Oil leak on housing
 

I am sorry I don't know the names of the rotary parts, has been a while since my last 7. On my 1983 RX7 12 a, there is an oil leak on the driver's side front of the motor. At the junction between the rotor housing and the "front plate" that covers the front of the motor. Another way to describe the location of the leak is to say that it is at the gasket right where the top of the motor says Mazda 12A, just forward af the "M" in Mazda. Are there any temporary fixes to stop or slow the leak, or is a re-build in order? I dont have the funds for a major repair, unless Ebay determines the PO is liable for "undisclosed engine damage over $1000" Dave

sounds like ur discribing a leaky "O" ring around the alignment pin. that would be a rebuild since the engine would have to be disassembled to replace it.

That's what I suspected. Is there a temporary fix, such as a bolt to tighten or an additive to the oil? Thank you. Dave

Some have had success cleaning the area, then applying sealant or JB Weld to the area... I think Jeff20B has done this before.

Keep the ideas rollin' in guys. I'll do a search on this. Last time I owned a 7, I think I remember reading about adding some ATF to the oil to get the O ring to swell a bit. Does this ring a bell?

I won't try ANYTHING until I get input. Thanks. Dave

All the 'tween-housing seals are compressed by the (18?) footlong main tension bolts that run all the way from the front plate through the rear plate. There's no way to get to them for re-torqueing without removing the tranny and flywheel, and it's pretty important that they be properly sequenced in tightening or loosening.

The downside to the rotary's elegant simplicity of design is that there's virtually no access to any engine internals without completely disassembling the engine. I remember changing out a damaged piston (sheared an exhaust valve) on my old '73 Satellite while the engine was still in the car. Can't do that on a Wankel... but then, a Wankel's not going to shear a valve in the first place, not having any.

Complex designs multiply options. Simple designs limit options.

I would stay away from ATF in the engine. It not only causes seals to swell, but softens them in order to do so, which can lead to further failures.

What do you guys think about oil additives that claim to "seal" leaks? Dave

Sometimes they work on piston engines. Could be fatal on a rotary.

Rotaries have points where oil is injected into the housings. If you "seal" those passages, then you're screwed. Clean it up, slap a little JB Weld on there, and forget about it for a few months...

i say use Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabilzier..it helped stop my Dowel Pin leak......ok thats all im gonna say or else im gonna start sounding like a damn infomercial LOL

Slap some silicone on it.

"Put a little Windex on it!"

What does the Lucs synth oil stbilizer do to help?

Lucas gets my full blessing, although I've never tried using it for a dowel pin leak. The oil control rings on my last motor were so bad that the motor was pretty much shot. Couldn't drive it without blinding everybody behind me with the smoke screen (no exageration there either). I started running one quart of Lucas in place of 1 quart of oil, and eliminated 95% of the symptoms. Got another 20K miles out of that motor before an apex seal finally went at 213,000 miles.

If you want more info, just run a search on it. Plenty of info out there on it.

If this were my car, I would JB Weld the exterior where it is leaking and use the Lucas too. Good luck....

20-50 oil helps a little

I will add the Lucas for sure and see how it goes. After that I can try silicone or JB. But, I gotta know, what will the windex do?!

It's just a joke movie reference - - Windex can cure everything!

So you are saying I should stop dousing my engine and tingly parts with windex (?). We must never tell anyone of this conversation.

I heard blue and tingly was the fashion these days...

But seriously folks.....

So can it be deduced where this leak is from, just given my description? In my pic, is it a small O ring at "A" that looks like it goes around a rod or bolt? Or is it a huge O ring at "X" or "Y", that appears to encircle the combustion chamber?


EDIT: I need to figure out image posting first, sorry.

The small o-ring that surrounds the dowel pin in the area you described in your initial post is a fairly notorious oil-leak source. The dowel pins serve to align the plates and housings, but are also hollow and are used to carry oil under pressure.

The big o-rings that go all the way around the rotor chambers (inner and outer seals) seal the water jacket.

Okay I figgered it out. Can one deduce if the leak is at A, or x or y?

X&Y=water seals; A=oil seal.

If you're leaking oil from a water seal, you have, uhm, larger worries. So, odds are A.

Sadly, all must be swapped at the same time. No way to just get to A.

Thanks, you beat me to the punch, of posting the pic. I guess I don't understand how silicone or JB could help, wouldn't the oil just travel a different path?

That, I don't know - - I've thankfully never had this problem myself.

If the leak is minimal, it probably just dams up the tiny path that's letting the oil seep out. Not really anywhere else for it to go.

But that's a guess.