So I have a hunch on where the oil is coming from, but I want to know your opinion if it is feasible that i'm loosing as much oil as I am from this spot.

So I drove to and from work yesterday, and gave one of my co-workers a ride in my car. Under 15 miles, and I lost 1 quart of oil. No smoke screen behind me so I'm not burning it, and when I popped the hood to check my oil level when I got home there was oil sitting on top of the housing between the filler neck and the oil filter pedestal. I have a feeling that the o-rings between the rear iron and the oil filter pedestal either weren't installed or were installed improperly and they're spewing oil out of there when the oil pressure is up while driving, but I haven't had time to check. Could I loose that much oil from this area, or should I be looking for other sources of oil loss?

There are no other oil leaks that I've been able to find. No leaks at my cooler nor lines, no leak at the pan nor the OMP. The oil filter pedestal area is the only place where I've found evidence of a leak.

Is it possible that I'm loosing 1/15 qt/mile from the oil filter pedestal o-rings not sealing properly?

Thanks

-Jim

 

Quite possible, since that connection carries full pump pressure.

Should be a fair amount of fresh oil on stuff below and behind the pedestal if that's your leak point.

Since pump pressure is directly proportional to RPM and not road speed, you can look for this by holding the engine at around 3000 RPM while parked over something clean, and just looking around and under. That rate of loss would produce a visible puddle/dripping/spraying.

Check your oil pressure sender, too... I had one crack in my very first car (70 Ford LTD), and it pumped every drop of oil out of the crankcase in under 5 minutes.

 

Yesterday was the first time I've driven it where it makes full power above 4k. Before that (secondaries weren't working) I wasn't loosing much oil, but now that I can make power to 7k I'm loosing oil much quicker. I'll try and get to it by the end of the week. Thanks for confirming my suspicion, and for the suggestion for the oil pressure sending unit.

 

What are your oil pressure readings like Jim? Seeing any high readings?

I like Divindriver's idea...




.

 

"If" its an O-ring seal in the housings, there are stop-leak additives that DO work surprisingly well by swelling the oring seal. Was not losing the quantity you are but it stopped mine dead in its tracks. Considering a rebuild is the only other option - it is worth a shot.

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

If it is coming from the block itself, there is a procedure on here somewhere which involves drilling a small hole and injecting sealant into it. Been a while since I've looked through that thread, but of those who tried it I don't recall any failures...

Hopefully it's just coming from the pedestal and needs some new Orings (probably most likely). If the hoses in that area have been oil soaked for any length of time, replace them before they blow out on you (I have experienced this myself).

 

I only had time to check and make sure the oil cooler lines were tight this weekend. I'll fire her up and look for leaks tonight after work. The only other place I'm finding oil (besides where I described above) is oil spray on the bottom of the hood, just above the alternator belt. The belts are dry, so I don't know where this is coming from.

Oh, and I am still searching for the electrical connection for the oil pressure sender. Is this in the loom that includes all the wiring for the rats nest?

 

the oil pressure sender connector is in the rats nest connection bundle. are you sure what you are seeing on your hood isn't just belt dust? the fan can be pulling oil up from a leaking front cover or an oil metering pump but that is really unlikely.

i would not use a stop leak or sealer. DO NOT add the stuff. the 4 o-rings for the oil filter mount are super easy to change and available through the dealer or through mazdatrix. its a 20 minute repair. first, check and make sure the oil filter is hand tight and then 1/4 turn past that. then if that's good, you can remove the filter and check the seal on the oil filter to make sure its still good and pliable.. the i would look at the the o-rings as a possible culprit. ensure teh oil filter pedestal is not cracked and do not over tighten it. since you dod not list the year of your car, we do not know if it has the beehive oil cooler. if it does, inspect this as a possible suspect in the oil leakage.

 

No beehive oil cooler. I did find a *slightly* loose FMOC line, so I tightened that, cleaned the front cover/motor mounts/around the oil filter pedestal with some carb cleaner, started the engine, and warmed her up. Couldn't find any leaks while it was sitting still, so I took a short drive over to O'Reilley's to get some more AlumaSeal to slow my coolant seal leaks.

I did get my oil pressure sender hooked back up last night, and I'm getting funny readings. At 1500rpm (current idle...) it's reading 0 psi on the stock gauge, however when I break 3000rpm the gauge instantly pegs out to over 110psi. My FMOC lines are heating up evenly, so I shouldn't have a clog in there, but the instant high oil pressure tells me that the sender may be on the fritz.

When I got home from O'Reilley's I popped the hood and looked for oil leaks. I found that my motor mounts (which were clean when I left) and my front cover (which was also clean) were COVERED in oil. I rebuilt the OMP before putting it on this motor, so it has a fresh seals and shouldn't be leaking. This leaves me with a front cover leak or a front main seal leak. *****...

I'm guessing my only course of action is to figure out what parts I have that are good and get a new soft seal kit, and try my hand at building a new motor. Between the leaking coolant seals and the huge oil leak, I don't see any other way to fix this motor (besides putting some oil stop leak into it....such as a Lucas product...).

-Jim

 

Jim,

Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer would be fine to use. Just swap out a quart or two for the oil that is currently in the motor. That might slow the leak enough to make it driveable for a bit. But yeah, don't add any type of stop leak to the oil...

I hear there's a guy in Hastings selling 12a's for a couple hundred bucks. Snowbreaker has his info (he has dealt with him, I have not). Supposed to have a butt load of parts for sale...

Good luck man.

 

Mark-
I spoke with the guy through CL a while back about a 12a or two that he had for sale. The one he quoted me was like $1200 if I came and pulled it myself. ~65k mile long block that is a runner, still in the car. IDK...

-Jim

So I went out and beat on her last night for a while. I drove like a (relatively) sane person for the first 20 or so miles, and before hitting on of my favorite loops (C/D 10Best loop) in the area, I stopped at a gas station to check my oil. Yep, down 1 quart. I put in my entire bottle of Lucas HD Oil Stabilizer into the sump, and went out and hammered through the loop, then drove home. It was too dark to check my oil level when I got home, so I'm going to do that tonight. If it's reasonable I may continue driving it. If not, I'm going to take a bunch of pictures of my possibly usable 12a housings and post them up for opinions. If I have two usable housings I'm going to order up a rebuild video and soft seal kit, and over my two free weekends in August (work road trip got cancelled....not happy....) build a new, hopefully leak-free motor.

The oil leak was bad enough last night that my dizzy was coated in oil, both frame rails and wheel wells, and the under side of my hood were coated with a nice sheen of 5w50 synthetic. It was so bad that the air coming out in front of my windshield (cowl area....directly behind the hood latch...) had oil droplets that were deposited onto my windshield.

 

that sucks, sounds messy and expensive
good luck

 

Well, there's part of your problem right there. Why are you running a super thin synthetic oil? I'd be dumping in some 20/50 Castrol in there.

Do you think it is a leak at the oil cooler, or is it the front cover?

 

It's the front cover/front main. The front pulley is throwing oil all over the place. I didn't have time to check my oil level last night, but i'll do that tonight. If it's low again (after the quart of Lucas HD Oil Stop Leak) I'll plan on swapping out the 5w50 for some 20w50. I highly doubt that'll change things, as the leak seems to happen when the motor is both hot and cold (The second number...the hot viscocity...won't change at all...).

 

Neal Swiegert told me that it's probably a bad front main, which I buy. I was under the impression this would require a tear down, but he said it's not a rebuild-worthy issue. Looks like I'm going to be ordering up a new front main, a dial indicator, and grabbing a 19mm impact socket so I can fix it. Who thinks this can be done in the car (with the radiator/oil cooler out)?

 

sounds like a lost cause for patchwork. bite the bullet and yank it out to reseal/rebuild it.

is it still leaking from the rear iron to rear housing? that will only get worse with time if it still is.
the front main seal isn't a tough job to do but the seals RARELY fail, look into resurfacing the hub if you have it apart and/or diagnose why it's puking. if the crankcase is sealed with plugs that is a big problem there.
it's leaking coolant internally? ugh, why bother fixing anything else. even alumaseal is temporary if it works.


the original dowel seals are a tiny bit too small for my liking by the way, this is one reason why.

 

It is not leaking coolant internally, which is why I think it's a pinched coolant seal from when I purchased the motor.

If I can replace the front main and get through the summer without much incident I'll pull it and build a new motor over the winter. Worth a shot so I can put miles on her and enjoy for the first time in over a year.

 

I still laugh when I hear this.

 

Alumaseal has drastically reduced my coolant leak. OEM's use this stuff when their castings are too porous when the engines are first filled with coolant. It coats the inside of the block, filling voids, and then they drain/refill the coolant system and sell the car.

And after I added the Lucas HD Oil Stabilizer to my oil, drove the hell out of it on Car and Drivers' 10Best loop (WOT 50% of the time) and drove it back to Ann Arbor I lost no appreciable amount of oil. I'm going to drive her to and from work tomorrow to see if it was a fluke or if this stuff has stopped my oil leak.

 

Gotta love cheap fixes that actually work, eh Jim?

 

Can anyone help me with my question if you have time? Thanks

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/oil-leak-pressure-problems-1028183/