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Where does the oil go?

To: "MG List" <Mgs@Autox.Team.Net>
Subject: Where does the oil go?
From: "Mike Lishego" <mikesl@tartan.sapc.edu>
Date: Wed, 2 Dec 1998 22:47:56 -0500
hello all,
    I've found that my MGB is burning oil at a rate that's pretty
high for my tastes - about a quart every 1000 miles.  I don't mind
filling the car up with oil, it's just that I don't know where the
oil gets off to!
    Other than a little plume at start-up, the car burns no oil
while driving.  I do not fog out the neighborhood's mosquitoes.  I'm
not leaking any into my coolant, though I'm always keeping a keen
eye on it just to be sure.  I get a drip every other day or so from
the obligatory leaky rear main seal.  My engine bay shows no
splatters of oil or signs of leakage anywhere that I can tell,
especially now that I've tightened the valve cover down.  The carbs
don't seem to be sucking that much oil from the crankcase breather
either, AFAIK.
    So where does it go?  I know that some people have mentioned
that these engines were never built to super-close tolerances and
could be expected to burn oil, but I never guessed this much.  The
temp gauge never gets hotter than creeping slightly above 'N' before
I'll pull a piece of cardboard from the radiator.  Is the oil being
abducted by aliens, or have the homeless kitties of my campus taken
to stealing off with some in the night to heat their homes?
(Obligatory cat content.)
    I've never paid to much attention to anyone else's oil
consumption postings on the list before (shame on me for two weeks)
but if someone could ease my fears about rebuilds or catastrophic
oil loss, it'd be much appreciated!

Michael "In debt to Castrol" Lishego
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/3706/


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