Help me make my car reliable. End my misery.
 

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

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1367798066

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.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1367798066


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

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1367801329

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? ... :confused:

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.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1367805141

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 shit, that motor is filthier than the barrio you live in. Pull, clean and rtv the shit 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 :facepalm:

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. :facepalm:

everything you touch.


how about this:

clean your motor.
observe where leak is.
fix.

Man, this thread finally reminded me to search about that stupid A/C braket bolt that holds the oil pump on.

M8x1.25x45mm, it can have a shoulder because only the bottom of the hole (the pump) is threaded

True. Engine is cleaned and assembled. Waiting on the flashlight to get home

I guess you'll need to stay under the car as the engine cranks. Wear eye protection and ear protection while you're at it.

Ummm, no. The oil pump housing isn't threaded, the block is. And the hole measures 52mm deep without the AC bracket in place; a 50mm bolt is the correct one to use when doing an AC delete.

Well here it is. It's a bolt from the pan. The leak comes from the head of the bolt. Verdict? pull the engine?

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1368494677

Reseal pan, homie.

Pull the engine, or drop the front subframe. Reseal oil pan, check oil pump while you are at it.

did you even look from the top...cause last time i checked, gravity makes things fall form top to bottom.

I feel like I could remove that bolt from my engine and it wouldn't leak.

Screw that - if the gunk is coming from just that bolt (maybe 3-5% chance), remove the bolt, squirt a little dab of RTV in there, put the bolt back in.

If it still leaks, *then* go through all the trouble/work to pull the engine.

I was afraid of that :cry: In this case are the felpro gaskets from vatozone okay? APR studs or regular studs? what kind of RTV?

Yes the top is clean as a whistle. There's absolutely nothing coming from the top. I had the car running for a good amount of time too, about 5 minutes or more. The oil is coming right out of the head of the bolt from the bottom of the matting lip of the pan and not from the matting surface of the pan. It's very odd but in the video you can see there's nothing on top and where the leak comes from.

^The lazy me thought of that lol

you realize there's no pressure in the pan right?

Yeah Felpro oil pan gasket is okay, Use this RTV Buy Permatex The Right Stuff Gasket Maker (5 oz) 29208 at Advance Auto Parts Good stuff. Check the o-ring on you oil pump and buy OEM o-ring if it's missing.

I do. Did you see the video? there nothing anywhere else. :dunno:

Thanks

Good LUCK.

Could blow by cause pressure built-up enough to push oil out of that region. I did rev the car when at first saw nothing coming out at all minutes later the leak on video appeared.


:bigtu: thanks

I'm obviously missing something...why wouldn't this work? Or did you try it already and it didn't work?

I haven't touch the car. I wanted feedback before I did. I have some black RTV laying around

Update

I just went to check the bolt where the oil was coming from and was completely loose. I used only my fingers to take it off. How the hell? Well I put some black RTV and torqued it to spec then spay the bottom with engine cleaner and I'm letting it dry now. I'll inspect the area later when it gets dark and it's easier to see the dye

Are you using the two half moon gaskets for the front/rear of the pan?

They must be in there still. The engine remains in the car. I'm going to try tighten it with RTV first and if that doesn't fix it then the engine is coming off. I just wanted to comment that that bolt was loose.

In for the happy ending!!

Well for now it is a happy ending I had the car running for about 20 minutes and there was no sign of oil. I hope the problem is finally fixed :party:

+1 for super mega happy ending

Awesome! Good thing it was an easy fix.

Lots of those around here.

Loose bolts sink ships, or something like that.

:naughty:

Yep, gladly it was.

That bolt has given me such headaches. I'm glad to have it gone

woo, easy fix. awesome news.

...

Troll harder.

Dann

are you suggesting there is pressure at the bottom of the oil pan?

maybe when upside down?

Yes I am. This is why we have breathers, and seeing as this is miata TURBO im going to guess that the pan gets pressurized many times per minute in traffic.

Dann

are you being fucking serious right now?

Absolutely, to say that there is NO pressure in there is just silly.

Dann

yeah, my oil drain is actually my feed. I was just testing you.

There is less pressure than that which the oil pump produces. This means that there is zero pressure.

I know.

/sarcasm.

Yeah I would say if the pcv valve is questionable, and some pressure sneaks by under boost, the bottom end can definitely see positive pressures.

Both ports are vented to atmosphere

Time to change your sig line to "Found and Fixed Leak" with happy face!!

Let Brain and Nitro duke it out on their own.

In for catfight between Brainy and dan.