On my 87 tii, I had low oil pressure. Think I posted something about it. Anyway, I took the front cover off and replaced the oil ring. Everything went back together, and everything was sunshine and flowers.

Well sorta, I have a real nasty oil leak from somewhere, guessing it’s front cover related, as I didn’t have much issue before. Here is the rundown

the oil is everywhere near the front of the engine, up down left right, everywhere. There seems to be more polling of oil on the passenger side of the car, I can tell because some is pooled on my efan, and some where the steering rack mounts. It’s on my alternator and everything.

Looking around where the front cover mates to the engine, looks pretty darn good, not really much for signs of oil.

I took the oil pan off when doing the front cover work, didn’t put a gasket on it, and used rtv like I’ve read a lot of people do.

the front pulley, this is my concern, I think the main oil seal is good, though there does seem to be a fill of oil between where the pulley mounts on the hub. I’m wondering if it is leaking out where the eccentric shaft bolt is. I did not replace the crush washer when doing the front cover work, should I pull the bolt and put a new washer?

I also noticed a little hole in the front cover, down on the drivers side by the oil cooler line, there is a pic posted. I think the oil pan bolt somehow popped through, would this cause my issue?

any help is welcome

 

well, obviously, the hole is an issue, but you mentioned oil getting as high as the alternator and that makes me think it's hitting something that spins. my front main seal failed on my Rx-8 a few years ago and the symptom (aside from the mess) that alerted me to it, was that i kept breaking alternator belts. i would definitely give some thought to the front mail seal. you might as well do replace the crush washer while you're in there as well.

 

Think that is my culprit. Do I have to remove the front cover completely? Really dont want to mess with it again if I dont have to

 

I have two ideas that may be stupid. Car is apart right now, so cant start it.

1. Compressed air. Set my air compressor to 3-5 psi. Plug my pcv and any other ventilation. Shot that compressed air into the dipstick, from there i take my soapy wooder and spray it around the suspected areas. Bubbles = leak
2. One of those evap tester smoke machine things. Pretty much the same thing, but I will also have smoke coming out

 

Speaking of oil leaks, I am replacing my engine for the second time. When I removed the engine, the lower part of the engine bay was covered in oil. It seems that When I installed the oil pan, I did not take the proper care and I tightened the oil pan bolts too tight. You know, if tight is okay, tighter is much better!

Now I learned about how to clean all the surfaces on the engine and pan with acetone before applying the RTV sealant. And do not let it set up before properly tightening the bolts!



My question is, should I use a gasket or not. With the gasket and oil baffle I will need three applications of RTV. Without the gasket I will only need two applications of RTV.

I noticed a slight difference in height between the rotor housings and the irons at the bottom of the engine, so it is not a perfectly flat surface. This makes a case for using a gasket.

If I use the gasket, it will go between the engine and the oil baffle. Then without any RTV applied to the pan or baffle, I will temporarily attach the oil pan and tighten the bolts to spec. and let the RTV cure.

After the RTV has cured, I will remove the oil pan and apply the final application of RTV and permanently install the oil pan.

Sounds like a bunch of extra work, but if it prevents oil seepage over time it will be worth it!

The work shop manual lists the torque as 5.8 to 8.0 ft-lbs! Not very tight, this is where I went wrong last time, now I have a torque wrench!
Also found another oil pan tightening torque on page 2-10 in the manual, 69 to 95 in-lbs. I also have an inch-pound torque wrench!
It also mentions to tighten the bolts within 30 minutes of applying the RTV.

What would happen if I applied a bead of RTV around the outside perimeter of the oil pan just for good measure? If a little RTV is good, too much should be just right!

 

with a gasket AND a baffle, you might want longer bolts
and or studs, Banzai racing sells a stud kit

 

I do have a stud kit!
After I torque the gasket and oil baffle down to spec, I will remove the bolts and install the studs.

Then I will apply the final RTV bead and install the oil pan. Again, in a crisscross torque pattern, bring it up to torque specs.

I have the luxury of time which most mechanics don't!

Thanks for the input.

 

After looking at some posts where it originally did not use a gasket I found an old racing beat catalog I had.

They sell a baffle plate and recommend that TWO gaskets be used on both sides of the plate!

So, I ordered a new gasket and here is what I am doing to keep the oil pan from seeping oil.


This gasket came with a sealing kit, it seems a little low quality.


Here I tried to apply black rtv in an even 4mm bead, yeah, right!


After putting the baffle plate onto the studs I put the pan on and hand tightened the nuts and waited an hour per the instructions before torquing the nuts to 82 in-lbs.


Here I am using a thin putty knife to loosen the pan from the baffle plate, then cleaning the plate with acetone before appling another 4mm bead of black rtv sealent.
I put the second new gacket over the studs and hand tightened the nuts and bolts finger tight only and waited an hour before torquing the fastners to 82 in-lbs for the stud nuts, and 50 ft-lbs for the motor mount bracket bolts.

Tomorrow I will take the pan off again, clean the gasket and pan with more acetone, add another 4mm bead of black RTV, add the pan and wait an hour before torquing to spec.

I hope this does the trick and I will not be seeping oil all over the bottom of my engine bay!

 

from the photo, i get that feeling as well.

where did you get it?

 

It was a generic gasket set which came with coolant seals and other gaskets for about $60 or so. You get what you pay for!

The second gasket was from Mazdatrix for about $50! A bit better quality.

Attaching this gasket to the baffle plate ran into a snag. The RTV squeezed out to attach the oil pan quite nicely.
It took about 30 minutes get the pan free, and in the process I damaged a small section of the new gasket!

I have to re-paint the perimeter of the oil pan after sanding it again.
I removed all of the squeeze out and cleaned the gasket surface as best I could. I will just add a bit more RTV to the damaged areas and hope it holds up.
In hind sight I should of ran less of a bead of sealant, 3mm bead instead of 4mm. Really don't need that much squeeze out!

 

I also have the same hole on my front cover, it is one of the oil pan bolt holes that happen to reach the outside of the front cover!

Once you install the bolt it should prevent any oil from seeping out, there is very little pressure in the oil pan to push oil past this bolt!

My problem was not properly prepping the surfaces when I installed the oil pan, resulting in seepage past the bolt heads! Also I overtightened all the bolts, pressing the RTV sealant too thin! 82 in-lbs is quite enough torque on these bolts!