The dreaded oil pan leak | FD rx7 oil pan repair
For many that have had their FD Mazda Rx7 for awhile, they are aware of oil leaks. Why is this?
For starters, the Mazda FD has a very thin / weak oil pan, combine that with 'how many years old is it now'? and all those heat cycles add up.
Here we have a very nice 1993 FD that has been in the hands of this owner for over 20 years with 70,000 on the odometer.
It is in for inspection, compression test and a few repairs. One of them is the oil pan.
This is not an easy task, one has to drop the engine cradle to get at the oil pan while the engine remains in the car. What makes this repair interesting is that I asked the owner how long it was leaking for.
The answer is easy to understand once we pulled the pan off. Sure enough, before the car was purchased, someone pulled the pan and because it was too much work, they just put more sealant on the existing gasket and bolted it up. No, that wasn't our work grinding on the oil pan, a proper wizzy wheel works wonders without removing metal. UGH, that is just lazy actions.
This is where our ultrasonic cleaner really comes in (saving time and money) crank up the temperature and drop it in for several minutes to soften up the gasket material / rtv. The majority of the OEM gasket was still on the motor, that was some serious time scraping / cleaning. Do it once, do it right.Make sure to chase all the threads going into the block for the 6mm x 1.0 bolts, this ensures they thread in easy and the right way.
There were a few other issues that needed attention, new belts, hoses and a new radiator, but for a car of this vintage, clean up the oil underneath and ultrasonic all the other components (airbox, intercooler, etc) and the car is back ready for more miles.
Topics: rotary engine care, mazda rx7