webmonk

Well... I'm leaking oil and I guess I'd better figure out from where. I plan to do the actual work this weekend so I thought I'd start planning out my strategy now. Here's what I know:
-I lose about a quart a week.
-I leave oil stains near the front mid-left of where I park.
-The car does not run rough, hot, or like it's low on power.

I would appreciate any insight on possible causes, solutions, or idiot traps to watch for as well as other things I could do to diagnose a cause.

Thanks in advance,
Jon

IanS

iTrader: (4)

The oil cooler O-rings seem to have a tendency of going bad and leaking. I have heard of people having cracked oil fill tubes as well (where the dipstick is).

webmonk

I took a quick peek under the car during lunch and appear to be dripping from where the two large lines run into the radiator on the driver's side. I wasn't able to get dirty so I'm not sure if the leak was coming from there or running down the hose from the higher end where I could not see.

Thanks for the input!

brandon davis

iTrader: (3)

i found the best way to find it is too buy some castrol purple degreaser and boiling hot water mixed into a pump it yourself garden sprayer for around 10$ and degrease the whole engine bay its amazing how clean it once was then take it out for a drive and the leak shall prevail. not ounly do you find the leak you have cleaned you engine bay and have abled yourself to find any leaks in the future.

IanS

iTrader: (4)

Thats a good idea... May have to try that on mine

CarlRx7

the 82 rx7 have the oil cooler under the radiator, so is probly your oil cooler or lines leaking.

you can got a hydro shop and have them make you up some lines for cheap or you can buy some s/s braided lines from mazdatrix or Racing beat for around 190 or so.

if its your oil cooler , take it to an aluminum repair shop. (radiator shop most likely) and find an old timer to repair the crack where the fitting is (thats where they all crack 99% of the time). then while its out, go ahead and send it to an aviation oil cooler cleaner to get it flushed out (if you can spare the down time.)

carl.

bizarro

iTrader: (1)

good idea on the spray down...i'll be doing that after i change my lines to the ss braided ones from mazdatrix...which btw are only $101 for direct fit ss braided for an 84 SE...

and...if you have oil drops on your oil pan bolts like i do then you'll want to replace the gaskett as well, like i am...

brandon davis

iTrader: (3)

the best thing about using the garden pump is that you can really build up pressure in these units to remove the stuck crap that has been there for some of us 20 plus years. ohh yeah you dont need alot of the degreaser you can dilute depending on how dirty it is this **** is the most powerful ive ever used and i think ive used it all. it is castrol and it is the purple container and the degreaser itself is purple.