duowing

How often do the front oil seals on these cars go and how can you tell. I think I've determined that the small leak I have is oil. Even though it doesn't smell like it. Anyway it still seems to drip only after I'm done driving or maybe while I'm driving? Not sure, but like it drips a little more than it used to, but it still isn't a continuous thing. How can you tell if it's the oil seal or a line?

Bleach

well, can you figure out approximately where the leak is coming from?
that is your first clue. There are many places that oil can leak. On a non-turbo engine, all of them are gaskets, none of them are oil lines.

If the oil is all over the front cover, then the front main seal is a possibility. The front part of the oil pan gasket could also cause that. If your entire engine is caked in oil, then you've probably got more than one leak. Clean the whole engine, then look each day to see what areas oil is originating from. Remember that the radiator fan will spray the oil a bit.

duowing

So if the drip is infact coming from a line, then it's not oil?

jmmorriso

on a stock non turbo, there are no oil lines, unless you have an automatic (bleh) in which case you have a tranny fluid cooler built into the radiator. Get som tranny cooler line from Napa, it will hold up better than fuel line or heater hose, and for gods sake get a five speed. If your car is manual, then its probably oil pan or front cover/ front main. Most oil pan gaskets for these cars suck. Maybe someone can reccomend a good oilpan gasket? the Napa and Fail Pro ones are both cork, and nothing to get excited about.

Bleach

ya, you do have an auto. So it might be one of the two tranny fluid lines. Better check the level of the fluid now before you blow something.

duowing

level of tranny fluid, or the oil? I've barely been driving it lately, do to crummy weather, and due to the leak. Cus it seems like it's more in the front of my car, I make sure to check the levels of everything before I drive. So far the only thing that seems to have gone down is like I said, the oil. I was checking the tranny fluid cold though, I don't know if that can be an accurate test or not. Oh and believe me, I'm not a big fan of the auto.

Bleach

check both but I was mainly talking about the tranny fluid.
You have to warm up the engine and drive the car in all 3 gears. Come to a stop but leave the engine running. Check the tranny fluid at that time.

Engine oil can accurately be checked when cold.

duowing

Now with the tranny cooling lines though. Do those contain transmission fluid, or is that oil? I'm kinda confused on that because the jm said you won't have any oil lines, unless you've got an auto.

lww

The tranny fluid mentioned is actually transmission OIL. So, yes, it's oil, but not the same kind you put in your motor.

It should have a reddish tint if new. If old, it could look as black as used motor oil.

Anyway, the key is to identify the location of the leak so you can target the little miscreant directly.

I would also suspect the tranny cooler lines that run from your transmission up to your radiator.

SHADY280

Have You Looked Into Your Power Steering Rack. They Always Leak

duowing

Well from what we can tell, it looks like it's the most wet around the front cover, but I think it was higher up than the crankshaft. Unfortunately it looks like I'm going to have to eventually pull off the front cover and fix whatever this is. For now I'll just put oil in it every so often and make sure to check levels. Looking at the Haynes guide it looks like the journey behind the front cover will be a load of fun. I can't tell which takes more to get behind that front cover. The Z31 or the S130. If it's anything like the Z31 it shouldn't be too bad. My friend and I were able to tear through that thing in about 20-30 minutes.

Bleach

well, from my experience anything on the S130 is easier to do than on the Z31. It took me 20-30 minutes just to remove the Z31 radiator... you have to pull a fourth of the car apart just to get at it.

If all you want to do is replace the front main seal, I think you can do that without removing the cover or the oil pump. I haven't actually done it that way... maybe LWW knows.
Just remove the bumper, hood, and radiator. Then pull the front balancer/pully.

duowing

If you were to do it that way, do you think you would have to worry about the chain dropping, or no. I'm goona have to look into it more, but if it could be done that way that'd make life hell of a lot easier.

Bleach

If you just pull the front pully, then no. Then chain is not touched at all. You don't need to remove the valve cover or anything like that. Should be easy. You'll want the radiator out so you can get right down in front there to do the work, but removing the bumper and radiator is far easier than the front cover... plus you won't have to mess with engine timing that way.

duowing

As far as oil leakage behind/around the front cover. Is there much other than the front oil seal that could manage to spray oil behind that cover?

NismoPick

Could be the oil pump gasket, timing chain cover gasket at the block, head, or oil pan.

duowing

well looking at it some more. It looks the most oily and wettest around that front crank. So I'm going to assume it is definitely that, but then again for all I know it could be multiple things...

NismoPick

About all I can say is "DIG IN." Gotta start somewhere... take some stuff apart & see where it's coming from. Take some pics along the way & post them.

duowing

One thing I was wondering. Would the oil need to be drained? Would oil leak all over if the car's not being run, but the oil seal is off?

Also does the bumper neccesarily need to come off, or is it just easier that way? I noticed that in the Haynes guide it essentially says to remove the whole front cover, but now I see what Bleach is talking about. The seal is just on the cover and they're showing the easiest way to put on a new seal.

NismoPick

jack up the front of the car to let the oil move to the back of the pan & you'll be fine.

Don't take off the bumper. But you will need to take off the fan & fan shroud. Then w/ the car in 5th gear, unbolt the crank pulley bolt & pull the pulley off (make sure you chalk the rear tires so the car doesn't move). You'll see the seal & with some skill, you can pull out the seal w/ a flathead screwdriver.

duowing

Problem with the crank pulley. You say put it in 5th. I've got an auto... I know one way to do it is to just get a big socket wrench on the bolt, ground the wrench, and then just flip the ignition real quick a few times.

NismoPick

I wouldn't do that, unless you want to see parts fly, and things RIP into your engine bay. Chalk the tires & use a pipe on the end of a strong ratchet or braker bar.

jfairladyz

Thats EXACTLY what I do, but as a last resort only. I've literally pulled a car off the jackstands trying to break a crank nut loose. So when it gets that bad I just pop the socket on the breaker bar, wedge it against the ground, and give it a very quick crank. Just enough to break it loose. I've yet to EVER have a problem with anything doing it that way. Nothing flying, nothing breaking. Sure it sounds stupid to do. And the very first time I ever tried it I was sure something was going to fly out. But I've never had anything go wrong.

duowing

Like I said nothing happened when we did it on the Z31. I figured as long as it's grounded well and you give the ignition a quick turn it should be alright.

jfairladyz

Yeah one quick turn should be enough to break the bolt loose. From there you should be able to use a ratchet. Just make sure you have the bar on the correct side in relation the engines rotation. Otherwise you just might see something flying