I found more oil leaks on my car, I'm trying not to get discouraged. It looks like either my omp which i have new seals coming for, or maybe my oil pan. in a much worse case, i suppose it could be my front engine cover?



So I could spend a couple grand on this car fixing it up, which i could get nothing back from. Or I could spend probably $4k on a new engine and install. That is not something I would ever do in my own garage with no lift. Or do I just drive it as is, not waste all kinds of money on it which I will never get back. As far as timeline, I doubt I would keep this car longer than a year. I have about $1000 into it so far including DMV fees. If the car had a perfect body I might feel better about going for the long haul with it, but its not great..



So I have one window runner, and two mouldings coming also. I had planned on doing both my door seals, hatch seal and sunroof seal. But I think its a waste of money now and won't gain me anything upon sale. The car has almost new tires and brakes also. I paid $2500 for it and it has 170k on it currently.



How far do you go?

 

how far do you wanna go? having a 100point concours car is boring, you cant drive it, it gets dirty.



personally i like having a car thats not perfect, i can beat the F out of it, and park it anywhere.

 

ya me too. Thats why i dont give a crap about my paint. But I can just imagine, doing ALL my seals, tons of interior cosmetics.. and then having my engine blow... Thats what will kill me.

 

If the oil's not coming from the top of the motor where the housings meet, you're okay. Resealing the oil pan is an easy repair. Rebuilding the OMP isn't difficult. Resealing the front cover requires resealing the oil pan and the simple precaution of putting a block on the clutch pedal to keep a bearing in place. Front seal replacement requires the removal of the pulley (replace it with a smaller pulley while you're there) and the clutch pedal precaution. Rear main seal requires removal of the tranny (put in a light flywheel and performance clutch while you're there).



If the oil leak is coming from the top of the motor where the housings meet, your motor has the dreaded Leak Of Death. Flog the hell out of it for a few years until it leaks more oil than it burns gas. Then sell the car.

 

great info, thanks! i wish i could just find a cleaner 13B car to buy instead. I guess as i get older im getting tired of all this work. I'd rather just buy one with a little more work done. it sucks doing the work, but when its done you feel good..

 

my current 1st gen, is a 79. its got 92k original miles on it, and its not perfect but really really nice.



but aside from adjusting the points every 1000miles, its perfect. all it needs is waxing.



its boring!

 

i'd get a new seal kit, tear down the engine, streetport it, replace bad parts, and rebuild it.



2 perks, i get to have fun and learn the motor better, and i know that if it breaks, its my own fault!

 

Don't get discouraged. Most likely you need an oil pan gasket as mazda did not put a gasket on originally. The oil metering pump may be leaking through the center if so contact me I have alot of good used ones. The front cover leak is unlikely. You may want to add an oil dye so you can specifically find all oil leaks and decide from there. Most oil dye require a black light to see and sometimes yellow tinted glasses.