I am about to pull my motor agian. I finally got it all together and running clutch working etc, only to be slaped in the face with an oil leak rigth when i go to take it off the ramps. WTF. I was sure i did it right the last time i even bought brand new seals from mazda for the front and rear. I meticulously cleaned the pan, and sealed it carefully using lockwashers on the oil pan.
So why did it fail?
Should i have put more sealant on the rubber peices?
Should i have #$#$#?
I dunno Anyone who has done this succesfully please chime in with some advice please. I dont want to have to do this agian

 

just drive it for a few days first and let the seals get warmed up and oiled. if its a little leak, just throw some kitty litter down and call it a day.

 

no leak is pretty well leaky, it needs to be fixed. Do you think more heat etc will do the trick? realy this is after warming up burping the coolant and retunning the motor timing etc before the leak occured.

 

the only thing I ever had "fix" oil leaks was the accumulation of dirt in the belly pan- it did a good job keeping the oil from running out of the pan and onto the ground.

I have learned to do meticulous research prior to jumping to a leak source conclusion. Nothing would suck more (besides having the leak) to pull the engine for something that was fixable with the engine in the car. So do a good job of working backwards from the drip. Most of us know that a CAS oring leak can look just like a rear main seal leak- and so on.

IF it is definitely your pan - I have dropped the front subframe by using a support for the engine across the two shock towers. It can be done with jackstands and a jack- just disconnect the brake lines and the shock mounts. IMO it's far easier than pulling the engine.

 

is there a front crank seal? i see FM has an install tool for one maybe my machine shop threw the stoker away i dont remember putting anything in there. Is this possibly my problem?

 

There is a front main seal and it's pretty easy to replace. I've always installed them on other cars with a big socket the size of the seal and light taps of a hammer to press it in. They do leak after a while. Might be your problem.

 

It went in after the oil pump- before the crank pulley. Does that sound familiar?

 

if the leak is at the front then that could be it. I had a friend try and use permatex in place of the half circle gaskets that go on the front and back of the oil pan it it didn't work. they are differant sizes also.

 

lol, if you were missing the front main seal you would lose oil SOOOOO fast. Maybe its a oil pump gasket if its on the front of the motor (like miataflys is refering to). Trace it back to its source, hopefully you cleaned up the block so it will be easy to. What work did you do to the motor again??

 

there is a bolt that usually get's left off on the oil pan, and WILL cause a leak. Check the perimeter of the pump.

AND there's an oil feed boss on the intake side of the pump that points up towards the shocktower. This can come unplugged and installed that way. You have to remove the plug from the old pump and tap it in.

 

My bet is on the front crank seal now, i will pull the pulley and check it in the morning. Thanks guys if this doesnt work then it is still easier than pulling the motor agian.