Opinion on oil leak
 

For several months now I believed that I had a very slow leak in my oil pan. I probably still do but after a recent highway trip I found oil spattered all over the front of the engine where the main belt runs. It's not large enough to really register on the dip stick thankfully.

I found this thread which seems to be very similar to my issue. I've degreased several times now but it's been hard to find the source for sure as once it starts to occur it really gets everywhere and I have to start the troubleshooting process over again.

Here is the best picture I could take looking up from under the passenger side (very little to no oil on driver side). Points 1,2 and 3 have oil collecting on them. My guess is point 3 on the OMP is just leftover from decreasing because everything in this pic will eventually get soaked in oil over time. Probably the same deal on point 1 as those wires appeared oily right after my recent cleaning. Point 2 on the water pump is the most curious. It's hard to see in the pic but that is where the most oil is beginning to collect after driving around a bit. My best guess is my shaft seal on point 4 is leaking and spraying the oil there? Or could my oil pan leak be getting sucked upwards at high speeds?

higher res version

Most likely the front seal. It is a bit complex to replace......read up if you are doing it yourself.

Doing it wrong can take out the front stack on the engine...that's not a good thing

Ah, crapcakes. I just sprung very similar symptoms this weekend. Subscribing, maybe we can figure this out together.

In my case it seems to occur at significant load. I had a 2-day track event, cleaned everything up at the end of day 1, drove around for dinner and a few other things without the oil coming back, then after the first (warmup) session of day 2 noticed a faint film of oil, then after the first hot session it was quite covered again. Mostly the OMP and water pump, as you say; some on the thermostat housing; evidence of droplets on the underside of the plastic engine cover; nothing on the driver's side (as you say).

I was actually on my way to the track when my car died last month. That turned out to be the fuel pump (pretty sure) which I've replaced. But this oil issue started at the same time so when I was on the side of the road looking at the engine I was kind of freaking out seeing the oil everywhere and the car not starting.

I've started looking into the process of replacing the seal. Trying to think of a way to be doubly sure that it's my issue but it seems to add up. Gonna try to get some friends to put a 2nd set of eyes on it first. Might drop the oil pan and reseal that too just to rule it out thou that doesn't sound like a fun time either.

Clean the oil off first and see if it comes back.

Now just debating if I want to attempt this myself or let the dealer do it. They want $23 for the part and just over $200 for the labor. I think it's something I could handle myself but everyone's warnings has me a bit spooked about doing it.

:scared:

$200 for labor to ensure you don't bust your engine? I'd take that option personally

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$200 seems like a bargain for that job. Is it a shop that knows rotary engines? Ask they how they are keeping the front stack secure with the bolt removed, and if they don't give you a straight answer walk away from the deal. Doing this wrong will require a complete engine teardown and reassembly/rebuild to fix (read $$$), and a non rotary shop will think it's just a simple seal replacement like the rear main.

There are ways to DIY, but it's still a PITA.

He said it's a dealer, so worst case, it's all on them to replace the engine :)

Don't know how I missed that... Yeah, I'd say go for it, then be prepared for when they mess it up and don't want to claim responsibility.

Ya I am leaning towards the dealer option. I was a bit surprised when they said (only) $200 (plus the part). I'll need to make sure we understood each other. It's just I did buy this car for fun and to tinker on which is why I'm a bit torn but in the grand scheme of things I'm closer to being a novice mechanic than a master.

/sigh

Dropped the car off last night at the dealer, they called me this morning saying they started taking it apart but then realized they don't have the tool to keep the flywheel in place. So they have to order that.

$200 labor is a steal for that job. The airbox, battery, belts, etc need to come off as well as the oil pan. If they have a good reputation with rotaries I'd jump on it.

Finally got the front seal replaced. Went to pick it up. Drove off the lot and the check engine light starts blinking. Took it right back but they didn't have anyone around to look at it. Drove it home and checked the code, P0300 (cleared it) then got a P0301. They are taking it back on monday but I'm starting to look into it myself in case they resist even if it started when I picked it up.

I replaced coils/plugs/wires less than 10/mo and 10k miles ago. Never had this error before until now. Going to try some things mentioned in the thread below but curious if anyone has some suggestions or things I should tell the dealer.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tro...m-lost-243003/

I bet the e-shaft sensor profile needs to be reset. You can do that yourself and see if it stays away. Of the stuff that they would have touched, that's the most likely culprit.

Cool,

yeah, if they have the tool, it is a pretty quick job. Without that tool, it takes several people.

You have a good dealer if they did it for $200. I was quoted $400 or so, so did the DIY. We actually did 2 that day. The first one took about 4 careful hours. The second one, maybe a little over an hour. @ IRP, you just need to pull the battery and the belts. The front cover says in place. You can even do it with the main pully on (and actually leave the belts), but it is easier to pull it. We pinned the clutch pedal to the floor with a piece of wood AND drove some shims between the pressure plate and the trans housing. We also used a torch to head the sealer on the bolt.

But, if I were quoted $200, I would have jumped on it.

I did the 20 brake stomp proceedure then drove the car around a couple times. So far the error has stayed away. Thou I think the car seems to be a bit sluggish power wise past 7k rpms. So now I'm wondering if my cat is getting clogged. I did replace my fuel pump a couple months ago as well. Haven't really been able to drive too much since I did that because of the oil leak.

So which one is more likely to be the cause of lost power? Right now I'm not getting any codes and I wasn't getting any codes before the front seal work either. I think the oil leak has been fixed thou. It's always something with this car and I've only had it for a year now.

Oh I did finally request the service history from the dealer. Turns out my car is on it's 3rd engine (65k miles so far) and it does appear the cat was also replaced at that time (2007). :Eyecrazy:

I haven't driven the car since last weekend and I'm afraid to as I don't want to ruin the motor. Wish I had a fuel pressure gauge to rule out the pump. I've been reading on how to test clogged cats. Some people try removing the O2 sensors and drive it around to see if performance improves. I've also read you can put a pressure gauge in place of the front O2 sensor and it should read only a few psi under working conditions. The last option is finding a good vacuum point on the intake and measuring how it changes when revving the engine but I don't have one of those gauges either.

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You seem to know your shit, so please help. I notice i had a leak the first day I bought the car but thought it might have been water or something due to the fact that where i was driving there was multiple puddles. About a month later (today) i finally got it checked and my "mechanic" told me that its the rear main seal and that to fix it will cost me $300 (he says he works on rotory cars, and owns an rx7 but the engine is swapped and he keeps telling me rotory engines are shit so i dont think he knows much about rotary engine)

Where is the leak from specifically? Oil is pretty different from water. Condensation from the air conditioner drops right around the back of the engine/trans area, but that is very clearly water, not oil. Maybe that's what you saw when you first bought it?

Also... a mechanic that bashes your car isn't really setting himself up for a sale :/

When i first got the car i knew alot less than now, its definitely oil because its light brown color and it can be seen underneath the car right on the metal platform. I can probably take a picture tomorrow morning. I put stop leak in my oil and hoping it works. The rea main seal stop leak.

Oh man. Stop leak isn't good stuff, suggest you change the oil soon. While it may temporarily fix a leaking seal, it can also wreck other seals in the process. Plus, it could mess with your oil injectors which would be bad for the engine's life

Try to find where its coming from, not just where it is.