I can't nail down where my oil leak is comming from. It seems to be from under the oil filter housing somewhere but not enough to be obvious. It's pretty much saturated down the entire side plate there and runs back underneath the car. Smokes bad from under the car once things heat up. I'm loosing a quart in 500mi. Is this a common leak location and what the heck is it? Thanks.

 

uhhh.. possible oilpan gasket.. or oilfilter pedastle gasket

check those

-greg

 

Pull the oil filter. There are 2 bolts on the underneath side of the OF pedestal (a bisch to get to). Off it comes and underneath are 2 holes (inlet, outlet) with 2 rubber O-rings. Replace them. They have gone bad.

jeryj

 

Jerij is right... also you might check your oil cooler to oil cooler lines fitting. Mine was cracked and i had to have a machinist fix it for me. Also the washer there can go bad. Other than that and what Jerij said, it would prolly be the oil pan gasket.

Zachstylez

 

check the every gasket...

 

Thanks everyone. That was all very helpful and I'll start looking this weekend at what you suggested. I'd REALLY like to thank MRGSL-SE. His advice was beyond a doubt the most useful and informative. Clearly a well thought out response. Thanks.

 

If all else fails, there is a dye you can get that you add to your oil, it only glows under blacklight to help you find your source

 

Spray the engine off entirely with cleaner... After its very very clean look while its idling... And hope to god you see it ooozing from below the oil filter pedistal and not where it says Mazda 13B.

I have viton o rings available for both.. But if its coming from the Mazda 13B spot... You will need to tear the motor down to fix it.

 

If it smokes bad once things heat up, I would take a good look at the Oil Metering Pump (aka OMP). The OMP is located in front of the exhaust manifold and when leaky might cause the smoking problem. If it's leaking or covered in oil, it's a good idea to rebuild it. Mike Lowe at http://www.loweperformance.com sells a little rebuild kit. Give him a call and he'll hook you up. The job is messy but easy to do. Good luck!