Hey guys,

So I just finished my single swap completed and have got her to fire and idle. Problem is I'm getting some smoke that appears to be coming from below the turbo on the firewall side. I believe this to be associated with the oil leak I discovered.

I had this same issue on the twins and for the most part it never happened and it would only smoke or leak occasionally and I'd hoped it was simply something to do with the turbo oil feed/return system and that the single conversion would eliminate the issue.

HOWEVER during the single conversion I spent a ton of time under the car and discovered the leak was a little worse than I thought, but I haven't been able to pinpoint it yet...it appears the leak is coming from under the motor where the passenger side motor mount connects to the block. Rear main seal maybe? Its hard to get any good reference pics in such a small space or determine where it is really coming from.

Any input is much appreciated as I've never dealt with this before. I'm going to get her back up on stands and try and find the source as soon as possible.

Thanks!

 

most likely your oil pan, as the motor mount bolts go through the pan. this is why oil pan braces were made to help this, but really only thing you can do is to reseal it

 

The oil pan leak is a common leak on these cars, not so much on the rear main seal. My car has an oil leak because of the crappy pan, and to be honest I didn't give it the attention it deserved when I sealed it. Now I'm paying for it.

 

I've been researching this since I posted it and I believe I have a couple issues here. I firmly believe that I have an oil pan leak and NOT a rear main seal issue so my oil pan may need to be re-sealed. I'll be tracking the leak with the car up tomorrow.

I also found in searching about the smoke in the engine bay that it isn't uncommon for this to happen after a car has been flooded. Apparently it can be oil and carbon that was washed off the rotors and housing by all of the excess fuel combined with a small exhaust leak that is only noticeable when excessive amounts of fuel/oil/carbon is being pushed out the exhaust ports.

I know I flooded it pretty good trying to get it to fire after the long downtime and this makes sense as to why it used to happen what then seemed randomly. I had swapped ECU's and was learning to tune...during which I DEFINITELY flooded it a few times.

 

Just add some uv dye to the engine oil and use a uv light to rack it. Simple and best.

 

looks like oil pan leak, i had the same problem, installed a new seal and oil pan brace and no leaks for first time since ive owned it lol

FD3s Oil Pan Brace

 

I never thought to do this but will give it a shot if I can't locate the leak. Excellent idea.

Looks like I will most likely be buying the brace. I had planned for it to happen at rebuild time but no harm fixing it now. See youtube link below for white smoke video. I really do honestly think it is just from having been flooded.


Thanks for the input

-Seth

 

Oil pan. Get a brace, a new pan, and re-seal with Permatex "the right stuff".

 

I have a UV light and stuff you can borrow, but i dont have uv dye to put in engine oil.

 

I recommend doing the right stuff for imports. clean out every single hole with a tap, go slow!!! do not break it off. go in and back out many times, do not force.

I also recommend you do this for the engine mount holes as well. swap everything to studs. much better.

 

That seems like a lot of crud coming from a flooded engine. If you think all of thats from flooding, then I'd make sure you get that exhaust leak sorted.

Seems to me an oil pan leak as everyone else mentioned. Take your time resealing. I also put a small amount of sealant around each motor mount bolt hole as added precaution when I did my repair.