spike.spiegel

I got an FD a couple weeks ago, and took it to the track last weekend. I hadn't installed a water temp gauge yet, so I took it pretty easy on the turbos. I wasn't flooring it, and shifting at 4-5k. After about a 15 minute session (+ cool down lap), I stopped and popped the hood. The fans hadn't come on, so I don't think I was anywhere near overheating. Also, the stock gauge was below half way--I've seen it a hair above halfway before and the fans have come on.

Anywho, after stopping, every few seconds there would be some smoke coming from near the passenger side of the engine. There would also be occasional flamage . Unfortunately the track is 200+ miles from where I live, so I had to drive back. I stopped every hour and checked the engine oil, but it was always full.

I noticed two hoses that had an awful lot of oil on them, but am not sure what they are or if they even carry oil (see attached). Most of the oil is right around them, and the smoke was coming from their general vicinity.

Also, I noticed the rear of my oil pan was really wet (see attached). I'm not sure if this is a separate issue or if oil is just leaking from somewhere higher.

savana

dont know much about fd,s i have a fc but id say your wet patch on the back of your sump is from the rear main seal in your stationary gear

gambit023

those two hoses look like they are connected to the pre control and wastegate actuators. They're not supposed to have oil in them.

1234rotor

iTrader: (1)

Well, those two hoses that you are looking at are the wastegate hoses and only hold air pressure. It could be the oil mist seeping out. The turbo seals seep oil out as they get older and leak oil into the intake stream. Looks pretty minor to me so far.

The other spot could be from a couple of minor leaks.

1- The oil pressure sensor/sender may be leaking

2-the oil cooler hose fittings may be leaking

3-The oil filler neck o-ring could be leaking (had this problem and siliconed it)

4-the oil pan may be leaking

Hopefully this stuff can help you out.


ALSO, check the turbo-oil-feed fitting just above the primary turbo if you are getting some flames over there. A growing oil leak there will cause a big fire.

Trust me, I had a big oil leak the first time I cranked my brand new 575 hp Pontiac Big-Block engine. It leaked onto the headers and started a pretty big flame show. Thankfully the hood was off, and the fuel lines directly above the fire were stainless braided lines ( talk about scarey though, I had just dumped $12,000 into that engine setup)

spike.spiegel

i dont recall off hand where this is. i'll try to check it out.

this is over on the driver side, right? i took off the plastic cover underneath the car and only saw wet spots on the passenger side, near those hoses

also, on the driver side, right?

would this cause all the wet spots i'm seeing higher up?

Can you point me towards this? I'm not sure where it is. Thanks a lot for your help

spike.spiegel

I'm guessing I have a small oilpan leak that is separate from the leak causing the flames. After searching, the only thing I think it could be is oil lines to/from the turbos. But am not sure where these lines are or what I need to remove to get a look at them.

Does anyone have any photos of likely suspects, or can someone just describe what I need to remove and where I should look?

Thanks

Thanks

mgoddard1

I had the exact same problem minus the flameage a few years ago and it turned out to be a loose banjo bolt on the oil inlet to the turbos.

spike.spiegel

So I still haven't found the source of the leak. I took off the airbox and oil pump to get a closer look at the turbos. The first one I thought looked pretty clean--there is some oil on the rubber hose towards the top, but I guess that is pretty normal?

The second turbo is much harder for me to get at. I took a photo from the bottom where the air pipe connects to the end. It has quite a bit of oil on it as you can see. Could this be the source of my problem? The smoke was coming up from around that area.

What's my next step? I haven't yet been able to remove my y-pipe because I can't quite reach those bolts holding on the secondary turbo's air pipe. If its helps, my car is completely stock.

Please somebody help me, I don't know where to go from here. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

mgoddard1

A little bit of oil around the rubber crossover pipe connector is normal. The second picture appears to show burned off oil on the secondary turbo so I would have to guess the leak is at the banjo bolt on the oil inlet pipe for the secondary turbo. You'lll have to get the y-pipe off to verify that and the best way to get the secondary turbo's air pipe bolts off is from underneath the car. I think I used a 1/4" ratchet with some extensions and a u-joint to get to those when I did it. Check the shop manual and tighten those banjo bolts using the correct amount of torque.

spike.spiegel

OK i'll give that a shot. Will it be obvious where that is once i get the y-pipe off? Like where is it relative to the pipe connector in the first photo?

thanks thanks thanks!

mgoddard1

Your first picture shows the banjo bolt for the primary turbo and the other banjo bolt is in the same position on the opposite side relative to the pipe connector. I'll be suprised if that isn't the source of the oil leak.

spike.spiegel

So I got the y-pipe off today and took a few more pictures. The first picture is from the top and shows a big black spot where I presume the oil was burning and causing the smoke/flames.

Also note the oil leaking down the bottom of the air pipe in the second picture.

From what I can tell, the black spot is directly below where the y-pipe connects to shorter air pipe. You can't really see it in the 3rd photo, but it's pretty wet right where those connect. I'm not sure what oil would be leaking onto that black spot.

I followed the oil pipe over to the secondary turbo, and it was relatively dry over there. I can't figure out why there is so much burnt oil just on the bottom of the second turbo (see earlier photo) if it is leaking from the top...hmm


Anyone ever seen anything like this before?

150kFd

Ik you have a hi-mileage motor then I would go with Savanna's idea. pop open the inspection plate to your tranny's bellhousing. Look and see if your motor's backside is wet, if so it probably is a rear stationary gear leak which may look like an oil pan leak. Judging from your pics though the oil is reaching a good distance away from the rear stationary gear.

mgoddard1

Looks like you have the orginal paper gaskets and the one on your secondary air pipe is torn in half. Call Ray at Malloy Mazda and order a set of new metal gaskets for all the air pipe fittings. You should probably replace the big o-ring in the y-pipe while you're at it. From your pictures it's obvious you have a leak and it's burning off the downpipe but it's hard to tell where it's coming from. More pictures might help.