[Mgs] Something (or things) leaks - how to locate the source?

[Steve Shoyer]

After working on my 1980 MGB last summer I had the car running but it 
was leaking.  I parked it on the lift and I'm just getting back to it 
now.  It seems to be leaking both oil and coolant.  I'm hoping that the 
leaks are coming from different places, but I'm not quite sure where to 
look.  When the car was parked, I noticed some coolant seeping out (and 
dripping onto the car parked under the lift) but I couldn't find the 
source.  Today, while the car was running, I saw oil dripping from the 
engine back plate.  It looks like some oil was escaping at the fitting 
where the metal oil pipe that leads to the filter connects to the block 
- I tried to tighten it as much as possible, but it was hard to access.  
Oil is also dripping from the rim of the oil pan near the rear plate. 
Most of the oil pan rim has oil on it, with green coolant around the rim 
in spots as well.  I don't think that the oil and coolant are mixed 
together - the oil dripping on the ground just looks like oil, and I 
didn't see any foaming or anything other than oil under the cap in the 
valve cover.  Still, it has me worried.

I watched some John Twist videos on finding leaks and he said that the 
sump gaskets don't leak, so maybe the oil is coming from one (or more) 
place and the coolant is coming from another and that's just a 
convenient place for them to collect

I noticed some coolant around the lower radiator hose, so I tightened 
the clamp to see if that would help.  Judging from the stain on the car 
under the MG, the coolant seems to be dripping from the front 
cross-member, but I couldn't see where it was coming from.  The coolant 
leaked while the car was just sitting, not a huge amount but it was 
noticeable when it dripped onto the other car's hood.  There were some 
oil drips hanging onto many of the engine bay components, like the bolts 
on the oil filter head, the starter, etc. - there was a drop on most of 
the lowest points of the components.

Last year I pulled the engine to replace the cam and clutch, along with 
the other standard things to replace when doing those jobs.  Because it 
was my first time doing engine work, it wouldn't surprise me if I 
screwed some of it up.

I picked up some UV dye to put into the oil, but is there anything else 
I can do to figure out what's leaking?  Thanks.

--Steve


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