Hello,
I had the same problem on a mini 1000. Same naff cork gasket.
There were a few causes.
1. Some of the old cork remained stubbornly stuck to the head.
As I couldn't be bothered to clean it up properly.
( I was going to take the cover off again the next day anyway
- before people say serves you right ).
So have a good scrape and polish and check that the head surface
isn't damaged.
2. The rocker cover bolts leaked a little too. Check the seals, if the cover
has been off a lot then new seals won't hurt.
3. A friend with a mini once had a big puddle of oil and was embarrassed
to find that he had fitted the rocker cover and allowed the gasket to slip.
On removing the cover he found a neatly crushed and slightly mangled
gasket. Most mechanics use superglue in a couple of spots to hold
the gasket in place whilst fitting. (* Bodge city )
Not sure about crushing the rocker cover itself. It shouldn't
be possible to crush it as there are probably spacers on the
rocker cover bolts to prevent this. If you have a plain rocker cover bolt
then this is possible, If you have the type that is threaded for about
1/2 inch then you should be fine.
One other possible cause, that I don't wish on anyone, is that you've
lost a piston ring and your oil is geting blown out of the filler.
On that cheery note I'll get on with contemplating my wheel bearing noise.
Duncan Bryan ( Victim of the mini AND the citroen )
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