Hello everyone,

I recently purchased a 93 RX-7, base model and shortly after, it blew a coolant seal. I read the FSM, posts on this forum, watched videos, and rebuilt the motor with my son using a rebuild kit including new apex seals, side seals, oil control rings, etc. We used Driven Engine Assembly Grease (which is really thick since it was taking us a little while to assemble the motor) as well as Vaseline for the seals. After putting everything together, changing all the fluids , vacuum hoses, miscellaneous stripped bolts, we were able to start it up on the first try.

I did read that it would smoke a lot after assembly, but it was also dripping what looks like oil around the exhaust/turbo manifold. Fearing something catastrophic, I shut down the engine after 8 minutes. The car did sound great and was idling around 800 rpm. I did a general search about a possible oil leak around this area after a rebuild, but is it possible this could be residual Vaseline and assembly lube melting off? I did inspect the turbo oil feed and drain lines and they were dry.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I’d welcome it. This site has been instrumental in helping us sort out the issues with the car (it was neglected) and for the short time we were able to drive it, the car was an absolute blast! Thank you very much.

Raymond

 

welcome to the board, Raymond.

how much oil are we talking about?

a few drops? a steady stream or stream of drops? a huge pool on the ground?

there's not really enough info to draw a conclusion with confidence at this point. you said you ran it for about 8 minutes, and it IS a fresh rebuild. so there's that. it could simply just be the rebuild lube coming out. you're going to need more runtime and/or evidence of something being amiss (your pan level dropping, consistent smoke and smell, pressure issues, etc.).

on a somewhat related note - you may need to tighten your exhaust manifold and/or inspect/change the gasket.

 

If it looks like its coming from where the manifold meets the block then it's normal. Clean it off and press on if everything else seems right. Just monitor it

 

Thank you very much and glad to be on the board. Like I said, this forum has been a wealth of knowledge. So many FAQ’s!!

They were steady drops, but I thought about the oil level after I shut off the car. The pressure was still good though. When I was rebuilding the car, the exhaust stud stripped out of the block and turbo and I had to insert a TimeSert into both. So I torqued the new stud nuts to the bare minimum settings during the rebuild (man that was such a pain!!). I did use the old gaskets because new gaskets didn’t come with the kit. I was in shock how much the exhaust manifold gaskets were for this car and decided to reuse them.

(side note: I have spent so much on shipping individual parts for this rebuild!!! But the worst is waiting for them to show up)

During the rebuild, I got a down pipe from Pettit to replace the stock down pipe. Putting together the entire exhaust, I did it like my other cars. I attached everything and tighten down from closest to the engine to furthest. Unlike my other cars, this kept fighting me.

So, should I check the oil level, fill to the upper mark, and idle the car for 30 min and see if the drops go away? I have the air pipe off the turbos and really debating if I should pull them for inspection, or just reattach the air pipe and try again. Thank you for any suggestions!

Raymond