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Oil smell in cabin. Marina based 1.8TC Roadster

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  • Oil smell in cabin. Marina based 1.8TC Roadster

    Strange one this. To me anyway. I don't notice when the roof is off but when the roof is up I have a smell in the cabin of hot oil. It seems to be coming from the driver's footwell. The engine is not visibly leaking oil with head and block nice and dry and I can't smell it under the bonnet even after a long run.

    My only thought is that the rear crank seal may be leaking into the clutch bellhousing but I hope I'm wrong.
    Roadster MKII LWB. Built 1988. Marina 1.8TC based. B Series 1950cc engine fitted with twin SU HS4 carburetors and unleaded, big valve head. 4 core Austin Maxi radiator. All Marina 1.8TC running gear including 4 speed gearbox. Minilite style 15"wheels fitted with tall tyres to increase gearing for more relaxed cruising.

  • #2
    Re: Oil smell in cabin. Marina based 1.8TC Roadster

    Simon, check your diff flange and rear brake shoes

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    • #3
      Re: Oil smell in cabin. Marina based 1.8TC Roadster

      Hi Phil. Thanks. I see where you are coming from but a quick check shows them to be pretty dry also. There is a very slight weep from the diff flange but it's very little and the drums are bone dry with no loss of fluid over a long period. There are no drips at all on my garage floor after a few thousand miles and 2 years of ownership.

      Going back to my original thought - if the rear crank seal is weeping, could that oil be finding its way onto the clutch plate and burning off in the bellhousing?

      As I always find myself saying on the forum, I am inexperienced so find it difficult to diagnose problems even though I usually manage to fix them after help from wiser heads on here and by reading up on'tinternet. I'm slow but I get there in the end.
      Roadster MKII LWB. Built 1988. Marina 1.8TC based. B Series 1950cc engine fitted with twin SU HS4 carburetors and unleaded, big valve head. 4 core Austin Maxi radiator. All Marina 1.8TC running gear including 4 speed gearbox. Minilite style 15"wheels fitted with tall tyres to increase gearing for more relaxed cruising.

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      • #4
        Re: Oil smell in cabin. Marina based 1.8TC Roadster

        Hi Simon, What I meant to say earlier (got called away) was that most of the time it is due to the air flow,and how it changes, roof on roof off etc. If you have a side exit exhaust and you are burning a bit of oil as most older engines do, it could be just that, usually oil doesn't burn in the bellhousing not unless your clutch is on the way out. Try burning a drop of engine oil on some paper, and then a drop of gear/axle oil so you can smell the difference,this way you may know which way to go, or it could be the engine breather pipe that is old and perished and leaking fumes into car.

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        • #5
          Re: Oil smell in cabin. Marina based 1.8TC Roadster

          Thanks again Phil. I'm sure that the smell is hot, rather than burning, engine oil. I think gear oil has a specific smell that is quite easy to recognise. The engine breather pipes smell just like the driver's footwell but they are in perfect condition. You are right about air flow though - I have often thought that there is no fresh airflow into the Roadster with the hood up(apart from the gaps in the hood!)and that I should look at a way of directing fresh air into the cabin, with some sort of control flap.
          Oh well, perhaps I'll just buy a strong air freshener and disguise the smell until the underlying problem manifests itself in a more obvious way.
          Roadster MKII LWB. Built 1988. Marina 1.8TC based. B Series 1950cc engine fitted with twin SU HS4 carburetors and unleaded, big valve head. 4 core Austin Maxi radiator. All Marina 1.8TC running gear including 4 speed gearbox. Minilite style 15"wheels fitted with tall tyres to increase gearing for more relaxed cruising.

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          • #6
            Re: Oil smell in cabin. Marina based 1.8TC Roadster

            Hi Simon, Check the oil pressure gauge and pipe, it may be weeping and soaking into the carpet in the foot well where it comes through the bulkhead.
            Ben Caswell probably not the last word on anything here!!

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            • #7
              Re: Oil smell in cabin. Marina based 1.8TC Roadster

              Hi Ben. Perhaps stupidly I don't have an oil pressure gauge. Was planning to fit one of the Smiths combined oil pressure / water temp gauges but they are so expensive and I just haven't got round to it. I suppose the up side is that I don't know if my oil pressure is low and, as they say, ignorance is bliss!

              Thanks.
              Roadster MKII LWB. Built 1988. Marina 1.8TC based. B Series 1950cc engine fitted with twin SU HS4 carburetors and unleaded, big valve head. 4 core Austin Maxi radiator. All Marina 1.8TC running gear including 4 speed gearbox. Minilite style 15"wheels fitted with tall tyres to increase gearing for more relaxed cruising.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Oil smell in cabin. Marina based 1.8TC Roadster

                Ah yes, we used to call them "Worry Guages". If you haven't got them then you don't worry about it.

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                • #9
                  Re: Oil smell in cabin. Marina based 1.8TC Roadster

                  If your oil pressure is too low there is a little light that looks quite pretty when it twinkles at tick over.
                  Can only assume the smell is being created by the breather then somehow its getting past a grommet somewhere!!
                  Ben Caswell probably not the last word on anything here!!

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                  • #10
                    Re: Oil smell in cabin. Marina based 1.8TC Roadster

                    Hi Simon,
                    The smell of oil from a driver’s foot well immediately makes me think of brake fluid from the master cylinder. Should be easily eliminated from your inquires.
                    Paul

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                    • #11
                      Re: Oil smell in cabin. Marina based 1.8TC Roadster

                      Sorry for the week's silence. We had a Mid-term holiday in the Lakes. Marlinless unfortunately - no room for 3 kids in my Roadster.

                      Hi Ben - yes my little orange light works and its behaviour suggests my oil pressure is fine. And I didn't even need to connect it to the ignition light feed to make sure it goes out just after the engine fires!
                      Hi Paul - thanks for your suggestion. I will check the master cylinder for leaks although I have not needed to top up the fluid since I first filled the system 2 years ago.
                      Roadster MKII LWB. Built 1988. Marina 1.8TC based. B Series 1950cc engine fitted with twin SU HS4 carburetors and unleaded, big valve head. 4 core Austin Maxi radiator. All Marina 1.8TC running gear including 4 speed gearbox. Minilite style 15"wheels fitted with tall tyres to increase gearing for more relaxed cruising.

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