cut it and move it up a little. it really does not need to be very deep. mine is about 2" in the back and 1" is probably plenty, as long as the front side does not get too shallow. it is held on with the aluminum bar that i cut in half and bent around the bottom. it is bolted to the bell housing via the two bottom bolts.

all made from junk i had laying around... so cost? just my time.

Re: oil catcher

Drone Dog--

That is certainly one way to skin the cat and by looking at the oil you will be able to tell whether it is coming from the engine (dirty) or gear box (clean). My bet is on the former, though it might be both as after all this is a Healey!

Re: oil catcher

Hey Drone Dog, were MG TCs and TDs equipped with a felt pad, or some other absorbent material, at this location. My BJ-7 has a cotter pin inserted into the bell housing hole, with the ends folded to the outside. This is as original and perhaps at one time functioned as a "keeper" for something like a felt pad to stem weeping oil from the trans?

I like your catch-tank design for further "oil analysis". You got me thinking about re-purposing the cotter pin keeper. GONZO.

Gonzo, my BT7 has the same cotter pin in the drain hole. I always wondered if it was there to keep frogs,snakes or insects from crawling into the bell housing! Wouldn't imagine the engineers or accountants would have allowed that extra pin unless there was a real purpose for it. Does any one know why?

Knowing that oil would drip from that point the cotter pin was installed so a mechanic would know it were intentional and not plug it.

My understanding of the cotter pin's purpose is that it is supposed to prevent the hole from clogging. I've never been under a Healey while it is underway but I'm quite sure that the car's motion would make the pin jiggle and keep the hole open, providing a way for oil leaking past the scroll seal at the rear of the crank to exit the bell housing, or in the case of BN1's, the transmission case.

Now that's one sensible and quite plausible explanation for the cotter pin! Gonzo

Gonzo--

I didn't make it up and since it made sense I assumed it was common knowledge.

What I have always found interesting is how the leaky scroll seal design is blithely accepted and dealt with simply by providing a path for the oil to leak out of the car and into the environment. Times have changed....

I agree with Michael, that's the reason I have been told too and it does make sense. You don't want it to get plugged and end up with an oiled clutch.
Dave

gonzo, to answer your question. no, i don't think any MG had a felt pad there. explanations above sound good to me. i have seen this on more than just a few different cars.

the catch pan is more about keeping oil from dripping all over than for analysis. although a side benefit i guess... unless both are leaking....haha

I agree that the purpose of the cotter pin is to keep the hole from plugging up with gunk, leaving any leaking oil to build up inside the bellhousing (the "jiggle pin" in a thermostat serves a similar function). If the oil is clear, then I suspect that whoever installed the bellhousing the last time did not seal the threads on a couple of the bolts that penetrate into the oil chamber of the gearbox. My concern with oil leaking from the hole is the chance that some of it will get onto the clutch plate or disc. This can cause severe "judder" when engaging the clutch. It happened to me, but in reverse gear only and was only fixed by changing the clutch and making sure the threads on the two bellhousing bolts were sealed.

i did not have a lot of oil coming out. it drips as the engine cools down. again why i think it may be from the rear seal. it just makes a mess on the floor.

i was thinking back when reading steve's post. i seem to remember reading a thread before i mated up the gearbox. i feel like i pulled out the bolts, put some sealant on them and also maybe a grade 8 washer in there.... per someones post.

either way it does not matter. if i start to feel something in the clutch, it will force my hand sooner than later.

The rear seal leaked on my MGTF even after fitting an after market seal so I fitted a catch tank - no mess anymore. I've just made one up for my Healey but haven't fitted it yet. There's a good design for a Healey catch tank under the Misc section on John Sims website, I guess he won't mind me advertising it! The one I made for my TF had a hole in the bottom with a nut welded on so I could plug it with a bolt so I could drain it. Luckily my Healey doesn't leak much so I didn't bother with the drain this time, I made the sides lower so I can get my fingers in to clean it out periodically.

https://www.healey6.com/technical.htm

AJ

Drone Dog said:

...
i was thinking back when reading steve's post. i seem to remember reading a thread before i mated up the gearbox. i feel like i pulled out the bolts, put some sealant on them and also maybe a grade 8 washer in there.... per someones post. ...

Click to expand...

When I recently rebuilt my BJ8's engine I put copper washers under grade 8 flat washers on all the bolts that hold the bell housing to the gearbox (no sealant). I had to pull the gearbox/OD after about 5K miles because it was jumping out of gear. I had some leaking around the seal because I'd overfilled the gearbox, but there did not appear to be any leaking around the bolts. With this and the PCV setup I don't get any leaking from the 'weep hole' (yet).

Anyone looking for the drip pan modification mentioned by MGTF328 above in Healey6 will find it under "modifications." That logic eluded me. This is an excellent site for Healey owners, for sure. I don't think my Smitty bell housing has a drip hole as described by others, but I do have oil drips from various orifices. I get a yellow-looking watery product in my catch pan I slide under the car. Small but persistent. I've tried locating the source by placing newspaper under the car to no avail. I assume it is coolant, but I don't find any freeze plug leaks, etc. I might add that I will soon be posting a report on my installation of a Chinese-made but U.S. sourced radiator. I am awaiting really warm weather here in Florida to make certain my testing is really meaningful. Like most Healeys, I assume, my car's tendency to get above 200 degrees increases after a good bit of driving followed by slow driving, traffic lights, etc. The car is also very reactive to ambient temperatures, cool running when temperatures are below 70 degrees, temperamental in the 90s.

Here's the full link to the Jim Shope article on John Sim's site:
https://www.healey6.com/Technical/drip pan.pdf

I plan on sealing my engine better next winter - it can be done - but realize a drip-free stock tranny may not be an option. In any case, it's an easy add-on solution.

Using the manifold drain tube to suck up the drippings is a nice touch!