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Dave Coleman posted on December 21, 2011 00:00
Wrench Tip #30:
Finding Oil Leaks Using Fluorescent Goo
by Dave Coleman
Finding the origin of an oil leak can be a pain in the ass. By the time you even notice you have a leak, the stuff has spread itself all over the engine leaving little hint as to where it came from. If you could turn back the clock and watch the stuff leak out, it would be easy, but how?
This flourescent oil dye is a time machine. Pour a few ounces into the oil, grab a UV flashlight, and watch the oil leak happen before your eyes.
About a week after first putting oil in Project Miatabusa, the puddles started appearing under it. Before the engine had even run for the first time, the oil leak had already spread so far we couldn't pinpoint the source. A few minutes after dumping the glowing green goo in the oil, we could see this. In normal light, the oil leak looks the same as always, but with a UV flashlight, the fresh oil is obvious.
Following the tracer up to the source, its obvious the oil is leaking where the nose of the crank meets the adaptor plate. If you're wondering why you haven't seen Project Miatabusa running yet, this should answer your question. Well, this and the fact that I'm writing this in Hiroshima, Japan while the engine sits on the floor of my garage waiting for me to come home and finish fixing the leak...
Oil is much like maple syrup. As soon as it touches you, it shows up everywhere. The flourescent dye doesn't change this fact, but it does make it more obvious. Less than 10 minutes after pouring the dye in the engine, this glowing stain appeared on the radiator after hitching a ride in my hair. After detecting your leak, you have to be extra careful to clean away all traces of the oil, or your engine bay will look like one of those 20/20 special investigative reports on hotel room jizz.
FJC Dyes
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 3:18 AM
Neat.I'm glad you found the leak and now the project can move on. If you don't mind me ask you, what are you doing in Hiroshima?
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 3:38 AM
That's a pretty genius idea! My guess is he is in Hiroshima because when he's not working on the Miatabusa Mr. Coleman moonlights as a Mazda employee and may be on a business trip to Mazda headquarters in Hiroshima. About a 4 or 5 hour drive from me. Supposedly the Mazda museum there is pretty badass.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 6:13 AM
Do they make similar stuff for coolant? Now that the semester is finishing up for me, it's time to find out where the leak is on my Jeep that causes me to need to add about a gallon of coolant every week or so . . .
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 6:59 AM
Nakazoto, Yes, and yes. I just visited the Mazda museum today. Not sure how you get in there if you're not an employee, since it's deep in the middle of a secure campus, but I know there's a way. Lots of cool old rotaries there, like '60s vintage 4-rotor research engines and crazy stuff like that. Also got to see the engine factory where they build the Skyactiv 1.3, Skyactiv 2.0, Skuactiv-D 2.2 diesel (just one pilot production engine today) and 3.7-liter V6 all on the same assembly line. Only engine plant in the world that can mix those different engines on one line. emeyer, yes, they do have similar dye for coolant. Just google FJC dye and you'll find it.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 7:55 AM
They make a dye for every fluid in a car: oil, coolant, transmission, power steering, etc.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 9:50 AM
the hotel jizz part is hillarious but the article is very informative also.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 3:04 PM
Ah, the factory where my awesome Mazda5 was born. Are there Any of Rod Millen's old 323 GTX rally cars in the museum? I know his co-driver at the time well and he has some crazy stories from those days.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 4:38 PM
Is Dave trying to promote a factory Miatabusa by any chance? High efficiency, light weight...sounds a lot like Mazda's Skyactiv program doesn't it.
Thursday, December 22, 2011 2:59 AM
Good stuff.
Thursday, December 22, 2011 2:59 PM
I should do this, I have an oil leak that has some 'splainin to do. Does it negatively impact oil performance, aka should it be done immediately prior to an oil change?
Friday, December 23, 2011 11:39 AM
@Dave Coleman: I visited the museum a couple years ago, and all you have to do is call them up and book a tour. They have an English tour once a day (or at least that was the case when we were there) and a bus picks you up and drives you to the factory and museum from the main reception office. It's free too!
Friday, December 23, 2011 5:02 PM
Judging from your last comment, couldn't you just use jizz? And save some money?
Saturday, December 31, 2011 11:00 PM
I was able to visit the museum about 4 years ago as well. The chassis assembly line was pretty bad ass, but I don't think I ever got to see any engines get assembled if I remember correctly. That would have been pretty cool. I cant say that Ive ever bothered with dye for external leaks, but for internal diesel fuel leaks, it cant be beat. As far as I know, the dye should not impact your oil performance at all. Some manufacturers add dye to their engines for initial leaks checks before they're shipped.
 
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