I've been fighting an oil leak in the front of my engine ever since I went turbo. I have replaced the crankshaft seal way too many times and even paid to have it replaced to see if it'd go away. It did not.

Using oil dye I was able to spot a trail coming from the crankshaft main. I disassemble the engine... again, hoping to stop this once and for all. I want to finally enjoy the car, but I need to fix this.

I have some pics here



The red is were fresh oil was definitely present. The white lines are what I believe the oil to be coming from as the pulley is swinging as it comes out fo the crankshaft seal.




I am wondering if what I really need to is pulled the engine and reseal the entire pan or I'm simply doing the seal job wrong. Of note, I believe my engine was suffering from a lot of blow-by before I vented the PCV to atmosphere. I cannot think of anything else that can be causing this leak. Opinions? Please help end my misery

 

I'd do the following:

1. Clean the ^&*( out of the engine. You want it squeeky clean and dry.
2. I assume the dye you used was the blacklight flourescent stuff. If not, get some of that and use it.
3. Re-assemble engine but leave the plastic TB covers off.
4. Start and run engine until the first sign of oil. Be using the blacklight around the front of the engine while you run it.
5. Start from the top of the engine to look for oil leaks. The leak will be from the highest part that has oil seepage.

In my case, it was camshaft seals. Before dye testing, I thought it was my oil pump. Oil pump leak = pull the engine.

Link: https://www.miataturbo.net/general-m...mp-leak-70789/

 

I did clean the engine. I soaked it with engine cleaner and this is what I got



I have some pictures of the trail which came from right in front of the crankshaft, but due to the light the fluorescence of the dye is not visible. I also inspected the camshafts and saw no oil there. The cam seal were replaced not long ago also.

 

Well, I'd do it again. You need to get that engine shut off at the first sign of oil. Once the oil hits the crankshaft pulley, it will scatter everywhere making tracking difficult.

Other gotchas:
1. AC bracket bolt that doubles as an oil pump bolt.
2. Oil pump O-ring missing.
3. Oil pump bolts bottoming in their bores.
4. FWD oil dipstick plug missing.

 

^ Exactly.



Clean it well, UV dye, and wait. Ever consider the oil pan gasket?

 

1. I installed a bolt there when I removed the AC
2. Don't know
3. Don't know
4. Huh? ...

 

Yeah, in my first post I asked if it is just better to pull the engine and do the pan. I got this engine from someone else so I have no way of telling if is something I did or it is something that already existed

 

I've circled, in yellow, the highest drip I could see in your picture. That is in the area of the oil pump O-ring. However, there is so much oil here that the observation is unreliable.


That link I gave you had a lot of good discussion/pictures on this issue along with further worthwhile links. Might spur some ideas.

If you do decide to pull and reseal the oil pan, then you should also pull and reseal the oil pump. That way you'll know for sure that the oil pump O-ring is installed.

The amount of oil you seem to be getting would indicate a pressurized source, so it probably isn't the oil pan.

I would still repeat the test from a clean, dry engine. You need to shut down at the first indication of oil. Don't wait until so much has leaked that you've got a huge puddle on the ground.

 

this could even be cam seals...

 

mine was the cam seals also. the timing belt would throw it all around the inside of the timing cover and i thought it was the crank seal but was wrong. noticed that the timing cover was wet right where the cams were and that fixed my problem. oil went everywhere once it hit the crank pulley after it leaked out of the bottom of the timing cover which made me think it was the crank pulley..... nope

 

I think I see a pattern. LOL.

 

^^ All of the above. I had the exact same oil leak. Well in my case, it was #2 and I used the wrong o-ring for the oil dipstick. Check your oil pump. That's where the leak is coming from. Since then I replaced the o-ring on the dipstick and added the o-ring on the oil pump. Oil leak fixed.

 

Holy ****, that motor is filthier than the barrio you live in. Pull, clean and rtv the **** out of it

 

I've did not see any oil markings on the plate in front of the camshaft seals (as in Hornetball's thread pictures). I bought cleaners and dye but I can't seem to find my blacklight now. I'm going to have to order one from ebay because I am not paying $15 for one at a parts shop.


That means pull the engine right?

 

I'm going to say the oil pump O-ring could be a good candidate.

I'm not much help, but if you get bored I'll be driving on the track at Homestead on Sunday and you could come by and say hi. I don't know if Hooked On Driving allows passengers.

 

Yes or drop the front subframe.

 

I'm starting to think that is the culprit :/ I just ordered another blacklight flashlight. I feel like just pulling the motor since everything is pretty much apart already

ALSO the amount of oil on my alternator is ridiculous. I've seen other cars with alleged cam/crank seal leaks and the amount of oil on other components in the engine bay is not even close to what I see in mine.

 

Something else to add to the background of the issue. I've had this similar leak happen with two engines now both of which I replaced the headgasket on. The first one never really leak until the gasket was replaced... what did I fudge?

 

It is possible. I have oil leak on my headgasket too. When I installed my headgasket, I had it flipped covering one hole for the oil, which also led to oil starvation to my cylinder head.

 

everything you touch.


how about this:

clean your motor.
observe where leak is.
fix.