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Oil leak (surprised?)

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grn78rd Avatar
grn78rd Jon Clark
Summerfield, NC, USA   USA
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1971 MG MGB MkII "Mistake"
1978 MG MGB
Just returned from a 350 mile 2day trip in which I under coated my car with 3 quarts of oil!

I am having trouble with the oil seal where the oil line goes into the filter head bracket. The seal in question is the one with the copper crush washer.

I have had trouble with this seal on and off as long as I have had the car (7 years). I recently attempted to fix it again by installing a new washer. It still leaked a bit, but not too much. More of a messy nuisance than anything. Well on Sunday, I cranked it tight again and thought, there, that will stop it. Not so! Leaks worse than ever!

What is the secret? Can I get some advice from you all? Am I over tightening? Maybe there is a better seal to use? Should I take the filter head off and file the mating surface a bit? Thanks for the help.

Jon

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Dave W Avatar
Dave W David Wilhelm
Willits, CA, USA   USA
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1963 MG MGB
1970 MG MGB GT "New Girl"
at this point i would look at the filter head. you mean the oil cooler lines right? i dont remember a crush washer in there but?? maybe it was misthreaded at some point?

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ErnieY Avatar
ErnieY Ernie Y
Albatera, Alicante, Spain   ESP
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Copper crush washers usually do a pretty good job which leads me to question your diagnosis of the joint being the actual source of the leak.

I would very carefully examine the hose and if if nothing is found amiss with it I'd remove the complete filter housing to examine it for cracks or other potential defects, including the steel nipple the hose connects to.

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badams500 Avatar
badams500 Bruce Adams
Springfield, Virginia, USA   USA
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1980 MG MGB
Assuming that you have no oil cooler and have a rigid steel pipe from the block to the filter adapter - I've found that loosening the fitting on the block end of pipe "relaxes" the connection at the adapter. This allows it to align without stress and seals that leak. From your current situation, would suggest that you start over with a new or annealed copper washer, and that you loosen the bolt that holds the filter adapter to the block. With all parts relaxed (both ends of pipe and filter adapter), gradually tighten all points rather than cranking any one point first. Am sure that a range of torque values will work for the filter adapter bolt, but have found over time that 22 foot pounds is about right. The connection where your leak is should be snug tight, but haven't ever tried to measure torque.

Right or wrong, I've decided that this connection is subject to stresses similar to what is more obvious with the clutch slave cylinder flex hose or a brake hose. If you crank one end of either of those first, you may have an interesting kink to deal with on the other end.

You may also want to replace the rubber seal in the block recess above the filter adapter while you're doing all of this. If you do, be certain to clear all remnants of the old one before installing new.



1980 MGB
Dual HS-4s with K&N air filters
10-circuit blade type fuse panel
Schlemmer distributor with Pertronix ignition
Energy Suspension poly bushings
Black Label OD transmission
Mr. Mike's Fiero seats
Delta D9 cam
12H2923 head with dual springs

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grn78rd Avatar
grn78rd Jon Clark
Summerfield, NC, USA   USA
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1971 MG MGB MkII "Mistake"
1978 MG MGB
Hose is relatively new. I can also see the oil seeping around the copper washer when the engine is running so I am pretty sure that is the issue. Is there scuba thing as over tightening these washers?

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Dave W Avatar
Dave W David Wilhelm
Willits, CA, USA   USA
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1963 MG MGB
1970 MG MGB GT "New Girl"
i don't know what the torque specks are but i didn't know them when i removed/replaced or otherwise fiddled with the hoses so i dont think its a big deal. unless you cracked something or have some other problem that you cant detect with the hoses in place. i would remove all the bits and inspect them.

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Mattsez Avatar
Mattsez matt B
Adrian, MI, USA   USA
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1973 MG MGB "Baby ( Please Start Baby...)"
if there is a crack....the tighter u turn,....the more u widen the crack. id check the metal under the hole.....hope u dont find a hairline crack from the hole down the sides of housing

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dhcoleago Avatar
dhcoleago David Cole
Magnolia, AR, USA   USA
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In reply to # 2756992 by Mattsez if there is a crack....the tighter u turn,....the more u widen the crack. id check the metal under the hole.....hope u dont find a hairline crack from the hole down the sides of housing

+1

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mrobin Avatar
mrobin michael robinson
fort pierce, FL, USA   USA
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I had the same leak (though not as bad as yours) and replaced the cooper washer...didn't help. I then replaced the rubber hose (even though the one I had "looked" perfect) and presto, the leak went away.

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