oil leak... is this guy BS'in me?
 

(91 vert) ok, found an oil leak on the top of my engine, there's a small puddle right where is says mazda 13b...from other posts ive read, this sounds like the o-ring that runs the length of the block is bad... the thing is the mechanic wants to "treat" it (put in an additive to make the seal swell), and he says after about 1k miles we should know if it worked. So what do you experts think? He BS'n me or do you think it will work?

I'm no expert by any means, but i dont think we should be putting any of that crap into the engine. I guess the reason is that it may not burn up completely, and damage the apex seals (if I'm wrong - someone correct me).

I'd also be afraid of the stuff plugging those skinny oil lines to the top of the motor.

Well, he says this works 90% of the time on the 1st gen engines he's worked on. i'm pretty sure its not something that plugs leaks..he says it will just make the seal swell a little, he's the same guy that put in the engine and it is warrantied, i just wanted to know if anyone else knows anything about what he is talking about.

If he put the engine in and warrantied it make him fix it properly. If someone has a serious heart problem you don't put a band-aid on it do you? You have to fix it right or down the road it will have more problems.

hell ya if he is the one warenteeing the engine and work make him tear the bastard down and put new seals in because obuiously it was not done correctly. theis bandaid might just work long enough for it to go out of warentee and then it will be your problem all over again instead of his.

james

If you don't care about the engine, and the mechanic agrees to rebuild it when it fails, then do it. Otherwise, either live with the leak or pull the engine apart to fix it. :(

ok, heres the situation
im moving ~1200 miles away at the end of the month, which means it won't be feasable to bring the car back to him for anymore warrantied work. So i can either let him try and treat it or take my chances with a whole new rebuild, which has the chance to have even bigger problems come up. Worse case senario with the original one is, i keep the small leak...so depending on the long term effects of the leak, i think i would have to take my chances with the engine i already have ( thats had only the one problem in the last 8 months and 4k miles) so if any one might be able to tell me the long term effects, that would help me in my decision.

only other option is to sell it to someone else, and i really dont wanna do that