I'm in the process of pulling my motor, fixing the oil leaks, and single conversion.
I knew that my front cover was leaking, but when I pulled the twins I see this


This engine is a Mazda reman with 15k miles. It took me 4 years to get 15k but I always ran it on the weekends or let it idle in the garage for a few minutes.
Looks like rebuild time.

 

In deed it does look like rebuild time once agian.

 

This will be my first rebuild. I bought the car with the new motor. I wouldn't put a reman in any car.

 

That isn't necessarily bad. That's probably just from oil in the intake tract seeping between the manifold and engine and coming down a little bit. There's no pressurized oil systems there for a leak to occur from.

If the car isn't smoking from under the hood, isn't dripping a lot on the ground, and isn't smoking from the exhaust, and oil consumption is normal, there's absolutely nothing to worry about.

Dale

 

retorque the intake manifold and wipe down the block, it could just be a type of sealant they used while building the engine that is seeping out of the outer coolant seal jackets. it is near impossible to seal up a rotary engine from minor oil leaks but it does look like it is just coming down off the manifold from boosting. you could also try removing the LIM and using some permatex copper spray gasket sealant to help keep it from seeping out.

 

The car didn't smoke but it left huge oil spots on the ground after shut down. I have a picture of the front cover gasket with a chunck of gasket pushed out.

Dale, if you were in my position wouldn't you rather just have it completely rebuld and ported? (assuming that money was not a problem) I already have to pull the motor out and pull off the front cover.

What does everyone think?

 

you don't need to remove the motor to reseal the front cover, granted it is much easier but not necessary. most of the time oil leaks are generated by the oil pan and OMP lines.

 

Yea I know you don't have to pull the motor, I just wanted to pull it out clean it up and detail my engine bay.
I already have to fix the front cover, oil pan(i was planning on doing this), new tranny, clutch, motor mounts, and a single turbo. An engine pull shouldn't be too much more work

 

I would TOTALLY pull the motor to do the front cover job. I've done a few on FC's back in the day, and that is hands down the LEAST fun thing I've ever done on an RX-7. It's likely a zillion times more of a pain on the FD.

If your short block is running well, pulling good vacuum, starting and idling well, etc. I wouldn't tear into it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Fix the external problems on the motor and build it up nicely. Nothing I see in that pic points to a problem with the short block, and even if money isn't an issue, you can still use the money elsewhere on the car and much more wisely.

Dale