Front leaking oil seals or valve cover ?
 

I changed everything about 1.5 years before turbo - seals, water pump, timing belt.

I spotted oil running down the front and I recently had the valve cover off. I used RTV in the corners indicated.

But when I removed the VC there also seems to be a little eddy indicating there was oil oozing there at some point.

Just want to get an idea how common oil leaks are due to turbo and where the leaks are.

Thanks

P

turbo doesn't change anything.
you either have a leak or you don't.
that said, I went through about 3 vc gaskets on my last one before my leak went away. same kinda gaskets, same technique, and yet somehow 2 of them leaked and the 3rd didn't.
could also be cam seals, but you'll have to diagnose for that

Same for me. Had to put my valve cover on twice to stop the leak and Just had to do it again 3yrs later. And maybe next week.

Hey Thanks for the advice guys.

I sprayed the geezus out of the front area and left one cover off.
It should be able to show itself as a cam seal leak or valve cover leak as I drive it.

Went for a few mile drive - no leaks yet.

BTW I re used the valve cover gasket but I used Ultra Grey and used rather big gobs of it. I let the stuff get a little tacky before I laid the Valve cover on it. After that I lightly tightened, waited a bit then went a bit tighter.

Watch it makes a liar out of me LOL

No idea if it matters, but I tend to let the thing sit overnight if I can.

Not a bad idea and easy to do.

I'm thinking of taking all the covers off the front of m engine plus cutting the of the front of the valve cover to expose the cam gears.

2 things I swear by for a dry engine:

1. Oil dye -- to find the leak; and
2. Mazda OEM gaskets -- to fix the leak. They're just better.

My last two leaks were cam seals (non-OEM) and rear main seal (non-OEM). The rear main seal started blowing oil just after completing a tech inspection about 3 days before a track event. That's a fun one to fix when you're in a hurry.

On the valve cover, there is a tightening sequence (similar to tightening the head) and a torque spec. Between the Mazda OEM gasket, RTV in the corners and respecting the tightening sequence and torque, I've yet to have a valve cover leak.

If you had really bad blowby, I suppose a turbo could increase the propensity to leak. But, in general, not a factor.

Thanks.

where/what is the sequence ?

I've no leaks so far this time around but I have to pp the valve cover again to get that other plastic cover back on...

Huh? I thought it would be in the Mazda FSM, but it's not. The torque spec is . . . 43-78 in-lbs (i.e., not much -- just compressing the rubber a bit).

The sequence I was thinking of is in the Haynes manual. Basically:

Rear
_8___7___6

_9_______5

_____1____

10_______4

11___2___3
Front

Basically, start in the middle and go around CCW. You'll need to do this several times as you incrementally and evenly compress the rubber gasket.

Thank you very much !