Still dripping oil... plus, hot oil smell.
09-15-06, 04:03 PM
#1
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
Still dripping oil... plus, hot oil smell.
It seems my luck is not good enough that I would have an oil leak-free RX-7... it's nothing major, but it's enough to leave a drop or so on the ground every day, and make a real oily mess out of the bottom of my engine (as well as the front subframe).
I already took off my oil pan and front cover in order to fix a few broken or missing bolts, as well as to re-seal them, and while my the oil pan itself seems to be much cleaner than before, there is still a bit of oil on the rear of the engine, and the little rubber plug on the bottom of the bell housing is always a little oily (but it doesn't smell like transmission fluid, and my rear main seal is brand new, although I don't recall there ever being an o-ring on the real stationary gear... I couuld have sworn there was but I couldn't find one in my gasket set anyway).
However, as I found out from before, oil on the rear of the engine does not nessicarily mean it's leaking at the rear (if it's leaking on the front, oil can and will go from the front of the engine all the way down the rim of the oil pan to the back of the engine, at least if the car is jacked up...)
My undertray and subframe are also usually pretty oily as well... but the oil pan doesn't usually feel all that oily (not even on the front), and neither does the front cover's sides.
My first idea would be the OMP... I took it off while removing the front cover (obviously), and while I did use a new o-ring for the pump, I re-used the copper washers (only 4-5 months old)... But it doesn't seem to me like there would be enough oil from just the OMP to cover so much of the subframe and undertray. I could feel a bit of oil on it's underside, though (even after degreasing the whole underside of the engine)... but not a lot. I don't see how the new O2 ring would be failing though.
It also doesn't look at or smell at all like power steering fluid, so that doesn't seem like a likely option either.
For that matter, there were a few drops of coolant on my subframe as well, but I checked all my hoses and none of them were worn, leaky, or loose... wierd. My coolant was just a tiny bit lower than normal, and I have to fill up the bottle once in a while, but otherwise I can't find any leaks in that area. The pump itself didn't seem to have any leaks, either.
Also, the engine bay seems to always smell of hot oil after I drive it (if not the interior to, but that's pretty much how RX-7's are...), or unburnt fuel (there are no fuel leaks, I've checked). Is it normal to smell a bit like oil or fuel (the fuel-ish smell isn't as often)? Strange thing, since my crankcase evaporation IS hooked up, I don't see why it would smell so much of oil.
And while I'm rambling, my OP gauge seems to show 15 or so PSI while I'm idling, which is a bit disconcerning, since it should be about 30 (it will go up to about 60 PSI during normal driving and maybe a bit higher at full throttle). I know the gauges are far to unreliable, but I figured I have to look into that as well.
I already took off my oil pan and front cover in order to fix a few broken or missing bolts, as well as to re-seal them, and while my the oil pan itself seems to be much cleaner than before, there is still a bit of oil on the rear of the engine, and the little rubber plug on the bottom of the bell housing is always a little oily (but it doesn't smell like transmission fluid, and my rear main seal is brand new, although I don't recall there ever being an o-ring on the real stationary gear... I couuld have sworn there was but I couldn't find one in my gasket set anyway).
However, as I found out from before, oil on the rear of the engine does not nessicarily mean it's leaking at the rear (if it's leaking on the front, oil can and will go from the front of the engine all the way down the rim of the oil pan to the back of the engine, at least if the car is jacked up...)
My undertray and subframe are also usually pretty oily as well... but the oil pan doesn't usually feel all that oily (not even on the front), and neither does the front cover's sides.
My first idea would be the OMP... I took it off while removing the front cover (obviously), and while I did use a new o-ring for the pump, I re-used the copper washers (only 4-5 months old)... But it doesn't seem to me like there would be enough oil from just the OMP to cover so much of the subframe and undertray. I could feel a bit of oil on it's underside, though (even after degreasing the whole underside of the engine)... but not a lot. I don't see how the new O2 ring would be failing though.
It also doesn't look at or smell at all like power steering fluid, so that doesn't seem like a likely option either.
For that matter, there were a few drops of coolant on my subframe as well, but I checked all my hoses and none of them were worn, leaky, or loose... wierd. My coolant was just a tiny bit lower than normal, and I have to fill up the bottle once in a while, but otherwise I can't find any leaks in that area. The pump itself didn't seem to have any leaks, either.
Also, the engine bay seems to always smell of hot oil after I drive it (if not the interior to, but that's pretty much how RX-7's are...), or unburnt fuel (there are no fuel leaks, I've checked). Is it normal to smell a bit like oil or fuel (the fuel-ish smell isn't as often)? Strange thing, since my crankcase evaporation IS hooked up, I don't see why it would smell so much of oil.
And while I'm rambling, my OP gauge seems to show 15 or so PSI while I'm idling, which is a bit disconcerning, since it should be about 30 (it will go up to about 60 PSI during normal driving and maybe a bit higher at full throttle). I know the gauges are far to unreliable, but I figured I have to look into that as well.
09-15-06, 11:38 PM
#3
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
I felt around on the bottom of the OMP, and it seems to have gotten even oilier... the oil pan remains dry (although I can't be sure about the rim of pan, or the rear of the engine...).
Well, at least I seem to have fixed my incessant exhaust popping by making a TPS test light, and adjusting it again, although I had to adjust it to the higher end of resistance (1.11 kohms, close to the 1.2 limit) to make the light go out...
Well, at least I seem to have fixed my incessant exhaust popping by making a TPS test light, and adjusting it again, although I had to adjust it to the higher end of resistance (1.11 kohms, close to the 1.2 limit) to make the light go out...
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