Leaking oil

RodbeyBur · Post by **RodbeyBur** » November 4th, 2005, 6:44 pm

Im leaking about a quart of oil every 300 miles or so. I understand these car have problems with the valve seals getting stiff and leaking. My muffler is pitch black, so I'm guessing that is probably the problem.

My question is do I have to take the heads off to change the seals or can I do them with the heads still on the car?

I don't mind taking them off to do this, but would rather not.

If anyone that has done this themselves I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks.

vozaday2000 · Post by **vozaday2000** » November 4th, 2005, 8:23 pm

sounds like it is time to go to a klze. the head gasket are worn if your car leaks oil while warming up. if it burns oil all the time then it is the rings. and at that point it is cheaper to do the klze swap. or atleast a klde, i think it is cheaper to do the de swap than to rebuild the k8.

93_mx3_gs · Post by **93_mx3_gs** » November 5th, 2005, 2:49 pm

I am leaking oil as well but not from my internals. My oil filter area mainly.
I purchased my mx-3 about a week ago, took it home and let it sit until I got some parts to modify some stuff but wen I went out to do some work on it, there was like a 3" wide puddle of oil. So, I drained what was left, took off the oil filter, put a new oil filter on, filled with oil and now, only when the car is running, it starts to rapidly drip oil from around the oil filter. I was wondering if that plat the oil filter seal seals up against might be warped ? Or should I drain the oil, take off the filter and look for a crack or what ?

Any help would be appreciated.

93_mx3_gs · Post by **93_mx3_gs** » November 5th, 2005, 8:52 pm

Edit above : 3' Foot..heh not 3" inch.

RodbeyBur · Post by **RodbeyBur** » November 7th, 2005, 11:38 pm

I really don't wont to go through the headache of ordering a new engine since I am in middle of a swap on another car and currently having problems with a replacement engine on a third car. I am just looing at fixing this one.

Does anyone have any knowledge of the valve seals? It sounds like they are rubber and can easily be replaced. I am willing to pull my heads off and give it a try, but hoping to get a little bit of info before I begin. THis is my daily driver for now so I am just trying to keep it on the road.

ikarus1 · Post by **ikarus1** » November 8th, 2005, 4:23 pm

DUDE, check your filter mating surface to see if you have an OLD oil filter gasket stuck on there. This is a common problem. Find your leak before you take such drastic measures!

vozaday2000 wrote:sounds like it is time to go to a klze. the head gasket are worn if your car leaks oil while warming up. if it burns oil all the time then it is the rings. and at that point it is cheaper to do the klze swap. or atleast a klde, i think it is cheaper to do the de swap than to rebuild the k8.

This is highly misleading

Head gaskets do not leak only on startup. They leak all the time because once they are breached they are DONE. They seal the head to the block so if you leak oil from this, you are most likely leaking it into the coolant not into the cylinder. You also might have water going into your cylinder and out the tailpipe. Steam from the tailpipe AFTER warmup would be the case here. Your oil would look like milkshake if this were true.

Most oil consumption on our cars is from the Valve Cover gaskets. A good way to tell if this is it is to lie down and look up at the engine from below. How far does the leak go up the engine block? If it goes higher than the crank pully, than most likely it's a VC gasket. If you have oil in the spark plug holes this is also a sign of bad VC gaskets.

Now worn rings (highly unlikely unless oil changes have been neglected or you have 200K+ miles) will be blue smoke from the tailpipe and clogged PCV systems. This can be check with a vacuum gauge. In fact, most everything mentioned in the thread can be checked with a compression test and vacuum test. Read about it in any haynes/chiltons and get both tools at Harbor Freight for cheap.

Valve Guide Stem seals hardened over time and mileage, and they leak a bit while warming up.

All seals and gaskets can be reconditioned somewhat. It's cheaper than trying to rebuild and if you are trying to stop oil consumption, Auto-RX is worth a try. It's about $75 for a full treatment plus the oil costs.

http://www.auto-rx.net

I have used it with varying degrees of success but my Mazdas love it.

sinhron · Post by **sinhron** » November 23rd, 2005, 10:31 pm

How to know if the valve seal gaskets are bad!

Take out the ignition wires out of each spark plug socket, if there is oil on the cables or in the sockets, that means the valve cover gasket, and the one on the intake manifold are bad, wherever there is oil.

markmclean · Post by **markmclean** » November 24th, 2005, 12:38 pm

You need to spend a little time under your hood. look in the coolant reservoir, do you see signs of oil or bubbles when its running and the tstat is open? if not then you can almost rule out a head gasket...a pressure leakdown test will tell you. If its the valve seals, you dont have to remove the head, just the valve cover. rent a valve spring compressor and replace the seals. As to the other post, hes right, check for an old filter gastet bein stuck under the new filter(happens to the best of us) Having the compression tested will tell you if the rings are bad or in the worst case scenario, if theres a hole in a piston. but dont panic, start small, with the cheap easy examinations and eliminate all the possibilities before you do something drastic like swappin out an engine or poppin off you heads. If you are leaking oil into the combustion chamber, youll want to look at the catalytic converter, excessive oil and/or coolant in the firing chamber will clog it up solid, which will result in a four wheeled fireball if you arent careful

best of luck

babyblueMX3 · Post by **babyblueMX3** » November 25th, 2005, 7:32 am

why do you all guys says he have a bad head gaskets ? the black on your muffler is fuel ! not oil, when a car runs rich it blows black smokes,
You said the oil dripping is coming from around the filter area. This is the place you have to focus, check where EXACTLY it is coming from, ther's a gasket between the thing that hols the filter and the block, there's the oil pressure sending unit (opsu) in that area too that is a comon problem too.
I tell you FOCUS on that and nothing else.
3' puddle of oil under the car is nothing comon !

markmclean · Post by **markmclean** » November 25th, 2005, 9:04 am

hey a few responses to that last post....
1st you're responding to remarks from two diff people...the first guy said he didnt know where the oils going only that hes losing it and his tailpipe is sooty, the second guuy said his car leaks too, but its around his filter
2nd while yes a sooty tailpipe can mean a rich running condition, its also indicative of worn valve stem seals, exhaust valves, and oil control rings, so yes a broader focus is necessary
lastly, i didnt say he had a leaking HG, i merely said how he could eliminate the possibility

babyblueMX3 · Post by **babyblueMX3** » November 25th, 2005, 2:14 pm

ya true I mixed both people (didn't notice the 2 different names)
sorry bout that.
oh and my replain wasn't mailny pointed at you

markmclean · Post by **markmclean** » November 25th, 2005, 6:26 pm

ahh no worries..i just know how frustrating chasing an oil leak can be...only thing worse is finding a mystery wiring problem ,,!,, electrical lmao