Ok, just got my car out of the shop (inspection, and some other misc. junk) and about a week later, I noticed I'm leaking something. Seems to me to be oil. I did some searching on the forum here, and found that it could be one of any number of things. As I just got the car out of the shop, I can't really afford to take it back in for a while, so I was hoping if I posted a pic, someone might be able to point me in the right direction, and mabye my friends and I can take care of it.

It's happening front-drivers side (which seems to be awefully common) and the car has started making a pretty funky smell after about 10min of driving. I'm attributing that to the new cat I just put on though (I hope, at least)

Any ideas? If you come down to West Chester, I'll buy you a beer

 

oh, some more info..

Checked the oil level back when I first noticed this, and it was about a quart low. I had just bought the car a little bit before that, so it may have been like that when I got it. I added a quart, and it doesn't seem to have gone down too much, and it's only dripping about a tablespoons worth a day. Hopefully it's nothing to worry too much about..

 

probably the oil cooler lines ...

Don't worry, we all went through that at one point or another.

Hugues-

 

That's the area of the oil cooler fittings.
The oil cooler is just in front of the bottom edge of the radiator.

It could be a loose fitting or a leaky hose.

 

Well, that doesn't sound nearly as bad as I was expecting.

Thanks for the quick responses guys!!

 

unless you have really big metric sockets (like 19-24) i can't remember the exact size, get a good adjustable wrench and try and tighten up the rear oil cooler line banjo bolt where it enters the motor. You'll probably have to do this from under the car.

If its the line itself, you can get S/S braided replacement lines from corksport for about 138 bucks

 

I think Hugues nailed it. It's hard to find a small leak on the OEM lines because of the sheathing around it. I guarantee that sooner rather than later the small leak is going to turn into a gusher, and the low oil warning buzzer is going to get your attention REAL quick as you're toting down the freeway. You can ask me how I know, but I bet you've already figured that out, lol...

Check very carefully near the contact areas where the lines run past the radiator- there are metal brackets and "bulkheads" that are hidden under all the degrading foam crap that Mazda put in there, and this is a likely place for chaffing to occur.

The stainless sheathed AN fitting replacement lines from Mazdatrix and others are a little pricey, but a good upgrade and investment...Or, you can just wait 'till the buzzer tells you to change them

 

aha.. degrading foam crap.. that explains one thing. I had been feeling under there and felt something squishy, and my friends, being pessemists figured the previous owner knew about the leak, and had stuck something in there to catch the oil so I wouldn't notice. Good to know that junk is supposed to be there.

My homeowners association won't let me do *any* work on my car at my house (grrrr) so I haven't even had a chance to get under the thing myself since I bought it. Now that it's inspected though, I'll be able to get it somewhere where I can check it out.

Anyway, I'm off to download a copy of the shop manual, and read until my brain is mush.

Thanks again guys!!

 

Hmm.. just noticed one more thing..

the thing I circled there should probally be attached to.. something.. right?

sorry about the crappy picture, it's off my phone

anyway, there's fresh looking oil right under there, and the part that doesn't give me a warm-fuzzy is that I didn't notice any fresh oil there last time I looked, so if it is the oil lines, I'm guessing I probally ought to fix it like.. now.

 

Looks like the oil metering pump lever .. it connects to the throttle ... See FSM for where.

and yes, it's a shitty picture.

hugues-

 

thanks hugues!

 

I have the exact problem....I reused the washers and now they are leaking.....where do I get new washers......I can't find them anywhere....

 

about the washers:

Mazdatrix has them.

I think you can reuse the old ones if you heat them up first with a torch. Then, they'll be able to deform as new ones do and seal the fitting.

I think the above is true but you may want to get confirmation from somebody else.

hugues-

 

The thing you circled in the last picture looks to be the oil cooler for the transmission (only on automatics.)


Did the car used to have an automatic?


Just to check on that, look at the guage cluster, and see if you see the P (park), D (drive), ..... All that under the tach.


Also, the oil leak could be from the oil pedistool. Look under the oil filter, and see if it is leaking oil from around the bottom, were you will see two different color metals (one is cast iron should be on the bottom, the other is aluminum, should be on the top)

 

Cory Simpson - I don't have those letters under the tach, but that doesn't mean it didn't used to be an auto. When I got it, there was a whole big bag of parts (extra idiot lights, wiper switch, etc.) so the previous owner may have swapped out the dash guages if he had switched it from auto to manual.

 

Just to check... That is a hard metal line coming out of the bottom of the radiator, correct?

If so that's what it is, I may be wrong, it also looks like it could be comeing from the front of the car.....

 

Some of the replacement radiators have the trans cooler in the them. Mine has the same thing only the lines had caps on them. Good news is your radiator isn't as old as your car.

Be very careful how you tighten the oil cooler lines, it's very easy to make things worse. If the lines are not leaking themselves, check the connections at the oil cooler. It may not be leaking from from the threaded fitting itself. Clean the fittings until they are spotless, start it up and look for leaks. Chances are it may be the bung itself that is leaking. They tend to crack where they mount to the cooler and if someone has already tried to retighten the fitting they may have over tightened and cracked it at either the base of the bung or throught the length of the bung across the threads.

I have a GSL-SE sitting in my drive waiting on the owner to come up with the $55 needed to weld a new bung on his cooler which is split through the length of the bung.

 

Cory Simpson - Yup, definatley a hard metal thing coming from the radiator

trochoid - Ahh, so that's how that happened

thanks guys!

 

hey sorry to hear about your problem. I went through the same problem but mine was worse. When ever i drove a black line followed it. From the picture ic that oil is leaking from ur oil cooler lines. try to put the car up on jack stands and look near the front bumber. You can remove the fan cover up top to make things go easy. Look around the oil cooler where the oil lines come out the egine to the oil cooler. Tere is a joint tehre taht always goes bad under high oil pressure. If u do clutch drops that might caused big damage on the washer and piping. So look around the oil cooler area. Try to do this ur self . This is preety easy, no need to take to mechanic


good luck