FD leaking oil, no idea where from??

Lum · February 18, 2008, 08:07:09 PM

I hope somebody can help, i\'m trying to locate where the oil is leaking from on my FD.:confused:
I\'ve just re-sealed the sump for the second time (which is an absolute &*^%$ to do) and have re-tapped or helicoiled any dodgy threads so i\'m sure it cant be coming from the sump.:confused:
Oil seems to be all over the bottom of the sump and on the subframe around the engine mounts, but i can\'t see any on the side of the block or on/around the plugs & leads.
This is so annoying, just wanna get it sorted!
Thanks in advance for any help :Thumbsup!

Red and Single · February 18, 2008, 08:19:50 PM

Leaking OMP ??

Mine does

ro284 · February 18, 2008, 08:26:02 PM

Hi Lum, i read somewhere about a guy on here losing oil from the OMP oil lines! which apart from the mess would be a bit worrying as not enough oil getting to the rotors! i think the guy said one of the oil lines had been chaffed by the alternator, if this was so i don\'t think the car would go in to limp mode, Think i\'d go for premix till i found the leak! i have a leak from the oil filler neck area, i don\'t know if its to do with a gasket on that, or a faulty valve to UIM! That might be the PCV valve faulty,(if thats what its called!) but its too dam cold to check without a garage! good luck Bob

Jit · February 19, 2008, 12:20:56 AM

rear main seal leaking possibly???

Nik da Greek · February 19, 2008, 12:31:04 AM

Quote from: ro284Hi Lum, i read somewhere about a guy on here losing oil from the OMP oil lines! which apart from the mess would be a bit worrying as not enough oil getting to the rotors! i think the guy said one of the oil lines had been chaffed by the alternator, if this was so i don\'t think the car would go in to limp mode, Think i\'d go for premix till i found the leak! i have a leak from the oil filler neck area, i don\'t know if its to do with a gasket on that, or a faulty valve to UIM! That might be the PCV valve faulty,(if thats what its called!) but its too dam cold to check without a garage! good luck Bob

That was me. Alternator had pinched the oil line to the front rotor housing and just chafed through with vibration over time. There was a small pool of oil collecting in a depression at the front of the housing, but the line apparently only just failed completely because the amount of oil was quite small. It\'d just started trickling down the block, but the problem was masked by the fact my sump gasket was already leaking (one of the reasons I was having the car worked on in the first place)

The OMP lines are a sort of weird material like they used to use for external oil lines on old Brit bikes, sort of semi-rigid. I think the idea is that once they\'re bent to follow a shape, they stay that shape, but I guess that means they don\'t tolerate too much abuse after that point like a braided steel line would. It also means that if they\'re wrongly routed like mine was, they\'re a bit of a timebomb.

nikp · February 19, 2008, 09:08:35 AM

Check seals at where the oil drains are too. Also, what about oil feed and return pipes for the turbo? My feed kept leaking small amounts of oil. I used PTFE tape to seal it up in the end.

Lum · February 19, 2008, 05:54:16 PM

Cheers for the advice guys! I\'ve got a small pool of oil underneath the car at the moment it seems to be towards the back of the sump inline with the engine mounts. I\'m gonna get the car over a pit on sat & try n find the problem.
Has anybody ever had a leak from the low oil level sender on the sump? Any ideas how this is sealed on? Gasket or sealant?

antnicuk · February 19, 2008, 06:31:53 PM

there is a little rubber o ring inset in the sender, they flat and brittle over time.

I assume its not coming out of the rear main seal?

Are you using a sump gasget or mazda sealant?

Sumps are a bitch!, you need to thoroughly clean both surfaces with thinners and use a decent helping of Mazda Sump Sealant. I find the best way is to apply the sealant, put the sump back and just gently tighten the nuts and leave it for a day or 2, then nip them again. Also dont put oil in straight away, wait for it to dry.

Lum · February 19, 2008, 09:52:18 PM

Using sealant on the sump mate, and spent absolutely ages cleaning and straightning the sump to make sure it sealed properly, also made sure all the threads were sorted before putting it back on.
Starting to think it could be the rear main seal :reallymad
although i\'ve checked inside the bell housing through the inspection plate and it all seems dry :xconfused

nikp · February 20, 2008, 09:05:06 AM

So what about the rear oil drain? That\'s in that area. Could that be leaking?

efiniste · February 20, 2008, 11:48:14 AM

Did you put sealant around the oil side of the engine mount bolts?

I\'ve just redone my sump seal. I missed one engine mount bolt when doing my rebuild and oil was leaking from that bolt. I didn\'t know what was causing it until I dropped the sump and saw there were no remnants of sealant around the oil side of the bolt.

You\'re right though, horrible job to do.

Steve

Lum · February 23, 2008, 07:13:43 PM

Well i had the car over a pit today.
Good news is it\'s not the rear main seal as i was starting to think.

The bad news is that it\'s coming from the sump, that i\'ve just re-sealed :2Mad I re-tapped all the threads when i re fitted it and there was only 1 bolt that i couldn\'t get to thread in properly as for some reason the hole in the sump & the thread in the housing didn\'t line up completely straight:confused: so i just left it out and put loads of sealant around it ! Thought that would be fine, as it\'s only one bolt!
Well it\'s coming straight out the empty bolt hole:2Mad
Looks like i\'ll be sealing it again next weekend! Oh well... 3rd time lucky!