i got a 90 gtu just been fixin it up. it had a few leaks, already replaces the oil pan gasket and radiator hoses cause they were leaking but now i see oil seeping out of my front cover seal right behind my crank sensor. is this a hard gasket to replace. from my repair manual it doesnt even look like oil should be there. am i right? is something seriously wrong here or do i just need a gasket?

 

Yes, there is oil behind the front cover. That's where the oil pump is, and it's an open cavity connecting to the front of the oil pan. And it's just a soft gasket around the edge, but getting the front cover off is the pain. The P/S & A/C bracket will make the job difficult, as well as dealing with the hub/main pulley. If you remove the hub, the clutch pedal MUST be held down. If it is not held down, there is a thrust bearing that can drop out of place behind the cover. Once the cover is off, you'd have a chance to correct this, but it's going to be easy to overlook. With the clutch disengaged, the engine will want to spin free, so a ratchet is out of the question. An impact gun is your best bet here, since the bolt holding the hub on is torqued to about 90 ft. lbs.

 

what gaskets/ parts should i replace while i have this taken apart?

 

The front cover gasket and oil pan gasket are the only ones in the area.

 

well i mean should i do the eccentric seal water pump gasket ect?

 

As you will have to remove the water pump housing, you will need that gasket as well. And it makes sense to do the front eccentric seal at the same time.

 

so i just intalled a new oil pan gasket. can i just remove the bolts that bolt the pan to the front cover so i dont have to take that pan down again? and i ordered the eccentric seal from mazda as well

 

Yes, you can just remove the bolts on the front side of the pan when you remove the front cover. The whole pan doesn't have to come down.

 

if u used sealer on the pan gasket it may be alittle difficult to remove the cover without droping the pan.

 

If you don't replace the oil pan gasket, you will almost certainly have a leak.

 

so u think i should replace the gasket again? i litteraly replaced it the other day, the car ran for five minutes since then. its still sitting in my driveway.

 

They make a good point . Taking the cover off is no problem with the pan attached, but putting it back on is a little more complicated. If the gasket is still in like-new shape, there should be no reason you can't reuse it. But if you applied sealer to the gasket, it will probably tear when the cover comes off.