West TX RX-7

I was at a friends house last night and as I was pulling up to the garage he called and said there was oil all on his driveway where my car was parked. I looked at the pressure gauge, -0-.. Oh ****, checked temp, 170, whew, motor sounded fine so I pulled on into the garage and parked it. I run MMO with the gas 6oz per tankfull.

I jacked it up tonight to see if I could find out where it was comming from and couldn't really find anything. The engine is clean, no hoses broken, bolts are tight so I pulled off the Intercooler pipe and took off the oil filter and saw this.



That look like the problem? Stress crack?

Wankel7

Who knows if that is bad or not. Send the picture to some engine builders see what they say.

The oil came from somewhere. If it came frome there it would be oily.

James

now

iTrader: (1)

o ya you can see the crack on the dowel pin area
that would be where it is coming from.
time to pull it apart and replace the rear housing
matt

Tree

looks like you're missing an oil filter.....it must've fallen off somewhere...

It doesn't look like there's any oil by that crack, so I would guess it's something else...

Turblown

iTrader: (12)

Or it could be the O rings under the oil filler pedestal(sp?), shooting oil everywhere... Looks oily there..

My88Se

iTrader: (10)

It could be that crack, but losing soo much from sucha small crack... Considering its under pressure there should be a lot all over that spot.

Scour the bottom of the car, and the entire engine. Wherever the oil came from, it had to leave a trail.

silverrotor

iTrader: (1)

Damn! Didn't you just have your Motor rebuilt at Marvelspeed?

Relisys190

iTrader: (4)

if there was oil coming from that stress crack, there would be oil residue all over the place. Check under your oil filter pedistal... for any obvious leaks. also check your oil cooler lines (to and from oil cooler-block) Check where trans and engine bolt up (rear main seal)

-Markus

"THere are so many variables" CHEERS

== CHECK YOUR DRAIN PLUG== (yup happend to me on highway at 80+mph...

hypntyz7

I would bet my *** on that dowel crack. That is a common breakage area, especially on 88 and older housings of engines who are making higher than stock power. I have seen a couple modded turbo engines break, and it will cause a massive oil leak. The dowel pins underneath are actually a pressurized oil passage, which feeds your turbo oil supply line on the front iron.

Time for a rebuild/new motor. Hope it is under warranty, it is obviously a recent rebuild.

now

iTrader: (1)

I would agree that the way the oil is pooled on the rotor
housing that it would be coming from some where
else but if oil isn't leaking from that stress crack, i would
be very very surprised. my opinion is still the same i would be
changing that rear iron housing.

matt

hypntyz7

As a side note, find an s5 housing to use next time, they have a reinforcement there from the factory that helps prevent that breakage.

bingoboy

simple way to find out...fill up on oil again, start car with hood up, watch car idle, see where oil comes from.

West TX RX-7

Aye, thats what I was thinking also.

The weird thing is that the engine is clean all over. The only other place where I find any oil at all is also on the rear housing towards the bottom their is an oil line. The only spray of oil I could find was on top of the engine though although it wasn't much, more of a light dusting of oil on the upper intake and IC pipe on the drivers side.

Yes SilverRotor, The engine has 1200 miles on it. It was running just fine till then. Actually it still runs fine, just has a major oil leak. I'll fill it up with oil and start it up and see what happens. It was 10:00 PM when this happened and was too dark to see anything.

Thank you all for the input! I'll let you know what happens when I start it back up.

SureShot

If the dowel pin area crack is the problem,
A possible temporary fix:
Clean out the crack with carb cleaner & air hose.
Patch with Bondo Marine Epoxy or JB Weld.
Press it as deep into the crack as possible.
Finish with an adhesion patch on the outside.

Just carry some extra oil while you confirm it's holding.
It may get you back on the road.
If not, it didn't cost much.

West TX RX-7

Welp, I filled it back up with oil and put on a new filter and started it up. It's leaking pretty good from that crack. Not spraying out just a slow steady pour from the crack.

I'm not giving up on the Mazda though, I'll get it back on the road again within the next 2 weeks.

Turblown

iTrader: (12)

oh wow I didn't even see that crack, or read your sig.. Yea, make sure you use s5 irons..

West TX RX-7

I talked to Don Marvel at lunch time and he confirmed what I found out. I sent him that picture last night. He said he will fix it back at no charge even though I don't consider this something that was anyones fault. It has been running fine for 1200 miles or so since the rebuild. May have had some detonation. Best gas I can get here is 89. Still it's one of those things. Nothing worth while is easy. It just hardens my resolve and will make me appreciate the car that much more.