grillhands Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 So my 280z is dripping oil and I couldn't tell where it was coming from. I thought it was coming from the rear main seal but it looks pretty clean. Now I think it's coming from my oil pan gasket however there is oil in my transmission casing. I have a four speed in there now and I'm swapping a 5-speed. Can oil from oil pan drip into there? If I drove the car 50 miles I would lose about quart. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skirkland1980 Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I've seen that front counter shaft bearing seize and crack the cover. It is engine oil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grillhands Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 Yeah it's definitely oil. I topped the oil to see if I can see it dripping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Are you certain it's not leaking out the back of the oil pan and blowing onto the transmission while you're driving? If you're losing a quart of oil in 50 miles you should see a leak somewhere with the engine running. Also, are you talking about it leaking into the transmission or the bell housing area? If it's leaking into the bell housing you could possibly pull the starter and see if the flywheel has oil on it. It would also cause you to have a badly slipping clutch if much got into the bell housing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 . I thought it was coming from the rear main seal but it looks pretty clean. If the rear seal is leaking the crankshaft could be throwing oil all over that area between the plate and the block. From there it can follow many paths. Remove the plate and take a picture of that area. That might be more informative than oil in the transmission bell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grillhands Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 Flywheel is completely dry along with the clutch. I'm going to check tomorrow but I'm going to bet its the oil pan gasket. I'll take a pic in the morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 My mistake. I thought there was more space between the block casting and the plate. Could be that you have two leaks. The stuff in the transmission might be gear oil, leaking from the front cover seal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z240 Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Rear main seal leaks can be tricky to see. Mine dripped a line of oil from the base of the seal down the block and to the area at the back of the pan behind the plate. The trans bellhousing was clean and dry, none made it into that area, it went straight down, THEN it spread all over the bottom of the car from there. Great rust proofing. The seal was leaking alright, when I went to "pick" it out, expecting a bit of a fight, well the dang thing was loose. It was spinning in place. It came off in my hands. How that happens (maybe 50K miles on the rebuild) is anyone's guess. The leak was not between the crank and the seal lip, it was around the seal and the block! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grillhands Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 It turns out it was the corner of the oil pan gasket. I have a new gasket but should I use rtv as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Rtv around seam areas in block/timingcover/ rear main, no where else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supernova_6969 Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I've got the exact same problem, although I haven't checked inside the bellhousing.. here are some picts of what I found (suspected all along) was the leak. just to be clear, I cleaned everything two days ago, and ran the engine for a total of about 6-7 minutes since, to back the car up and then put it on ramps. you can see a nice clean (but dry and a little squished) gasket on the driver side of the engine. here you can see the front and then the back on the passenger side. the gasket is wavy from over torquing, and everything is wet. and here you can see where the engine meets the tranny, and that was also dripping slightly (it's wet now, I wiped it so it wouldn't drip on me as i was under). I was afraid that there might be a rear seal leak, but with everythign leakign so badly from the oil pan seal, I'll change that and see if I need to open everything else up. here is the post I'm making, as of tonight,on my adventures changing the oil pan gasket. I'm hoping everything will be done within 2 weeks (I work a few hours a week on it only, once the kids and wife are in bed) http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/123168-changing-oil-pan-gasket-on-l28et-with-engine-in-car/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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