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Hello everyone! Today I took my FD out, and upon parking back in the garage, I noticed these two little puddles, near identical in size, it looks like they're underneath what I believe to be the oil pan, (new to rotaries and the RX-7 nation ^^; but logic says...) Thanks to TomU for pointing me here, he mentioned this may have been addressed before, however I'm unable to find the thread, or anything similar to what's going on here, recently I've read a sticker that reads, "rotaries don't leak oil, they mark their territory!" On a buddies FC, so that's comforting... I can provide more pictures if needed! -Randy
Last edited by Randy'sRX-7; 04-04-20 at 01:39 AM.
Reason: Typos,
They didn't leave the dealership floor leaking fluids. There is something wrong that can be easily repaired if you know what you are doing. Mazda parts are inexpensive and last a long time.
Are you sure its oil?
Is it dripping off the rear corners of the oil pan?
Is it the oil pan gasket, turbo oil return lines, OMP, oil cooler lines, or pressure sending unit leaking?
Something is leaking dramatically to cause two equal size puddles. You will need to raise the car and take the undertray off to investigate.
you will need to get the car on jack stands, look from above, get underneath and have a good look around. Once you narrow down the source of the fluid take a picture and we can help you from there.
Hello again! Apologies I never got back sooner!, upon spraying down the garage floor I've noticed it's only ONE puddle that forms, and after removing the undertray, it looks as if most of the (yes it's definitely) oil originates around the turbo return line, as that's where it's most greasy, it could also be a top oil seal but upon checking last time, the oil level was still quite full! And it's not as messy near the oil seal, So, it doesn't appear as if this leak is too critical (I hope), just changed the oil to Castrol GTX 20w-50! Oil pump works like a mad dog now! I also took pics for your guys' second opinion! Thanks!
- Randy
Last edited by Randy'sRX-7; 04-09-20 at 08:52 PM.
Reason: Typos,
Easy and cheap fix, you only need to remove the heat shield on the motor mount and the lower side of the pipe. All the nuts and bolts are 10mm hex in that area.
On a side note, it's that damn precat thats cooking your gaskets/rubber in that area. I would suggest replacing it with a 3" downpipe
Easy and cheap fix, you only need to remove the heat shield on the motor mount and the lower side of the pipe. All the nuts and bolts are 10mm hex in that area.
That sounds easy. This shouldn't require a motor pull (will it..?) As embarassing as this is, may you use the pictures/explain where this heat shield is? And I'd imagine a new TRL is required? I can't imagine I'd find that at AutoZone at least not in ID... heh.. thank you!
Get a 1/4" drive socket with a long extension and a universal joint and a 10mm socket. Get the car safely up on jack stands and you should be able to get to that drain line. There's a heat shield bolted to the motor mount arm that may be in the way, if so it's 3 10mm bolts to remove.
Remove the drain line, there's no oil in it with the car off so you don't have to drain the oil or anything. Make sure to remove all of the old gasket and if there is old gasket material or junk stuck on make sure the surfaces are clean and flat. install the new gaskets with NO RTV on them, they don't need anything on them to seal up. Take your time to make sure the gasket stays in place and doesn't slip out. Once done, clean things up with some brake cleaner so you can see if you got the leak.
Could also be an oil pan leak, 90% of RX-7's have a leaking oil pan and it's a ROYAL pain to properly fix.
@ Dale, Thanks big time! I'll order those and see what I can do! So I do NOT wanna use any sort of epoxys when re-sealing? On the turbo or the other end of the line, cross my fingers and HOPE it's not the oil pan? (The leak would be far worse yeah? And it only leaks when parked for longer than 5 minutes, slowly and almost unnoticably dripping, doing so when the engine is hot, of course,)
@ Tom, Sadly, I've not yet found it.. I'm going to call the dealership and see if they may have the test results archived, also on the rebuild factor, very true! the leak isn't too critical yet and I'm rather adamant about checking fluids! Perhaps if these seals aren't the solution and it is my oil pan then I just deal and keep a closer look on the oil until rebuild time! why pull a motor that's in need of a rebuild, to put it back into the car without doing so? guess I'm just nitpicky about those things,
Thanks everyone! Keep your fingers crossed!
-Randy
Last edited by Randy'sRX-7; 04-10-20 at 01:12 PM.
Reason: Typos,
Yeah, no RTV, epoxy, anything on those gaskets. They just need 2 clean surfaces and they seal wonderfully. Put a new gasket on each end of that rear line and see how that does. I want to say the original gaskets were paper, if so that could be the root of the problem.
Just ordered the seals! suprisingly, their HQ in WA is about 6 hours from me! Do they do rebuilds in house? Or just sell the DIY kits? Cause that'd be much nicer than 10 to 15 hrs to OR, (though I wouldn't mind the scenery, it's getting back..) LOL Thanks Dale!
You should be able to procure a sheet of gasket paper from local auto parts retailer and cut your own if in too much of a hurry to wait for postage or cant do interstate road trips.
You should be able to procure a sheet of gasket paper from local auto parts retailer and cut your own if in too much of a hurry to wait for postage or cant do interstate road trips.
You CAN do that if you'd like it to leak again. Get the right part and do it once, do it right.
04-04-20, 01:28 AM
I can provide more pictures if needed! -Randy
at least not in ID... heh.. thank you! 
then I just deal and keep a closer look on the oil until rebuild time! why pull a motor that's in need of a rebuild, to put it back into the car without doing so? 
suprisingly, their HQ in WA is about 6 hours from me! Do they do rebuilds in house? Or just sell the DIY kits? Cause that'd be much nicer than 10 to 15 hrs to OR, (though I wouldn't mind the scenery, it's getting back..) LOL Thanks Dale!
