Leak of Death SmellyCat Clamp
 

Leak of Death SmellyCat Clamp.
I am so sick of having to add oil every 3-4 trips.
I saw this cheapo wood working clamp at a Chinese tool store.
I positioned the Clamp over the dowel pin leak crack and hooked the other end to the sway bar. Hopefully the sway bar does not move around to much.
Leak report to follow. Its raining and between the oil slick I leave and hydroplaning issues, I have to postpone the test drive. SC

A gasket set is only 118.99 at Mazdatrix. That's the minimum cost to properly fix this "leak of death". Maybe it's time to start packing dollar bills into your matress.

I dunno Jeff, the guy deserves an "A" for creativity, don't you think?

You Best Coasters need to understand us Southerners just do things different sometimes.

Who knows, it might work!

I was gonna make a g-string joke but felt it was inappropriate. Packing dollars. You get it.

Trial one on the Smelly Cat clamp was not a success. the sway bar I attached to was not a sway bar but a tie rod or steering rod. I re-secured the lower end of the clamp with a trampoline spring to the under side brush pan. Just went for ride, No oil spotted left of the mazda on the engine block. oil may be going some where but not were it usually goes.

Even though the clamp will probably work forever, on a scale of 1to 10, How bad is removing the front cover while the engine is in the car and changing the dowel pin gaskets? My skill level is timing belts, brakes, cv axles and my head gasket changes are 50% successful. Sc

well, first of all i must admit, i have no idea how you were trying to "fix" the leak with a clamp. i can't picture what you're doing based on your photo or explanation. maybe i'm dense ....

anyway, unless you're chasing some other leak and are mislabeling it, you're not going to get to the dowel pin seals by simply removing the front cover. the whole engine has to come apart. go back to the first reply by Jeff20B. :)


EDIT: i see you snuck another post in there that conceded to Jeff20B. :) nice.

When reading this thread, I was thinking the same thing. Completely confused.

From what I see, the OP is applying pressure parallel to the housing, which I don't think would help a dowel leak, but maybe an oil pan leak. For a dowel leak I would presume the pressure would need to be perpendicular to the housings / plates, which I have read of some people doing some things to help with leaks. If the OP does in fact have a dowel leak, a quick search should yield some simple, cheap temporary solutions to try.

Thanks Guys
I have the drill a hole in engine, solvent out old dowel pin gasket, and force permitex in the the space. Book marked. I'm just afraid I'll get the shakes while drilling and mess it up real good.

When I get my Courage up I'll give that a try, Until then I'll investigate and have some fun with less invasive alternatives. I've included a detailed autocad of my design. SC

For these types of leaks I've always wondered if dropping the tranny and retorqueing the
tension bolts would help. Like maybe as time wears on the bolts stretch just enough that things start
to leak like dowel pins, coolant seals etc. Maybe retorqueing on reqular basis would prevent all
of this. Of course you have to drop the tranny to do it, so its not entirely convenient.

BTW, the way your clamping that will not help at all I don't think.

My hypothesis is that oil is seeping upward thru the crack between the front cover and rotor housing. By applying pressure downward on that area, the oil stays in the engine....Brilliant, I know....Sc

victory! 2 or 3 trips and zero leaks. It surprises me too. SC

This was Hilarious...LOL!..I'm gonna Mark that for times when someone just can't take the "hint"..(I don't think Jeff would mind!)
..screw the clamp..you've got imagination..:icon_tup:

That's awesomer!

Or you could zip tie a pan and just refill oil every other day until you get fixed....

Update... drove the black beast all week, The Smelly Clamp is leaking a little. I got some oil collecting in the cavity by the Mazda on the block. still a success, from a drop every two seconds to almost nothing, cost was maybe 4 bucks. sC

stp works for some people.
a++ for the clamp hahaha

engine rebuild is in order the drill and screw trick just seems to risky and might end up with a worse leak.
if you have a spare car to drive rebuild it.