The other day I noticed puddles of oil underneath my car everywhere I parked. After wiping off oil and looking closely, I think it's leaking oil from the front cover near the OMP where the front cover meets the oil pan. I've been searching and I just want to verify everything I've read.

To take the front cover off, I'll have to remove the oil pan, following the whole oil pan removal procedure by removing one of the engine mounts and supporting the enine.

Then comes trying to get the main pulley nut off and taking off the front cover. So here are the questions

1) I haven't looking at the FSM enough yet, so will I have to take off the water pump to take off the front cover.

2) At what point will I need to put in the clutch to compress the torrington bearing and how long will it need to stay compressed? Is there any chance of the bearing still slipping with the clutch in and how can I check to see if it slipped?

3) Would the best way to seal the oil pan and front cover be using rtv and which kind should I use? I've heard good things about Permatex "the right stuff" has anyone used this for this?

4) Will I need to replace the front cover o-ring since I'm pulling the front cover? are there any other parts that I'll have to replace? What can I do to make sure I don't pinch the o-ring (all of the low oil pressure problems everyone is complaining about)?

I think that those are all of the questions I've got right now. With all of the things that can go wrong with the front cover removal, I'm baffled that there isn't a good writeup for it yet, and if there is somewhere, point me in its direction.
thanks

 

1) No, you don't have to remove the water pump

2)You need the clutch pedal pressed at all times when the crank pulley bolt is removed. There is no chance the bearing will slip if you hold the clutch in.

3) I use some OEM grey 999 stuff from o-reilly's but people have had good success with the permatex stuff.

4)You should replace the o-ring. If your car is an S5, you should probably buy a new front cover gasket, if an S4, screw the front cover gasket.

But anyways... are you sure it's not just the OMP gasket leaking? those tend to go bad too. Much easier to change that.

 

Good luck. I can tell you from personal experience on other engines, that Permatex the Right Stuff is the BEST STUFF you can use as RTV replacement.

I used this stuff when I rebuilt a 2.4L Nissan Engine and it performed flawlessly. No waiting for to become tacky before putting items together and waiting hours before going to 100% TORQUE.

 

I'm positive that it's coming from the front cover. If it's anything else, it could just be the oil pan leaking, but it seems like it would be too much of a coincidence that the oil pan would leak right at the joint with the front cover without the front cover leaking any oil. I'd hate to go to all the trouble of resealing the oil pan only to have it not fix the problem and remove it to do the front cover gasket.

EDIT: I have another question. Is there any way that I'll be able to get the job done on the bolt with an impact wrench rated at 400 ft-lbs. If I can't get the nut off with it, will it be able to put out enough torque to get the nut on tight enough?

 

I'm serious about leaving the front cover gasket off in the S4 cars.
http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/oring.htm

 

anyone?

 

an impact gun rated at 400ft-lbs is strong enough... just keep trying... if it doesn't work... heat it up with a torch or something. I heard of people just simply running the car until hot then doing it. Last resort is the starter trick... i've actually used this one before. it works. ^_^
as for retorqueing, it's supposed to be torqued to 90ft-lbs... so that gun is plenty.

 

Alright, I've been checking up, and the Right Stuff is temp rated up to 450°F. Is this high enough for the front cover?

 

HOLD ON. You DON'T need to remove the oil pan. I've done it this way. Remove the water pump, and pull the oil pan bolts going to the front cover only, and the frotn cover bolts. Then tilt the front cover forward from the top and pull it out. MUCH easier than pulling the oil pan. When reattaching it, use RTV and make sure to coat the oil pan and front iron, taking care to get pletty in the corner where the front iron meets the oil pan.

As far as the bearing slipping. I would pull the front pully and front cover, and then rebolt on the pulley, that way you don't have to mess with someone holding the clutch down forever, or with a piece of wood against the seat.

 

will 450 be enough for the front cover?

 

Regular ole black RTV made by GE and found on any autostore shelf will work just fine and dandy on the front cover as a gasket. The same can be said of the pan. I don't use a pan gasket or a front cover gasket and havn't for years.

No leaks. Use sparingly. Do not gob it on. Use just the right amount. And if using it on the front cover make sure you don't clog the oil metering pumps feed hole which is on the left of the cover and is approx the size of a number fifty drill bit.

 

I'm in the process of taking off my front cover. I removed the alternator/waterpump assembly as a single unit and set it aside. If you have powersteering and a/c you are in for a long day to just get to the nuts that thread onto the threaded studs that come out of the side and go to the power steering a/c bracket.

Use quality tools. 6 point wrenches and sockets or you could strip something. I had a stripped nut scare and ran out to get some nice craftsman tools and they did the trick.

Email me at doniec@hotmail.com if you have questions. My front cover should be off tomorrow morning. I spend 2.5 hrs getting the other crap off and labeling all bolts/nuts etc.. so I don't have a problem putting it back together. PS If u email me, i'll send you my phone no. so you can call me with questions.

I was told that if you are removing the front cover then you don't need to worry about pressing in the clutch since you you are going inside anyway.