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Index > Engine/Drivetrain > Thread: 13b oil leak
Thread: 13b oil leak
mazdamike


Newbie
Posts: 5
posted May 10, 2003 01:27 AM

13b oil leak

Heya , I got a 13b in my ride and its leaking a bit of oil , not a great deal , however , once the oil has been sitting for a while , it tends to rather than soak into teh cardboard drip tray , coagulate somewhat into somthing like a paste.

I know it was driven for a short while wihtout an air filter
could this possibly be the reason for the chunky oil ?

so basically just wondering if anyone knows what that means at all ?

I plan on changing the oil this week , as the beast is off the road atm .

any suggestions or ideas as to what the problem is would be appreciated.

.:Mazda Mike:.

       
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mazdamike


Newbie
Posts: 5
posted May 10, 2003 06:11 PM

I have also just discoverd some water in the oil..
Im hoping its just a water seal and no damage has been done . dose anyone know how serious of a problem that could be ?

its a large extend port if that helps any

cheers

       
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Klaus43


Rotorhead
Posts: 1259
posted May 11, 2003 08:42 AM
Edited By: klaus42 on 11 May 2003 08:45

Depends...

...on where it's leaking from, if it EVER overheated at all, or if your 'extend' port extends into a (now-failing) seal... If you never overheated, start by locating the source of the leak, and attempt to remedy...definitely, change the oil... also check for oil in your cooling system.
You may still be fortunate... If you overheated, your housings could be shot... Were you running functional temp. and oil pressure guages? How extreme is the porting on your motor, and how old is it? Hope this helps...
BTW, what kind of oil are you running, was it ever run low, and how long between changes?

       
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mazdamike


Newbie
Posts: 5
posted May 11, 2003 11:25 PM
Edited By: mazdamike on 11 May 2003 23:27

Hmm , define over heated .. it was running hot the other nite witch was what spurred me to look more into it.

I just bought the car last week , so i cant say what kind of oil is in it atm , or if it has o-heated in the past at all so maybe ?

there was only water in the radiator , not coolant and it was like a tan colour .

Is there any way to tell the state of the housings without pulling the motor apart ?

Im kinda hoping that its just a problem that can be remidied with a seal kit or somthing , although i plan on putting it in for a rebuild soon , and having the "extend" port modified into a "bridge" port.

I remember the guy who sold it to me saying that it had been about 14months since last visit to a rotor shop , so im assuming he was talking aobut getting the seals replaced and not a rebuild.

.:Mazda Mike:.

       
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Klaus43


Rotorhead
Posts: 1259
posted May 12, 2003 09:40 AM

Assume nothing.

No coolant=very, very bad. Definition of overheated=you said it, unless you can verify that your running 'kind of hot' wasn't TOO hot... Once your housings warp, they'll need replaced. If extensively ported now, your housings might not allow for a bridgeport... the different porting styles may or may not allow for one to become the other. In any case, you'd want to start with an A grade housing, nothing iffy. Flush evrything immediately. That means cooling system, as well as oil. The importance of proper cooling cannot be overemphasized. Rod out the radiator if suspect,(it is). Flush the oil cooler thoroughly before a new engine is installed, every time. Make sure you're running the proper 'plunger' style thermostat! Run a decent mix of antifreeze/boil. Make sure your fan and belt(s) are completely functional, and tensioned well! Fan shroud and undertray aid cooling as well... Bimetal corrosion promoted by running only water could have contributed to premature failure... You may have been sold junk. Hard to say from here. Find the leak(s), and fix them. Change the oil and filter, use a quality 10W40 for now, (I like Valvoline)... consider changing to a high-quality synthetic when you know if the motor's still good, something like AmsOil... (Their gear lube is awesome stuff, too, for your trans and rearend!) If in doubt, consider your best option to save what you can would be to cease running it immediately, and tear down to inspect and rebuild. Hope this helps...

       
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mazdamike


Newbie
Posts: 5
posted May 13, 2003 02:46 AM

Great , thanks for all ur help i will endevour to get it towed to the shop asap .

when you say the housing may have warped , are you referring to the rotor housing or the side housing ?

im crossing fingers toes , evrything I've got that the only problem is that the seals are worn and allowing water to seep in. Is there a chance that could be the case ?

thanks again for ur help

.:mazda mike:.

       
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Klaus43


Rotorhead
Posts: 1259
posted May 13, 2003 09:07 AM
Edited By: klaus42 on 13 May 2003 09:12

Nope.

Steel side plates wear; aluminum rotor housings warp. First thing to check: Drain the 'coolant' from the block, clean around the intake manifold to motor junction, and pull your intake man. off. Be prepared with a fresh set of intake gaskets and o-rings for the coolant ('warmant') passages that go into the intake man. If you're lucky, it's possible just these gasket o-rings went. Might be unlikely, but it could be your cheapest, best possibility--unless the water and oil are actually mixing outside the motor, as they drip... This is why job one is cleaning everything up, locating the leak(s), and stopping them. Job two is flushing/cleaning/rodding out the cooling system, and I mean after pulling the thermostat. Do not run without the proper thermostat in place, however! Making sure all that's proper and dealt with will be beneficial later, even if your motor's toast. If and when, before you reassemble/refill coolant/test run, having clean fresh oil and filter in place is still very nessecary as well...
You're keeping your fingers crossed that your porting job was done right, and not so extreme as to cause early water seal failure, as well as that your motor was never 'too' overheated.
In general, excessive oil burning is a sign of wear; water consumption indicates overheating/warping/water seal failure. Water and oil mixing internally would indicate a big problem--more likely it's mixing externally as both leak, since it sounds like you were still running...
Of course, if enough oil leaked that it got run low, then overheated...
Remember, the oil is one-third of your rotary's cooling!
What was coming out your tailpipe? What do your plugs look like? These can tell you plenty... plugs tend to get 'cleaned off' by water getting in the combustion zone... and your smoke/steam will be evident out the back... The back rotor tends to be the one to go first, since the front gets better cooling...
Best, K.

       
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Klaus43


Rotorhead
Posts: 1259
posted May 13, 2003 10:17 AM

As a rule

I'm always skeptical of any motor that's known to have been run without proper air filtration in place. Even if it's still OK, it indicates an attitude/way of doing things that's inherently problematic... at the very least, not geared to longevity... Lessons learned the hard way!

       
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mazdamike


Newbie
Posts: 5
posted May 13, 2003 10:49 PM

Heh , gotta love the hard way ;) erm , yea theres no real smoke coming out hte back at all , ther is just a touch of smoke at warmup but I only noticed that once I started running a mild 2 stroke mix but after a minute or 2 it calms down theres no smoke and the motor seems to be lumping ok
Hmm i think if the housings warped , ill be looking at about $1000 aud to get a new pair but hopfully thats not the case.

Unfortunatly this has happend at a bad time as were really flat out at work atm so I wont get any real time to play with it untill the weekend I shall endevour to get ti sorted this weekend and keep posting about the progress (fingers crossed) or lack there of :D

cheers

.:Mazda Mike:.

       
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