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Urgent!! Rear main seal or Oil pan Leak


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#1
stillentwint17

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Hi all,

 

I have a second thread going on http://mazdaracers.c...ge-3#entry44749  based off removing the tranny. I removed the tranny thinking that the oil that was leaking from my car was the rear main seal but now it looks like the oil pan. Can anyone please help with any input. I have a track day in a week and I dont know whats the best way to go....

 

If it is a oil pan leak do i need to remove the motor from the body to fix the oil pan seal???

 

IMG_2799_zpsf4df7944.jpg

 



#2
FTodaro

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Yes you have to lift the motor up high enough to get the Pan off. these motors can sometimes be difficult to seal


Frank
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#3
steveracer

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Also be sure to put some thread sealer on the flywheel bolts, they're through holes and will weep oil onto your clutch.


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#4
DES4

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The problem is the flywheel slings oil all over, it'll be hard to say conclusively what's leaking. 

 

You should always replace the rear main while you're in there. The seal in the photo looks as if there might be a ripple in it (about 7 o'clock or so), so it'd be suspect; looks as if it's not seated right. Pay attention to the above post; oil does wick through the threads of the flywheel bolts (notice the oil in the threads?), especially when it's being helped along by windage. Always use thread sealant in situations where the flywheel bolt holes go clear through the flange.

 

I doubt it's the pan if the leak is only at the rear, but you can never be sure. It's also possible, if the cam position sensor seal or valve cover gasket is leaking, that the oil might be coming from outside the bellhousing, but it'd be a helluva leak, and you'd know about it.


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Dave Stine


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#5
john mueller

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I agree with Dave ^^^
 

Put in a new seal bro and some high quality sealer on the pan/black union jic it's the problem.  But I'd bet it's the 7:00 point on the seal or the flywheel bolts weeping. 


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#6
Keith Novak

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Rule of thumb:  If the engine is still in the car, it's the rear main and/or flywheel bolts.  If the engine is out of the car, it's the pan or all of the above.  :guinness:

 

Although I've only ever sealed the pan with the engine out, i've heard you can R&R the pan by dropping the subframe.  Considering how much left-over oil comes out when you drop the pan, I'd be amazed you can keep the mating surfaces clean enough long enough to seal them back up.  Due to the level of effort required and the proability of failure re-sealing the pan with the engine in, personally I'd pull the motor and do it right.

 

(BTW- your clutch in the other thread looks fine.  The typical thickness is where it looks like the rivets are about to poke through.  They last that way a very long time.  Measure it and then measure it again the next time you replace the trans.)


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