13brv3

OK, I've been searching, and thinking about this, and I'm confused. I just bought a completely stock (but not for long) R1 with 83k miles, and a new engine at 75k. The turbos are original.

Here's the deal, the previous (original) owner told me that she found some oil under the car about the time she put it up for sale. She said she took it to the local Mazda dealer, and they said her turbos were leaking oil. Sure enough, there's oil all over chassis under the engine after a good run.

I haven't been able to see where the oil is coming from yet, but I have a basic question about the whole leakage situation.

I understand that the oil can leak internally, and get in the air box and hoses. That makes sense. I imagine it can also leak into the exhaust side, and cause smoke. The question I have is- can it really leak externally, other than at the oil lines on the turbo? I don't see how, though I'm certainly not familiar with the twin turbo yet.

The car is going to a different Mazda dealer tomorrow for a new ECU (recall), and I might have them look at it if they seem to have time. I'm definately going to have to invest in some good ramps or stands, so I can get under this thing. I can't believe how low it is.

Thanks for tolerating the ignorant question.

Street King

I don't know if you know this already but Mazda dealers are notorious for ******* up jobs on the rx7. ONLY, ONLY, ONLY go there if the mechanic is a rotary tech, and/or was recommended to you by another rx7 owner.

There's 2 answers they give to you every time you take it to them for trouble shooting

#1 You need a new engine
#2 You need new turbos

Your turbos can leak on the outside, not quite sure as how it does but I know there are oil lines going to it. These lines may be the ones leaking.

13brv3

I've heard that about the dealers, and I don't think the original owner had much dealings with the dealer she took the car to last. At least I figured she was being honest, since the turbo would be about the worst case for an oil leak. I'm sure she was repeating what the dealer told her.

The dealer I'll be at in the morning claims to have two experienced rotary mechanics, but I'm hesitant to have them do much with the car. The ECU thing is free, and should fix a very annoying problem where the engine quits sometimes when the AC and fan are on. Eventually, I'll put a PFC on it, but for now, I'd like the car to keep running when I put the clutch in.

The car has a few other issues, and I'm really looking forward to fixing these myself. It may seem strange, but I don't really want the dealer to try to help. Tommorow, I should FINALLY get my boost gauge, so I can find out what's going on. I hope I'm not getting full boost, because the car just doesn't seem to have that much power to me. Again, I'm in this as a project, so I'll get a ton of enjoyment out of sorting this all out.

Thanks,

racer rx

Hi Rusty,

If you find a mechanic that you trust stick to him like glue. They are hard to find.

I bet the dealer will recomend you buying a set of new turbos. It's the most exspensive part of our 3rd gen engines. But if you are getting proper boost levels...I think the leak is nothing really to worry about unless your filling up with oil every month. Allot of 3rd gens seem to leak oil from the turbos, mine sure does... but boosts fine. It's most likely leaking from the oil seals on the turbos they tend to dry up and loose there abillity to keep oil in the oil passages.

Get yoursself a boost gauge installed ASAP. And check the levels of boost that your getting. And even if your low on boost... then check all the vaccum lines, like underneath the black vaccum tank behind the alternator.
Chances are your turbos are fine... and it's just a vaccum line off somewhere.

best of luck,
jack.

13brv3

Thanks Jack. The dealer told the original owner that the leak wasn't hurting anything, and that new turbos could possibly do the same thing before too long. In other words, they weren't really trying to talk her into changing them.

I wish the manual showed a decent breakdown of the turbo assembly, so I could try to figure out how they can leak oil externally. So far, I've been unable to find a decent picture, and I haven't had the opportunity to dig down to the one on the car.

As for the boost gauge, I ordered one as soon as I got the car, but the pod wasn't in stock. Eventually, I cancelled the order, and called Pettit, who said they had one in stock. That was Friday, and they said it would be here Monday. Of course it's now Thursday... I bought one of the new Gtech Competition performance meters, and hope to check the "as purchased" performance before doing anything to the car. It's driving me nuts not to tinker with it, but I'm going to wait until I get the boost gauge installed before I even change the air filter. As I mentioned, I don't think the boost is right, since it just doesn't seem that strong. There's a good kick at 3000, but no sign of life around 4500. Did I mention that I can't wait to get my boost gauge installed

Cheers,

Hyperite

Here's a question, does your exhaust smoke? Usually leaky turbos will make a nice blue smoke out the back. If not, perhaps look elsewhere for the leak, for example, the rear main seal or front cover gasket. HTH.
~Tom

13brv3

There's no smoke Tom, which is what made me start to question the first dealer's diagnosis.

I just got back from the local dealer in Pensacola, and have much better news. First, they installed my new ECU, and the engine didn't quit once on the way home. Now I don't have to turn the AC off when coming to a redlight. In Florida, this is a good thing

They put the car up on the lift to look for the oil leak, and the mechanic said it isn't the turbo. He said it was coming from a bolt that goes through the oil pan engine mount. While this will probably be a nasty job to fix, it's better than buying new turbos at the quoted price of $3921. I think they may have just a little markup on those

Thanks for the suggestions and comments. Now come on UPS with my boost gauge...

Cheers,

dubulup

Man, I am so glad you are so excited about your car! I bought one about a month ago, and work on it non-stop trying to fix all the little problems. This forum gives a lot of help, we're all in this together type of attitude!

Jaysmuuv

I am also in the same boat as you guys. I just bought a 93 touring and have similar issues. My oil pan gasket leak. and some sort of internal leakage. Only mine does have smoke that comes out the exhaust and idles real funny. As long as were all in this together..... hehe

13brv3

I spent the day cleaning the engine by wiping all the oil and grease off with my arms. Roughly translated, that means I have a boost problem

Cheers,