It's a MINI.....if it's not leaking oil...it's EMPTY!  Thats when you need to worry...lol

 

( classic MINI...for the sheep out there   )

Remember this is not a Honda or Toyota.  These cars are known for marking their territory with oil.  A drop or two over night is as close to nothing as you will ever see.

These leaks are SUPER minor! One drop an evening from the combo of the dizzy / pressure gauge that had loose hardware. When I get home tonight, I will find out if it is still leaking. The dye test sounds both frightening and fun...I will think about that one !

I still suspect blow-by for causing the dizzy leak. There is no reason oil would find its way up the dizzy shaft/housing and out unless there is a little pressure behind it. However, if it is as minor as a few drops a day then there might be nothing to worry about.

If it continues to bother you, mark the location of the dizzy in the block and remove it as suggested above. Some Lucas distributors have an o-ring seal on the housing which creates a seal to the hole in the block. Measure the diameters and head to your local parts store to get an equivalent. It is not a part unique to the Mini.

If you really want to find leaks, while you are at the parts store, buy a vial of the UV dye you can add to your engine oil. Wash and degrease the engine completely. Then at dusk add the dye to your engine oil and drive the car a short distance. Park the car in a dimly lit area and use a blacklight to illuminate the engine. The leaks will glow in the light. While you can buy kits to do this test, the dyes are sold separately and the home center probably has both fluorescent and incandescent black lights that are relatively inexpensive compared to buying a leak detection kit.

If the idea of blow-by concerns you, perform a leak-down test. Plans to make your own are on the web as well as sites explaining how to interpret the results. The leak down test will tell you where any combustion gasses are escaping.

I assumed your multiple leaks were more significant. If it was a lot of oil  literally everywhere, all over the place,  then that would be more typical of excessive crankcase pressure problem. Sounds like your problem is just small stuff - good. 

If you are still curious about crankcase pressure, then take off the oil filler cap while the engine is running. Oil-vapor air would be billowing out, especially when you raise the rpms.

 

a Mini never leaks it just marks its spot lol

I will ask how you know...but more importantly, how do I find it!?

Just to clarify, I have only owned the car for a couple weeks, so it's not like it developed two leaks in one day. I just happened to find them in one day. I have noticed a couple little drops on the garage floor every day after I drive it. One is from the oil drain plug, and I will address that when I do an oil change. The other drop seems to be a combo of the Dizzy and the Oil Pressure Gauge. I tighten both those spots up with a wrench and we will see how it goes this week.

second leak of the day?

sounds like too much crankcase pressure blowing the oil out.

you got a stopped-up breather or PCV system? ask me how I know.

a loose dizzy will change your engine timing. this in turn can greatly effect your engine temp/think overheating.  Mark the dizzy housing and the clamping plate as a starting point for the next time you begin to work on your timing. that way, you'll know where you started and what to go back to if you can't seem to make it better.

 

Thanks for the advice. I was able to snug up one of the two bolt going into the block, and also able to tighten the clamp style bolt. So it appears that with two of those three turning a fair amount, it may have just been a tad loose causing the leak.

the dizzy has an o-ring on its shaft also make sure its tighten appropriately 

It looks like the second oil leak I have found today, is coming from where the distributor is mounted to the engine. I was looking at the blown up catalog of the distributor and I don't see a gasket. Is this a possible oil leak location? Is there a common piece of that distributor assembly that fails allowing a small leak?