TICO the SE

Kev05 · Postby **Kev05** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:56 pm

tomli123001 wrote:You are holding onto you car now, Kev?

For now.

Postby **tomli123001** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:28 pm

Something really bad happened today. I was travelling on Pacific highway on my way to a meeting.
All was normal at a cruising speed of 100km/hr in my 6th gear. and then a big BANG, the car decelerate violently and started shaking. A clunky crunchy type of metal grinding sound came from the left rear of the car and the brakes do not seem to work either.

Was thinking either the exhaust fell off or one of the tyres burst. Was damn lucky, got a break down zone right next to me.
A close inspection showed nothing was seemingly broken and nothing was in contact with the ground. Opened the engine bay, all good still. But I can smell a very very strong burnt oil.

Tried to start the car again and going to pull out into traffic. As soon as I moved, the car was shaking and grinding again. Lucky I got time to pull back into the pit area again in time at the end.

An hour later, the tow truck came.

Sent by RACQ, it was a free service even for non member, I found out. To tow me off the highway to a safety zone only.
I tried to book RACQ to tow me to MX5 Plus. But they dumped at this local Seven Eleven and I was waiting for ages for my 2nd truck to complete the rest of the trip.

$120 later, I am back to the work shop.

After some initial assessment, Jason concluded that the SE Diff had failed. His thought is that the breath hole on the diff was blocked (can somebody confirm there is a breath hole?) The diff got over pressurized and oil came out of the seals. That burning smell was the oil on hot mufflers.

I just got the diff serviced and oil flushed at mx5 plus. I do not abuse or track the car just yet. Seems very strange for an SE diff to fail, when it is known as the best LSD in mx5. I am very pissed, not to say I am late for my business meeting by 3 hours.

Jason will take the diff to a specialist tomorrow and let me know the outcomes. Any suggestions of what happened?

sailaholic · Postby **sailaholic** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:50 pm

If it was a breather problem it wouldn't make any difference if it was a LSD or an open diff.

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Postby **tomli123001** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:57 pm

sailaholic wrote:If it was a breather problem it wouldn't make any difference if it was a LSD or an open diff.

Does the breather fail often? I never heard of them or know about this, until today.

Postby **tomli123001** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 11:00 pm

sailaholic wrote:If it was a breather problem it wouldn't make any difference if it was a LSD or an open diff.

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Also what happens exactly when the oil was lost? I do expecting grinding and noise, but nothing like what I experienced.

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:54 am

http://www.miata.net/garage/reardiff/

Did it sound like this?

I just noticed where the fire extinguisher is located on your car, how easy will that be to get to if 'poo' happens?

Postby **tomli123001** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 2:32 pm

Hi Magpie. Yes, exactly like that and that shaking also.
I don't do CAMS racing, so that is only a 0.5L unit for that odd moment during track sprint/training/work shop oil spilling.

When without a bucket seat and with safety belt off, it is actually not hard to get to that place. Easier than behind driver seat. I did not put in the center of my roll cage, as it will be in my rear view.

I got this mounting idea from a car for sale here a while ago.
It will be just a temporary solution, until I get around to make a floor mount bracket.

Postby **tomli123001** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 7:32 pm

Been to the work shop today. Was not the air breather. Something else mysteriously happened. Diff being rebuilt now and ready for Monday. Jason suggested changing the ratio to 4.1 in the rebuilt to be better on track and local streets, considering Charlie has 4.3 torsen with lots more HP.

So I decided to give it a try. Despite all the comments from Mazdaspeed website in the States, where people are wanting the 3.6 for high way cruising, I did find the SE's 3.6 is very tall in 1st gear and 2nd. Hopefully it will make my underpowered SE to accelerate better and feels faster on the street.

While at this, my other changes happening are changing to a NB6 factory flywheel. It is lighter than NA6 even and I always like OEM quality from factory, rather than trusting an aftermarket light wheel and turbo needs a bit of weight, so the NB6 unit is not too light either.

Found this video on youtube about the rev difference between a 5kg and 8kg fly wheel. Is it easy to tell the difference? I will leave this to you guys. It seems faster rev especially after 4k rpm.

Will update my acceleration feel from 0-100km after all these take place. Is there an APP I can download on android phone to measure the acceleration time?
Something else I found today was on the back of Thomason relocation oil filter kit, it has some fin like structure for heat dissipation, like a mini mini oil cooler. I will report on the temp reading, once my innovate gauges are working and plugged in.

speed freak · Postby **speed freak** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 8:09 pm

Wow that would have been an interesting experience especially happening at highway speeds. I had a feeling it would be the diff or tailshaft from your first post. Atleast you should have your car back soon.

Postby **tomli123001** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 6:08 pm

Found this ebook on google.
It really explains a lot of things. Just like to share here, if not already posted.

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=wvn ... e&q&f=true

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 8:30 pm

tomli123001 wrote:. Diff being rebuilt now and ready for Monday. Jason suggested changing the ratio to 4.1 in the rebuilt to be better on track and local streets, considering Charlie has 4.3 torsen with lots more HP.

I thought the SE was 4.1 from the factory?
Sorry if iv missed something there

Postby **tomli123001** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:43 pm

Roadrunner wrote:
tomli123001 wrote:. Diff being rebuilt now and ready for Monday. Jason suggested changing the ratio to 4.1 in the rebuilt to be better on track and local streets, considering Charlie has 4.3 torsen with lots more HP.

I thought the SE was 4.1 from the factory?
Sorry if iv missed something there

No, all NBs after 2001 are 3.6 and that includes SP.
Earlier NB was 3.9 and 4.1.

You can keep the actual LSD part in the big housing, the gear ratio change is achieved in the pinion rings (correct me if I called this thing wrong name). So you factor a rebuild cost, you can keep all the strong points of SE diff and try any ratio you want.

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 10:47 pm

Well there you go, just found an Aus spec sheet and it is 3.6
I was looking at a spec sheet on the US Mazda site which stated 4.1 in the mazdaspeed

Crapweasel · Postby **Crapweasel** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 11:19 pm

Sorry to hear about TICO - hopefully you can get it back on the road in a better place that you're happier with!

100 posts Roadrunner!!

Here's a theoretical top speed in each gear using 3.636 rear end like we have:
1st Gear = 53.37 km/h
2nd Gear = 88.4 km/h
3rd Gear = 121.61 km/h
4th Gear = 159.26 km/h
5th Gear = 200.66 km/h
6th Gear = 236.08 km/h

And with a US 4.1
1st Gear = 47.33 km/h
2nd Gear = 78.39 km/h
3rd Gear = 107.85 km/h
4th Gear = 141.23 km/h
5th Gear = 177.96 km/h
6th Gear = 209.36 km/h

This is why the US guys switch, 1st gear is pretty much useless as soon as you add any intake or exhaust mods. Stock though I'd imagine it would be a fun improvement!

Source: http://www.boosttown.com/gearbox_differential/speed_calculator.php

Gear Ratios: http://www.supercars.net/cars/2729.html (Yes, the humble Mazdaspeed MIata MX-5 has a Supercars.net entry!)

Aussie Stig · Postby **Aussie Stig** » Fri Mar 14, 2014 1:21 am

I would not go for a 4.1 in a turbo, I can tell you from exp. that first and second will be more than useless.

Now 4.1 in an n/a car is very good, works well as a sporty diff in many makes of cars, but with a 6sp you still get nowhere fast in first and second.
Apu can confirm what 4.1 with a 6sp is like.

You already have the lightest OEM stock fly, even the NA6 is way heavier. Go for a light aftermarket like the FM one if you want an improvement.