Nasty oil leak!

[bradboyd80]

So I was in my garage the other day changing out the rear swaybar bushings. Today I go into the garage to get some things and noticed oil on the floor. The reason this was a red flag is because the car hasn't leaked oil ever since I bought it. There has been build up around the turbo and oil return line, but nothing big. So I go out to where my car is parked and sure enough, there was a bit of oil waiting to drip off the exhaust! There appears to be fresh oil on the turbo, oil return line, all over the oil pan, and now the exhaust. The car was sitting all night and is still losing oil (slowly albeit, but still enough to worry me). Considering the car is cold and hasn't been driven in nearly 15hrs, where could the leak be coming from? I thought it could be the oil return or turbo seals, but shouldn't they be dry, since all the oil has had time to drain back into the oil pan?
Please help! This is my only ride, and have to be back to work Wednesday, so I want to fix it while I can.

[TWISFM]

No idea...but i hope you solve your problem

[Outlawstar98]

easy to find where its coming from... wipe down everything before you go to bed, when you wake up look for any oil, and follow it up to where its leaking, if there is no leak turn it on and let it warm up, You can look now for leaks then, but drive it around the block, get back home and check for oil and where its coming from.

[blueprotegelx]

Even though the car is not running you can still leak from the oil return line if it's build up or what not. Are you running stock return line? If I were you I would get some new gaskets for the oil return line if you have the stock setup or check for cracks.

But since it's leaking while the motor is cold i would look around the oil pan or oil drain plug. My plug's washer went bad a while back and I go a magnetic oil drain plug to replace it. I think you just need to get under neath there and inspect oil filter location, oil pan.

If it's on top like you say may be you can check the oil feed line and put some teflon tape around the end that goes into turbo? Just throwing out ideas.

[bradboyd80]

My car is all stock except what's listed in my sig. I'm planning on getting either new oil lines, or just new o-rings though; I already have the magnetic plug, so I'm certain its not that. My guess is that maybe I didn't tighten the oil filter enough and the vibration of the engine jarred it loose. Because I don't see oil running all the way down the s and j pipes. Just a lot of oil on the flex section. Tonight when it cools off I'll go out and inspect it more to see what's going on. I'll definitely clean it up and see if I can find the leak though. Thanks for the advice. Could bad turbo seals be the culprit also? I assumed not because, like I said, the car was cold and wasn't running.

[dandan2]

turbo seals would cause it to leak into ur intercooler piping not onto the floor!

[bradboyd80]

turbo seals would cause it to leak into ur intercooler piping not onto the floor!

Well I did notice some fresh oil on the bottom of the turbo. Could that come from the oil line too?

[Outlawstar98]

well, last time everything was off for me, There was a rubber pipe leaking oil, I think it was the oil return line, check if its dry rotted.

[bradboyd80]

I think I'm just going to order new oil lines. I have a feeling its the feed line considering there was buildup all over the turbo, and not just around the area around the return line. Once the car cools off and it stops raining, I'll be able to take a closer look. I wouldn't be surprised one bit if the lines are dry rotted.

[bradboyd80]

Ok, so I think I've found the culprits. I don't see any leaks around the oil feed line. But I do have oil coming from the return line. It also looks like oil coming from the oil pan. So I'll be getting a new oil pan gasket for that. Does anyone know where I can find a new oil return line? I see crossover sells the feed line, but not the return line.

[TWISFM]

didnt know we had oil pan gaskets... thought we use gasket sealer?

[bradboyd80]

Could be. I don't know. I looked at Autozone out of curiosity and there were oil pan gaskets for sale. Maybe they were universal? Guess maybe I just need to reseal it.

[Outlawstar98]

Well the return line has a O Ring gasket, I have one :) haha You have to get it though mazda for the OEM one, but if you take it appart and go to NAPA or whatever autoparts store around you, just match it up and it will work.

Cause the oil leak I had was before that part, but when they installed the oil return the O ring was bad so they had to order it. Was going to take like 2 weeks to get to the shop, so i was like WTF and just told them to match it up, and no leaks, and I have the O Ring sitting here in-case I need to replace it ever again hhaha

[bradboyd80]

Cool. Thanks for the advice. I'll have to head to Napa tomorrow and see if I can get one.

[bradboyd80]

Ok, so after doing the cleaning again, I went out to take a look. I see no evidence of it coming from anywhere near the turbo. Like I said, there was a lot of buildup around the feed line, but after I cleaned it, and drove around a little bit, I see no oil dripping or running in that area. But its still showing up on the exhaust. I'll try to get some pictures this weekend, but to give you an idea of where it is, its as if the oil filter is dripping; though I did check and its tight and not leaking. I did notice some oil dripping from the drain plug though. I already have a magnetic plug, and made sure its nice and tight, so I don't know why it would be coming from there. Does this pretty much point to the sealant on the oil pan?

[Pmpkinhead]

Bradboy, do you see oil around the valve cover gasket area? Mine just started leaking there this week at 90k miles.