well i got my first rx7 this past weekend, it's a 88 GXL in very mint condition with a newly rebuilt engine.

The car came with this huge manual that i plan on making my bible for the next couple...oh...years.

My questions have probably been asked, and well i dont know a whole lot, but i learn very VERY fast.

Grounding seems important so i think i am going to tackle that first and foremost. Seems simple enough, so hopefully that will go smoothly. I seem to have some kind of a oil leak. At this time i dont know where it is at but i do know that i have it. I would like to fix this myself if possible and was just wondering a few ways/strategies to go about fixing wherever the oil leak is coming from. It starts somewhere up close to the oil filter and runs through some of the engine bay that i can see. The car had this when i bought it and well frankly it was the only thing wrong with the car. The oil seems to have made its way all the way to the middle underside of the car, where when i drive it and it gets hot it will smoke.

There is so much i want to ask but i will keep it simple for now. Also i was wondering about steam cleaning the underside of the car. I live in California and was wondering if anyone knew of a place that would do this or i could do it myself. Maybe even steam the engine bay where the oil has leaked onto the engine.

Forgive me if these are stupid questions.

i'm a rx7 lover, not a hater.

 

try replacing the oil filter and make sure there's a good seal...other than that i guess you can just run the engine and hunt for the leak

 

Welcome to the forum. With so many threads running, I almost missed you.
There is a huge amount of information already asked & answered here. The search works well but with so many posts it does take time & patience to sort through. I have the Factory Service Manuals linked in the sig below.

 

There is a gasket under the oil filter location - it is common for them to fail and **** oil all over the place(happened to me a couple of years ago). You can either replace the gasket from your local dealer and wait for the part or simply get some silicone gasket at your local parts place and repair the existing one, either will work...

 

Welcome, and remember there are no stupid questions. I wish I knew half as much as some of the members on this forum. I guess your question has been answered, the oil filter gasket itself, or the gasket under the oil filter adapter. The only other item in that area would be the oil pressure sending unit. Just use some brake clean to "wash" down the area, then keep an eye on it.

 

Welcome to the forum!! I live in N-California when ever I have to pressure wash something I just use the local coin opp car washes with the pressure nozzle guns. Just remember that you have an under tray protecting your engine bay so if you want to clean out your motor from the bottom that has to come off first.

On your leak near your oil filter here is probably what is going on. Every thing on this car is like a sandwich same goes for the oil filter. On the engine block is a flat piece with two holes for the oil (inlet and a return) and two tapped holes. Bolted onto that is the piece that the oil filter screws onto. In-between these two pieces are two O-Rings (for that inlet and return I was telling you about). It is common for these to get old and hard and leak. Easy to fix your self, or cheap if you want someone to do it for you (approx .5-1 hr of labor and $6 in parts including a new filter).

 

Welcome to the Forum. Use the Search function as much as possible. Don't be a post-***** like me Oil leaks are a constant nuisance with these cars, just clean it well and watch the area when the car is running. SOmetimes hot is best, sometimes cold, you never know.