General Rotary Tech Support Use this forum for tech questions not specific to a certain model year
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by: CARiD

Oil leaking by turbo

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Nov 4, 2009 | 02:38 PM
  #1  
bluerising's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: philadelphia
Oil leaking by turbo

Its a 3rd Gen RX7 with 40,000 miles. It sat for 1 year and i just started to drive it again and i notice oil under the car. I got under the car and it looks like its leaking from the upper part of the oil pipe on the rear turbo. Right where the oil pipe connects to the bottom of the turbo. Im not sure and wanted some opinions.
Attached Thumbnails Oil leaking by turbo-turboleaks.jpg  

Last edited by bluerising; Nov 4, 2009 at 03:00 PM. Reason: misspelling
Reply
Old Nov 4, 2009 | 08:56 PM
  #2  
Mahjik's Avatar
Mr. Links
Tenured Member 20 Years
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 27,595
Likes: 43
From: Kansas City, MO
Hard to tell from your photo, but leaks from the oil return lines on the stock turbos are pretty common. I would suggest cleaning the area, taking it for a drive and then checking it again to make sure the leak is coming from the oil return lines.

If so, just pull the turbos and R&R the gaskets for the oil return lines.
Reply
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 08:52 AM
  #3  
bluerising's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: philadelphia
I put the car on a lift and cleaned the oil. then i started the car and i can see the oil leak from the opposite side of the turbo from what you can see in the picture. It leaks from the top of the turbo down the back and drips off the botton. im not to familiar with the placement of the oil lines but could that be it. i throught oil lines were on the sides Whats R&R? Remove & Replace?
Reply
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 10:15 AM
  #4  
Mahjik's Avatar
Mr. Links
Tenured Member 20 Years
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 27,595
Likes: 43
From: Kansas City, MO
Yes, R&R is remove and replace. There are 2 gaskets for each oil return line. One that connects the return line to the turbo manifold and one that connects to the engine block. Sounds like the one that is connecting to the turbo manifold is failing.

It's possible that the bolts which connect the return line are just loose, but I would just go ahead and R&R the gaskets.
Reply
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 10:16 AM
  #5  
Mahjik's Avatar
Mr. Links
Tenured Member 20 Years
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 27,595
Likes: 43
From: Kansas City, MO
Arrow

BTW, here's a thread where I posted the nuts/bolts locations for removing the stock twin turbos:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/stock-twin-turbo-nuts-bolts-locations-485829/
Reply
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 11:59 AM
  #6  
bluerising's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: philadelphia
It looked like the return line at first but i cleaned the oil and check again. Its coming from something up higher then the oil return line. The very top of the turbo. Is there another oil line on top of the turbo that could leak?

Last edited by bluerising; Nov 5, 2009 at 12:05 PM.
Reply
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 01:13 PM
  #7  
Mahjik's Avatar
Mr. Links
Tenured Member 20 Years
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 27,595
Likes: 43
From: Kansas City, MO
Arrow

Originally Posted by bluerising
It looked like the return line at first but i cleaned the oil and check again. Its coming from something up higher then the oil return line. The very top of the turbo. Is there another oil line on top of the turbo that could leak?
The oil inlet is on top of the turbo. Check out this diagram of the lubrication system:

http://www.autosportracetech.com/RX-7/oilsystem.htm
Reply
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 01:47 PM
  #8  
bluerising's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: philadelphia
Im pretty sure thats the soure of the leak. hopfully it just needs to be tightened.
Reply
Old Nov 5, 2009 | 03:17 PM
  #9  
bluerising's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: philadelphia
It was the inlet oil pipe. tightened it a little and no more leak. i dont see how it came lose.
Reply
Old Nov 6, 2009 | 08:37 AM
  #10  
Mahjik's Avatar
Mr. Links
Tenured Member 20 Years
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 27,595
Likes: 43
From: Kansas City, MO
Originally Posted by bluerising
i dont see how it came lose.
Vibrations over time.
Reply
Old Nov 7, 2009 | 03:29 PM
  #11  
bluerising's Avatar
Thread Starter
Junior Member
 
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: philadelphia
Thanks for the help
Reply
Old Nov 10, 2009 | 12:46 AM
  #12  
nrattV7's Avatar
Full Member
Tenured Member 10 Years
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 146
Likes: 0
From: Kansas
I'm sorry if I 'm reviving a finished topic, but is it possible to tighten that oil return line from underneath? I am having the same issue you are and I am thinking it's the same problem since i see a few drips of oil and no smoke coming out the exhaust even under autocrossing situations. I don't mind taking things apart next season when I have time, but if I can do it from underneath and save time that would be great.
Reply
Old Nov 10, 2009 | 09:03 AM
  #13  
Mahjik's Avatar
Mr. Links
Tenured Member 20 Years
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 27,595
Likes: 43
From: Kansas City, MO
If you are referring to the oil inlet line, I doubt you can even see it from under the car.
Reply
Old Nov 11, 2009 | 11:20 PM
  #14  
nrattV7's Avatar
Full Member
Tenured Member 10 Years
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 146
Likes: 0
From: Kansas
That's what I figured just by looking at that pic, but thanks for the reply! I was hoping I might get lucky and be able to reach it. Well I guess if I take apart all that to get to the turbo it'd probably be a great time to swap in the downpipe if the turbos are still in good condition and my boost issues are just due to vacuum hose, check valves, and/or solenoids.

EDIT: Btw Mahjik you wouldn't happen to frequent MAM would you? I'm hoping if I can figure out a few small leaks on the car to do a Fast Friday event sometime next year.
Reply
Old Nov 12, 2009 | 08:36 AM
  #15  
Mahjik's Avatar
Mr. Links
Tenured Member 20 Years
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 27,595
Likes: 43
From: Kansas City, MO
Originally Posted by nrattV7
That's what I figured just by looking at that pic, but thanks for the reply! I was hoping I might get lucky and be able to reach it. Well I guess if I take apart all that to get to the turbo it'd probably be a great time to swap in the downpipe if the turbos are still in good condition and my boost issues are just due to vacuum hose, check valves, and/or solenoids.
If your leak truly is the oil inlet line, you should be able to get to it just by only removing the intake piping. It shouldn't take more than 10-20 minutes to have access to it.

Originally Posted by nrattV7
EDIT: Btw Mahjik you wouldn't happen to frequent MAM would you? I'm hoping if I can figure out a few small leaks on the car to do a Fast Friday event sometime next year.
I'm still recovering from back surgery from about a year ago. I'm hoping to hit some Fast Friday's next year providing I can take bouncing around on the track.
Reply
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
trickster
2nd Generation Specific (1986-1992)
25
Jul 1, 2023 04:40 PM
Cameron38
1st Generation Specific (1979-1985)
3
Aug 19, 2015 06:08 PM
sypath
3rd Generation Specific (1993-2002)
2
Aug 16, 2015 12:06 AM
KAL797
Test Area 51
0
Aug 11, 2015 03:47 PM




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:56 AM.