screwdrivers, Coke bottles, flashlights, gerbils....you name it

Somehow.. that description seems a little.... uncomfortable.

Synthetic or non-synthetic is not the issue. It could have ben 10-30 years ago. bur a properly formulated MA2 oil will not matter. When they started, manypere pure PAO formulations, which are not very solvent. Today's forumlations have Esters that work to soften seals and disolve additives, keeping engines cleaner and seals softer, just as soft as a properly formulated mineral oil.

You acturlly had biger differences within the mineral oil category up until the 80's and 90's, where the better lubricating oils with less blackening (from oxidation) and les evaporating oils were made the Pennsylvania crudes but left waxy accumulations, and tended to harden gaskets and seals; but the Texas crudes (in general) had much higher aromatic contents and less wax, oxidizing quickly, over-softening seals, evaporating, etc. Dewaxing fixed part of that, but hydrotreating fixed all of it by saturating the non-saturated molecules with hydrogen. Then a touch of Esters is generally added for the seal conditioner.

Some myths will never die.

But since 90% of the sinthetic oils are for CAR engines, they are not good for autmatic Minis.

If the po used synthetic oil it kills automatic Mini's and sometimes leaks a lot. If you used a good 10/40 or 20

/50 oil it will help. If you can check with the po to see if he used synthetic.

the cavalry is here!! thanks Richard great info

Welcome, from another part of the world. I bought a Japanese engine/auto trans combo that had apparenly been in a bad accident, so I got a crash course (pun intended) on how they work or don't. I had lots of oil squirting everywhere, and it turns out the left side had been hit and the pressure plate of the forward clutch assembly shattered. Details are on my site. (//www.widman.biz/Mini/English/index.html)

Anyway, The first leak point is the oil filter. That little gasket is not great, and the tappered slot it fits into needs exactly the right gasket, .02 mm off and it will not seal. If you have a problem getting a good gasket, you can do as I did and put the head on a lathe to open the surface for a good gasket. The filter bolt can also be a problem, as I've found people like to lift the engine by the filter. At that point in the system you have upwards of 120 psi of oil shooting wherever it can.

I would suspect the valve cover gasket before the head gasket. Unfortunately the mechanics would prefer to convince you it is the head gasket, as they can charge 100 times as much.

There are lots of gaskets and o-rings that can leak from the Automatic. Good, fresh, oil has solvents in it that helps maintain seals, gaskets, and o-rings flexible and expands them. If it had been sitting for a while, your new oil will help.

Shift quailty is determined by the discs and the oil. You should have MA2 motorcycle spec oil in it. I'm running 10W-40 MA2. If it is too thick it will not displace fast enough and the discs will not grab. If it is normal car engine oil (API SN), The discs will slip, overheating, etc.

Inside the transmission there are bands that could need adjusting some time (mine were way out of adjustment). Those are accessed from the front cover, which of course means pulling the engine. There is a main o-ring on the inside of that cover that can be brittle and/or worn, causing some of the oil to go to the wrong place. There is another important one in the torque converter end.

And finally, it could be leaking from the drive shaft seals. I'd take it to a power wash, give it a good cleaning, and then climb under and look for the signs. A roll of toilet paper to touch little spots for wetness is handy. Reaching around the valve cover, or anywhere else with a square of toilet paper can tell you things you can't see (even putting it on a long screwdriver to reach where you can't get your hand).

 

I believe I was mistaken as to what gear was shifting roughly. Yesterday, I took the car to another mechanic in Yokosuka, Japan. He could only look at the oil leak and claimed some oil was coming from the head gasket. The oil leak seems to have almost gone away since the oil change 2 days ago. Only a couple drop on the sump guard and nothing on the ground. Nonetheless, the car still has trouble shifting. It between 3rd and 4th though. Once I noticed that I tested to see if the car would roll on its own in neutral (up/down a hill) and it does. I also tested to see if it would struggle to shift into 4th gear if I manually shifted gears using 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and drive as "4th" gear. I tested this stopped and then moving. The car smoothly went from 1st to 4th gear both times. I am wondering if this could help anyone diagnose the issue. Learning as I go.

I updated the profile.  Im sure that will help my oil leak.  Also you knowing I am in Japan probably helps as well. 

Maybe these guys could fix the site.

http://www.racine-web.com/

Guys... I know we all love a well filled out profile, but it's entirely possible that he has filled it out already. This forum is broken and the updated profile does not make it to the public side. I've said this enough that I'm becoming a broken record.

I'd just rather focus on the solution than continually telling new people to fill out their profile which they may have already done in the first place.

Oops just saw that hehe.

Umm...

It's an automatic...

No clutch...

Mine leaks like it's a dog pissing. Yours couldn't shift and so is mine. I need to change my clutch (staring at a whole box of new parts here) Mine drips from the the bottom clutch side of the engine housing vent (where there is a cotter pin sticking out) I also have a bent pre verto arm so not a lot of throw. So check your clutch too.

And the OP is in cognito...

//www.badum-tish.com/

 

 

As CooperTune suggests, you need to fill out your profile. This group is pretty much world-wide, so to help, we need to know where you are located.

To give you an idea, Coopertune is in the US, Alex is in England, Dimitris is in Greece, and I'm in Canada.

As usual no info in your profile. I'm removing a late Jap spec auto shortly. It will be for sale and is located in Hampton, VA. Steve (CTR)

If you bought the car from a dealer, take it back.

Where on the block is the oil coming out from ?
Autos tend to be a 'bit' more fragile than the manual cars, so be wary of driving it too much till you've solved the problems.

major oil leaks in autos drop pressure therefore functionality as the whole system is based on a certain working pressure. I'm sure auto dudes will kick in a bit hang on there

Last week I bought a 1998 automatic Rover Mini Cooper Mayfair edition with 76000km (47000miles).  A couple days after buying her, she started leaking oil (not just a couple of drops either).  I took the car to a general mechanic and they said it had a major oil leak from the engine block, but wouldn't repair the car.  I took it to a local classic mini shop.  They changed the oil and oil filter.  They also said that the torque converter seal was leaking oil and that the entire engine needed to be removed.  In addition, the car shift hard when going from 2nd to 3rd and sometimes makes a grinding noise when putting the car in park or reverse.  Can anyone assist?