Tim,

you are right!

After replacing the line (OMP) I then decided to check some of the bolts or nuts the holds the front cover by trying to tighten it.

After putting everything back together and let the car idle for a while, there was a HUUUUUGE leak (oil).. It was a lot more than before...

So now I will see if I could replace the front cover myself or pay someone for 15hrs of labour to do it....

Anybody else have fixed their own front cover leak?

 

I ended up just going for the complete rebuild(w/street port). I figured that if I was going to have to pay $1200 bucks for someone to fix the leak, I might as well pay $1400 for them to install a freshly rebuilt ported motor. I think my coolant seals were at the very begining stages of failing too.

 

I think I've traced my leak to the front cover gasket as well. Anyone done the work themself who can offer some helpful tips or how-to's? When I can find time, I'd like to fix the problem myself and keep my $$$.

 

I hate to resurrect this thead, but its probably better than starting a new thread and getting flamed for not searching....

Anyway, i just bought my FD less than two months ago. Come to find out... my front cover gasket has a pretty bad leak. I got an estimate of 15 hours to fix it, but I cannt justify spending that much money just to replace a gasket!! All of my friends are trying to convince me to take it apart myself, but I'm not very experienced with rotaries... nor working on a 15 hour job on ANY car for that matter. How tough of a job am I looking at here? and once it does end up getting fixed(even if its by a mechanic), what else would be good to do to it while its already apart? Tips, suggestions, or ANYTHING would be helpful... thanks.

 

How many miles on the engine? My oil pan has a leak too but I'm going to deal with it until the engine blows. It's an expensive fix for an annoying (not deadly) problem.

 

sillinous, I am/was in the same boat you were in as far experience. I've never done an R&R (Remove & Rebuild) before and this was the first car I've ever done it for.

Here's some tips:
-LOTS OF TOOLS!!!! (every size of metric 3/8", 1/2", and 1/4" sockets with appropriate wrenches), extensions for your socket wrenches, 3/8" set of wobbly sockets, torque wrench, engine hoist, engine stand w/ rotary engine adapter, 33-gallon compressor, impact wrench, floor jack, and 4 jack stands.
-Buy the Engine R&R and Engine Rebuild video from rotaryaviation.com
-Buy a service manual for your car
-If you have a 2-door garage, remove everything in their minus your car 'cause you're going to need the space
-lots of rags
-kitty litter 'cause believe me, you WILL spill a lot of oil and gas
-get ready to replace LOTS of little things such as gaskets, check valves, various vacuum and coolant hoses, etc.
-plastic baggies to keep all of your nuts and bolts for each part
-lots of solvent to clean the crud off of your parts
-lots of gloves


In a nutshell, that's about it. There's of course more things in detail but like I said, get that service manual and videos. It will help you tremendously.

If your're a novice like I was (not knowing much except changing the oil and what not), it will take you around 10-12 hours to do it properly. What I mean properly is taking a picture of each part you remove, labeling each ziplock baggie when the nuts and bolts come off of each part, etc.

Putting it back together should be the opposite. If you've taken really good documentation, you should be able to get it back to together correctly.

Good luck! If I can do it, I'm pretty sure almost anyone can too.