Well running the supercharger highlighted a problem with oil leaking past the front crank oil seal.

Obviously this is not what you want to see arriving under any car though fairly normal for a classic Mini! 😉

This job is basically a timing belt change with the added step of swapping the oil seal. As I already did the belt and water pump not long ago there was no need for any new parts (yes I wish I’d done the seal when I did the timing belt).

No doubt there’s a leak here.

The seal that needs removing

New seal and a proper tool for the job of removing the old one. From what I read it is very important to make sure you don’t scratch the crank surface as that will cause a leak that’s almost impossible to cure. Hence the proper tool rather than a screwdriver or pliers.

I cut a piece of plastic ice-cream tub lid to slide in between the seal and crank to prevent the metal tool touching the crank.

Like this

Old and new seals looking the same. Always nice when the replacement part is actually correct.

New seal in.

All back together with no leak so far. 🙂