I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: __oil
Hello!
So, we’ve had nice weather recently so I changed the brake pads on the Mazda and gave her wash to take her for a drive, iv only done about 15 miles and I’m a bit worried,
So I know for sure that there is a small oil leak on my engine and I believe it is the rear main seal, as this is only a small leak I just top the oil up every now and again (done about twice in 8 months so not major)
Saying that, I always check the dipstick before I go anywhere, I checked this morning to find that oil was half way up the dip stick! I check the engine completely cold, I wiped the dipstick and check again and same problem, can someone guide me in the right direction please?
Sounds like it’s over full, which is nearly as bad as under.
You could have a phone around to find a garage with a vacuum drain system (or buy one, they’re only about £40) which will suck the excess out via the dip stick tube. Much easier than trying to drain a little out via the sump plug, although I wouldn’t use it for complete oil changes as there’s a higher risk of not fully removing all of the old oil.
Keep the revs down until the oil level is correct.
The high oil level could be contributing to or even causing your rms leak btw.
First question is the obvious one, have you over filled it or has other fluid got in there?
If you know you have added a pint or more since last change, then maybe you have over filled and the leak is not as bad as you thought.
If you have only added a “spoonful or two”, then could be water or petrol in the oil.
Personally, I would dump the oil using the sump drain to see what is in there. Sucking it out via a pump back to the correct level assumes the oil is good.
If the oil looks clean, then I expect you have over filled it ( presuming you check the level before topping up ) if the oil looks a creamy colour or sludgy then you could have water or petrol in the oil.
Also are you loosing any coolant or are you topping up the coolant regularly as well, if so this could be the reason for water in the oil, is the engine temperature showing normal and what does the oil pressure gauge (if you have one ) show. One scenario is that you’re head gasket maybe on the way out.
Re your oil leak; I have a mk1 1.8 purchased a few months ago. It also has a small oil leak, which I assumed was from the rear main crank seal, as there is evidence of oil on the bottom of the bell housing. I took advice from Brooklands at Truro who are MX 5 specialists and they advised that the rear seals rarely fail and although it’s possible, it is more likely to be a cam seal leaking, with oil running down the back of the engine. Not too difficult to fix. May I suggest you investigate this first as it would be a shame to remove the gearbox and clutch etc and find you still have a leak…
The leak I have is such a small amount that I doubt it would be evident by dropping oil levels. I suspect that if the oil level drops significantly over relatively few miles then there is an additional problem that is causing the loss, although having not had my car for long I don’t know how much oil the 1.8 uses. Hope that helps…
My Mk2 1.8 oil “level” on the dipstick varies considerably depending whether it’s facing up or down our gently sloping driveway. It doesn’t use any oil and doesn’t leak.
