Oil leak, between front cover and front housing
 

I cleaned most of the fresh oil befor taking pics i should have taken the pics first.
but its leaking between the, front engine cover and, front housing or w/e its called.
when the car is running you can actually see oil running down.

Is this a problem with the oil pump?



http://s1144.photobucket.com/albums/...P1270001-1.jpg


And yes i know everything is dirty, and i need new spark plugs its a work n progress lol.

Oil pump would appear to be pumping

there is a gasket there between the cover and "iron", other way would be between "iron" and "housing" and would be a bigger issue

Welcome to owning an old rotary. If oil ain't leaking out, it'll be leaking in.

Thats an odd place for an oil leak. I thought for sure you had a dowel pin leak reading the title. That should be fairly self explanatory, pull off the front cover and re-seal it. Then hope it fixes the issue. Going to be easiest with the motor out of the car but is possible without removal.

Probably wouldnt hurt to just do a simple check of the torque on those front cover bolts too just in case before you start tearing things apart

Its probably leaking at the passageway between the front cover and the front end plate, there is an o ring that goes there inside an opening in the gasket. Before you start messing around with it you need to do a search on "removing the front pulley with the engine in the car". If you do it the wrong way the front thrust bearing can slip out of place = major problem. Be very carefull.

Replacing the front cover gasket and o ring cannot really be done practically, without removing the engine.

Its possible, but doing it right and successfully is more work than pulling the motor. High risk, low gain.

And pulling the motor only takes about 20 minutes with practice lol

I would tighten the bolts up and see if that helps. Not too much you can do without new gaskets and a couple hours of labor. Try spraying it with brake cleaner liberally and apply some rtv epoxy to seal it on the outside. Oil stop leak might be worth a shot. Make sure your running 20w50 too. Thicker oil may not leak as much.

wish you were closer. i would pay to have you send me a video of how to do it.

I'm pulling mine again first thing this spring too lol. Swapping in a S4 transmission

I will probably try what NCross said i got some permatex blue rtv silicone gasket maker, and some jb weld that have been in my toolbox for a while would either one of them work?

get some sealer from a cheverolet dealer called GMS. nasty stick thick stuff. clean it well with acetone and lay a bead, it will not leak

Neither are oil/ gas resistant. You need black or red rtv. Blue is for coolant I believe. Jb weld might work if you clean it well and let it cure. If it doesn't workwhat have you got to lose?

offer still stands. very serious.

I had a leak from thart area once. Old gasket plus OMP feed equals oil leak up high like that.

Isn't there a way to remove the front cover with the motor still in the car and propping the clutch pedal to the foor to hold the front thrust / needle bearing and all that crap stacked / from falling out of place...?

Technically the stack is only in need of propping when pulling the pulley off without pulling the front cover. With the front cover off to re-seal the gasket, he could get to the stack to fix it as well. Definitely something to make sure is correct upon re-assembly.

I wouldn't do this type of job in the car. That would suck.

I had a leak in almost the exact same location and new front cover gasket fixed it. Real easy to do, grab something to keep the clutch pressed (piece of wood wedged to seat), then put a jack under the tranny and you can now take the front cover off.

Remember to keep the clutch pressed till your done.

I did mine REAL SLOW in an afternoon should only take a couple hours.

Wait a second.... so Funk and Ways are contradicting each other.

wish i'd of know. I pull engines a lot... sadly though, i probably wont really have any for a while. just unplug all the wires running to it, un bolt anytyhing that looks to be holding it in and then rip it out!

Don't use a scuffing pad in a die grinder to clean gasket material. It ruins the aluminum surface flatness and will lead to leaks.

Rule of thumb is if youre unbolting the front main pulley, you prop the clutch. You should do it.. I was merely saying he could technically get to the needle bearing and spacer if need be. It was a bit confusing. Sorry lol :-/

Won't you need an impact wrench though? Since you don't want to spin the engine.