Scottish Elises

saturday was a beautiful day so obviously......



a day for crawling about under car.........sorry 'S'...........the big silver circle is a dragon lamp

but i think that i have found the source of the oil leak.....it would appear to be here....



i believe that this is part of the gear linkage. .......there was nothing to speak of around the sump etc......did an oil change whilst at it.......but there seems to be oil around this area especially on and around the ribbed rubber 'boots' that you can see.......sorry...pics taken by phone whilst lying under car......

Could this be from the gear box....is it a sealed Unit...can I check levels ....I know DUH .........but any help appreciated........



Punch[/b]

Gearbox driveshaft oil seals would be my bet.

The shifter link a close second. seals are cheap from Rover and not too difficult to DIY

There is a fill/level plug on the side of the box but good luck getting to it!

driveshaft seals, crank seals or core plugs are all likely causes.

my core plugs leak slightly - have done for past 2 years. No real worry to me - it's maybe losing 3-4ml of oil every 3 months.

The oil drips down and makes it look worse than it is.

There is a fill/level plug on the side of the box but good luck getting to it!

should i try as a DIY or is it a serious 4 post job? just a bit para bout box running dry..but no shift issues at present...

thanks for the help

I did it on a carpark, NS wheel off, disassemble the suspension so you can pull the driveshaft out (I left the toe like in place) the fill level plug is on that side of the box through the driveshaft hole in the subframe. it's a pig to reach and mine was 'king tight! FIll through the speedo drive on the top, reputedly alot easier that getting the the level plug with oil, unless you have a long thin tube.

You'll know if it starts getting low as the overrun gets incredibly noisy (Then the synchros go shortly after!)

PS Make sure the car's level before filling it up!

superb advice - as always....

Easiest way to fill the gearbox with fresh fluid is to feed a hose from the top and use a funnel when pouring. I doubt they'll be a way to tell how ful it is - but you should be able to get the required amount from a user manual.

Can you see any leaking from the top of the gearbox? Or around the sides? The crank shaft seal is behind the flywheel on the gearbox side and you are unlikely to see a big leak from the bellhousing, rather slow seepage.
Is your sump covered in oil? And is your timing belt side free from oil? The spread of oil over loads of parts is just from driving with a leak - it'll fly all round the bottom of the bay.

Cheers Leon.......

can anyone identify this on top of gearbox



didnt want to see "does it come off or open" until i was sure what it is...is it a filler pipe or

disassembled induction kit to reach it.......sorry of its another dumb question......

Self destruct button for the gearbox to prevent it falling into the wrong hands, can be attached to a lanyard for better access. Designed when rover were still building armoured cars in the Great War




Or

gearbox vent, nothing to worry about

must achieve knowledge...must achieve knowledge.....




cheers..

Is your sump covered with oil?

no mate.....everything is pretty clean for age miles etc.....no drips or fresh oily patches seen when under car...undertray was taken off bout month and a half ago and jet cleaned......very little oil on it when removed for service on Sat.....only accumulation of fresh oil seemed to be around the boots at the linkage....just dont get it at all......the engine bay is very clean and there is never a smell of oil.......on the outside just that thin black line under the exhaust exit...but its not like a wet line......it seems so thin and dry..but its not soot ....

had a thrash about on sunday past Girvan etc on Sunday and there was no change in oil level or splashes anywhere........think will need to check oil level in gearbox......starting to think about it all the time......no noises...apart from usual ...but need to do it for mental wealth....

paranoid

wheres the clutch slave cylinder on a rover box?

your gearbox fluid wont leak from the cable boots - as the fluid has no way of getting there! assuming the lotus' are cable change then the cables are likely to attach to a shifter mech on the top (?) of the box allowing manual adjustment. My advice would be to clean the underneath with some degreaser and look again after a short drive. or post some pictures from slighter further away from the underneath

thanks...will get onto it asap.......

The cables are on the bottom of the box and there is no adjust in the cables that I know of.

Get it sparkly clean as Leon says and have another look later. Oil on the left and right is driveshaft seals oil at the back is shifter seal and oil coming form the bell housing is the main shaft seal. The first 3 are straight forward (But take a while) the main shaft will be a PITA....