Reply With QuoteThe short story is the motor wasn't built correctly. Cam and crank seals were bad, crank nose was scored, paper gasket sealing the oil pump instead of silicone among other things. We found lots of loose bolts too.Originally Posted by chriscar
So what did they determine as the root cause of the oil leak?
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The short story is the motor wasn't built correctly. Cam and crank seals were bad, crank nose was scored, paper gasket sealing the oil pump instead of silicone among other things. We found lots of loose bolts too.
^that. I took it across the street to the store yesterday, and it feels so much better than it did before. That's probably because this tranny isn't completely dry
Yeah, that too. We went to drain the trans and no fluid came out. Ouch! Good thing he had a spare transmission. Glad to hear you're enjoying the car. Remember to keep an eye on the oil level often as newly rebuilt engines will use oil until everything wears in. Change the oil at 500 and use dino oil until 3k miles, then you can switch to synthetic. Hopefully the internals were assembled better than the motor was.
I like to use Blackstone Labs to run oil analysis on every other oil change. Gives me a good baseline and info on the health of the motor.
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/
M3 is always the answer.
Thanks ken o, I just sent off for a free kit. My car is due an oil change.
On the track, I am fearless.
If you were as slow as me, you wouldn't be afraid either.
1994 M Edition
CSP 67
Question: Who do y'all use for insurance? I'm browsing around right now, and it's kind of ranging from 50 bucks to 90 (don't ever use Esurance...). So far Progressive seems best to me.
Also, my parents are currently unaware of my possession of a Miata, as my mother was adamant about me not getting one when I needed a new car a few years back, so I don't really want to jump on their insurance like I am with my xD. Will it cause any issues that I am technically covered by two different insurance policies, but for different cars?
Well, I was driving it around to find an inspection place near my apartment since I know work would be slammed today (and i've never done a dyno inspection), and I stalled at a stop light. I put it in neutral, clutched in, turned the key, and NOTHING. I tried a few times, and the starter simply does not try to turn at all. With the help of another dude who jumped out of his car, I pushed it into the nearest parking lot and tried it again. Still nothing. No clicking, no buzzing, no humming. The electricals turn on like normal, with the CEL, charge, and brake lights, and jumping it didn't help. I attempted rocking it in gear, but I was alone, and didn't have much room to try. No fuses look blown, but I grabbed a new 80A main fuse from O'reily earlier. I'm making lunch right now, but I'm gonna go back and try rocking the car in gear again and replacing the main fuse, since it looks a bit odd but not "blown". I should probably go grab my voltmeter from work while I'm out.
If the fuse doesn't work. Try tapping the starter with a hammer. Sometimes an old starter gets stuck. tapping it will break it loose. It's usually the case when you hear absolutely nothing when you turn the key. If it starts, time for a new starter.
Glad to see your happy with the car!
Last edited by Gmrlocal1; 05-04-2013 at 02:11 PM.
"When life hands you lemons, Paint that SH!T Gold!!"
Or just keep a hammer in the car. But that only works for so long.
"When life hands you lemons, Paint that SH!T Gold!!"
I just need it to start once, so I can get my girlfriend to drive it to work for me. She has never owned an automatic trans car, so I'd trust her more than myself to get it there without stalling. Once it's there, I can do an inspection and replace the starter on Monday or whenever. We have a little kawasaki kart thing we use to tow no-starts around the lot.
There's kind of a hill we could possibly push it down if nothing else works. All I need to do to start it that way is push it down, put the tranny in gear, and "start" it, right? Getting it towed would suck...
Update: I smacked the starter, it cranked for half a second, and coolant started dripping slowly out of the timing cover. This is the point where I cried for a few seconds, believing I had a busted water pump or blown head gasket or something. I let it stop dripping, we push started it, and it was still slowly dripping from the timing cover while it was sitting there idling. I told my girlfriend to drive it like she stole it to get it home quickly. Strangely, when we got it back, there was no longer coolant dripping, and the radiator was still full. Also, no milkshake in the oil or the rad, so that's going to remain a mystery. We tried starting it again at my apartment, and that was a no go, so it looks like it's starter time. That's probably going to have to wait a few days though, as my work is not open sundays and we closed at 5.
Edit: my buddy just reminded me that Gary told us he noticed an odd noise from the engine when he was working on it, and I should keep an eye on the water pump. Well, that caught up quickly I suppose. Good thing I just bought the Chilton manual at O'Reilly today.
Last edited by effse7en; 05-04-2013 at 04:34 PM.
Can't catch a break! At least you have a stiff upper lip. Keep up the battle!
Yeah I was going to buy a starter this week and do it at work today if I had down time, but I forgot about rent and gotta pay a friend back some money I borrowed, so I'm gonna pick one up next paycheck instead. I've got time haha
Got parts to order me a starter from O'reilly, hopefully it will be here tomorrow or wednesday. I had them order it since I can float paying for it until Friday and they will take care of the core charge and stuff.
isnt it nice working at a shop with a lift, i drive mine to work every day and while i have not had nearly the problems you have on my 900 dollar miata i still get the occasional rattle or odd noise and can just throw it on the lift whenever we have a second. found a bolt had come out of the bellhousing exhaust hanger and was letting the heat shields rattle the other day. and swapped out a squeeking speedo cable a few weeks before that. ahhh the joys of a 20 year old car.
Haha, you have shitty luck. Hopefully stuff starts going your way, stick with it and it will.
I'm horribly impatient, so I keep having to tell myself "hey dummy, it's a PROJECT. It will take time." I'm more just annoyed that I finally picked up insurance on it and now it's sitting again haha
So, in my latest derp, I put the car up on the lift and noticed the trigger wire on the solenoid was only half way pushed on. I pushed it back on and of course the car turned over immediately. Then it passed emissions with flying colors, woot! Now, on to forging some signatures since the title was floated...
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