It looks like the oil leak I have been noticing is coming from the rear engine seal. Has anyone replaced these themselves? Pulling the tranny will be no problem as I work in a shop with access to a lift and tranny jack. My only question is pulling and installing the seal, is there a special tool required or can universal tools be used?

 

The "hard" work is pulling the tranny and the flywheel. If you've got that covered you're all set. No special tools required to remove or install the rear seal.

 

The rear main is an easy fix, just pops in and out like anyother car. Good excuse for a clutch job.

 

I am about to replace my clutch soon. The rear engine oil seal was one thing everybody said to replace while I am in there, along with all the other usual suspects. I guess if that’s leaking oil can get on your clutch and flywheel and would cause the clutch to slip.
My clutch is slipping badly and I know I leak oil from somewhere. I though it was the oil pan but I could be wrong. I am looking into a leaky oil seal or bad clutch on mine. I guess we will see once I crack that bitch.

 

Also inspect the rear stationary gear for oil leakage. The O-ring on the inside goes bad alot and is commonly misdiagnosed as the rear main. It is a 3.00 dollar part and just some extra labor to pop out the rear stationary gear. Just be carefull when putting it back in to align the teeth with the rotor correctly. Hope this helps. I believe it was a Recall issue or service bulletin at one time from Mazda.

 

Where would the oil be leaking if it's coming from the stationary gear O-ring? I'm trying to chase down an oil leak myself, and the oils coming from from the rear of the motor, but the right side.

 

It will be coming down from behind the base plate,..or flange that bolts the gear to the housing. It( the oil) will probably be all over the end plate. ( more so than the main seal.) It is kinda hard to tell for sure that's why it is almost worth spending the little extra it cost and time if your doing it yourself. .....
Most of the time I have seen the rear main and stationary gear O-ring go bad there is an accumulation of oil inside the tranny bellhousing.( you probably already know that) Soo I gues long story short just get the O-ring and replace it if you have recently done the rear main and oil pan and still have a leak.
I replaced the rear main seal twice and ALL the turbo oil line gaskets and the oil pan twice before 93BlackFD told me about the rear stationary gear recall ( I think it was 93BlackFD anyways )Ray Crowe also told me about it after I ordered from him the first time. He is very good at remembering the little recall service bulletin things. Hope all the garble I just wrote helps!!

 

Found my oil leak. The good news is it's not the rear main seal, nor the stationary gear O-ring, nor the oil pan gasket.

The bad news is I have a broken 10-mm flange bolt head at the primary turbo oil return line. The oil was dripping down onto the subframe, and out of the subframe hole near the passenger side motor mount. Explains why the oil would only leak while the motor was running, and shortly after the motor's been shut off.

Now the challenge is getting at the broken bolt with an extractor without removing the turbos (sigh).

I'm getting a decal made for my winshield that reads, "There's Always Sumpthun Wrong" (with an FD).

 

Nuttin' to it, all you need is one of these bad boys - an angle drill kit: Amaze your friends!

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/pro_d...re&dir=catalog

 

I got something similar from my local ACE hardware store. It's a 90-degree angle drill attachment that hooks up to any 3/8-inch drill. The Eazy Power attachment is not as small as the Snap-on, but the Eazy Power is the best I can do in a pinch http://www.eazypower.com Retails for $48

 

thanks for all the input, I'll have to look into the o-ring when I get it the tranny out, I'll prob. just order the thing just in case.

 

Ended up removing the oil return pipe from the engine block. It was the only way to get at the damned broken bolt stuck in the flange. The bolt was too hard for the drill bit. I worked the bolt out with needle nose pliers, and then my fingers. The Eazy Power 90-Degree attachment is going back to ACE today LOL

 

what all is involved in romoving the rear stationary gear? once I get to the rear seal will it just be worth the extra time to replace the o-ring just in case?

 

if u have a jack and tranny lift, it should be easy to do.

me and my brother just replaced his clutch & flywheel, we could have done it faster if we had a car lift.

when you get the tranny off, have fun with they fly wheel. Me and my brother tried everythign to get his to come off and eventually I just got really pissed off and knocked the **** out of it with half of a jack bar and it fell off. We pull'ed his rear engine seal off with a flat head screwdriver, piece of cake, while your in there it would be wise to replace the pilot bearing as well.

deuce

 

so how do you safely replace the o-ring? I read in the manual if the crank moves after you take off the rear stationary gear. you will have to rebuild the engine.