Lachstock and Four Turbo Charged Cylinders ['04 NB SE]

[ManiacLachy]

Bummer! It looks like oil is being thrown from the pulley, not just leaking down the cover/sump.

I know all about self-inflicted wounds. My car is sitting on the trailer, having dropped all its coolant. Following my removal and replacement of the turbo/manifold.



ETA: To stop hoses/fitting from leaking, I use the plastic plugs in male and female 10AN. Not a complete solution, but saves a LOT of cleanup, and is a nice solution for long or short term storage of hoses etc to stop oil getting out and wasps getting in . I think I bought a dozen of each from Speedflow so I always have a few on hand.

Yeah, I think it leaks from the front main seal, then is flung about by the crank pulley. Then when stopped a lot continues to drip straight down. It's still a worrying amount, more than I thought would come from a leaky seal. Good idea on the plugs, I'll look into that. If I'd had them on hand I would have made much less mess.

Bummer - time to add a BE Oil pump and build the engine?

While an engine build probably isn't strictly necessary, I'm leaning towards it. If the car has to go in for more work I'd like to do it properly. And the EFR6258 I have planned would prefer a strong bottom end. A Boundry oil pump is mandatory on any BP engine build, in my opinion.

I’m no expert on the NB but could it be the sump gasket or timing cover gasket? Is there a crank pulley seal there?

In my case, the leak is coming from above the sump, and no leaks from up high, though for sure those could be general possible sources. Almost certainly it's the front main seal, which is the crank pulley seal you're talking about.

This whole thing has me a little down. But hopefully there'll be some fun at the end. Super glad I have that Subaru wagon for daily duties, and grateful it's not a boring car to drive either.

[Custardtart]

I know how you feel, that sinking feeling of having to do it all over again! Oh well, at least it will, as you say, be fun to have it all sorted. Hopefully I might get to catch up at a Brisbane cars n coffee sometime, would be good to see the car.

[ManiacLachy]

I've been a bit quiet lately, I went to the US to visit my sister and to be there for my nephew's first birthday, the trip was about 3 weeks and I just got home yesterday. Well, not actually home. I have to self-isolate for 2 weeks and I'm staying with my Mum who came on the trip with me. I can't go home because we have renovations starting next week and I can't be there if workmen are there. Kind of sucks, but there's a lot of suck going around right now and my situation isn't dire.

But I can't even spend my time working on the car! And I miss my dog

Speaking of the car, still no crank seal. But I did get some FM hood struts while I was away, ordered them during Black Friday sales knowing I would be over there to pick them up from my sister and not have to pay FM's horrible shipping rates. I also ordered a Flow Force LS Ignition Coil setup and brought that home. More on all of those when I get a chance to play with them after this isolation is completed.

The trip away was generally pretty good, great to see my sister and her husband and to meet my little nephew. Who knew 3 weeks ago when I left that this would be the world upon my return?

Hope everyone is doing well out there.

[bruce]

Good on you for self-isolating. I hope everyone else is as responsible as you.

[KevGoat]

Good on you Lachy, shame everyone isn't as responsible. We are sort of self isolating apart from our normal shopping, even though the risks are pretty minimal, I just don't want to take any risk with my wife as her immune system would still be compromised after everything she went through. Plenty of beer, wine and food in the house, so all good, and it's not like we go out a lot even in normal times

What was the atmosphere like in the US? Seems like they are suffering as much confusion and lack of direction from their government as ours.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[ManiacLachy]

They were about 2 weeks behind Australia in the panic. Didn't really start to go crazy until about 5 days ago. But now they're in the midst of people buying a lifetime's supply of TP!

And as mentioned elsewhere, they're panic buying guns and ammo too. My brother in law is a cop, and a gun nut (even among Americans), he's seeing dollar signs as he can sell surplus guns at a big profit! And crazy as you might think the yanks are, we're the one's stabbing people in the supermarket! They're more concerned with looters coming to call if things get worse.

Las Vegas where my sister lives is going to be hit really hard by this, the Strip is basically shut down. Lot's of jobs, lot's of revenue lost. Usually the hotels there run at >90% occupancy year round, about a week ago it was at 3%! And now it's 0%. Luckily the police are an essential service, and well paid, so they'll still have an income to the household.

I think everyone needs to put the greater good first for a little while, and if that means some personal inconveniences, like staying home, then we just have to bear it. We'll soon adjust to the new way of things.

[Daffy]

Great to see you and your mum back safe, sound and all in one piece! I get the feeling that things will go slightly more nuts in the US over the next week or 2. We’ll have to tee up a catch up after your 2 week isolation stint

[SKYHI]

Good to hear your back mate. Hope you and your Mum are doing well.

[ManiacLachy]

Back home after my US trip, and of course the whole world has changed! I guess the upside is plenty of time for garage projects, right?

Well first things first I had to put the timing belt system back together. I finally got my hands on the front seal from MX5Mania (Ajay was fantastic, Australia Post was useless). I got the ATI Damper on without issue this time, timed the crank and cams easily, buttoned up the engine, installed the accessory belts, radiator back in, everything plugged up! My battery was flat, so I didn't fill the radiator and attempt to start.


ATI Damper in, all buttoned up and ready to fire... Right?

As I was drifting off to sleep I had a thought ... Did I tighten the timing belt tensioner? No, no I didn't.

So, come this long weekend I got back to it. I had to undo it all again. Do the tensioner, put it all back together. Then torquing the water pump pulley and SNAP. Sheared the head off one of the bolts. Tools before I raged.

Next day, yesterday, belts off, again! Pulley off. The shank of the bolt was buried inside the hole, I couldn't grab it from the front and unwind it, but the nose suck out the back, only there wasn't much room to grab it. I ran out to buy some bent nose pliers, which worked better than I expected, and the shank came out. I found a similar bolt in my collection of old bolts.


That nub is all I had to grab and twist, and not much room either


Got it! Bent nose pilers saved the day!

All back together, fill the rad, get the battery out of the Subaru to jump the Mazda, connect the laptop and setup for the new trigger wheel, but it wouldn't start, sounds like still not enough charge. I figure I'll try the Subaru battery directly hooked up. I pull the battery from the MX-5, and the bolt for the battery tie down shears. Jesus this car is fighting me! Nevermind, onward! Subaru battery in.


Ready to attempt to start. But the jump didn't work, had to install the battery directly

The car starts! The engine sounds quieter, less vibration - first impression is the ATI damper works well, even at idle (sure, could be placebo and I'm only hearing it from outside). Can't see any leaks, looks like it all went together well, no scary noises. Yay.

Oh, there's some smoke, maybe just residue? Hmm, that's a lot of smoke coming out from under the turbo heat shield. I jump on the floor, and oil is streaming down the oil pan Abort! Shut off the engine.


Well that's not what you want!

Great, that was a LOT of work for very little outcome.

[ManiacLachy]

So, let's recap here.

In October the timing belt service was due at 200k km, and I decide to do it myself becuase I no longer need the car for daily driver duties and I like to learn new things on the car. I install a new ATI damper and 36-2 triger wheel. I get everything done up and ready to start, but I notice the trigger wheel doesn't look like it's on far enough, the damper is torqued, but it doesn't look like it's bottomed out.

I don't start the car, I pull it appart and remove the damper. Something went crooked when the damper went on, the woodruff key got snagged and smashed up, the damper key way is a little damaged.


Smooshed woodruff key

I put the stock crank gear and timing wheel back on, re-do the timing belt and put it all back together. The car starts, all is good. I did a few other things on the suspension at this time, and in December I have the car on the road. I used it a few times, no hard drives, just suburban runs for coffee on the weekend, etc.

In January I go to an MX-5 meet on the other side of town. As I'm walking back to my car, I see a big pool of oil under the front. I get the car home, but it's streaming oil.


That's a lot of oil

I look under the car and think the oil cooler mounted to the steering rack has been damaged and is leaking. So I pull the cooler and filter relocation kit.


Oil cooler soaked in oil

But that wasn't it, the car still spews oil. I now think the front main seal, maybe when the ATI damper went on and smashed the woodruff key id damaged the seal?


Not the oil cooler, front main seal?

OK, so I order a new seal and woodruff key, I've had the damage to the ATI damper repaired so I can use this as a chance to put the damper on properly this time.

The seal doesn't come in any sort of timely manner. Australia Post is staffed by monkeys. Then I go overseas for 3 weeks, and come home to 2 weeks of isolation at my Mum's. I finally get home and I've got the seal, it's April now. Basically 6 months have passed since I began these works. The install is a bear, but it's back together, the car runs, but the leak persists!


After all that, still leaking

Looking at the leak now, it seems like it might be the oil pan seal? Or maybe higher up, the turbo (or oil drain, or feed)? Any thoughts?


Close up on the pan - might be the source? Or is it higher up?

[Okibi]

Keep cleaning and follow the trail, sucks to put all that effort in and not have solved the issue.

[bruce]

Keep at it. At least you're handy on the tools and learning even more now.

[ManiacLachy]

I think I'm going to put a pause on chasing down the leak for now. Personal situation means I need to look for a new place to live, not the best timing, so I need to keep the car in a state where it can start and get down the very steep driveway where I am right now. So I won't be tearing into things right now.

I've got a few smaller projects I've been neglecting for a while, so I'll get to work on them during this down time, and while looking for a new place to move into.

[ManiacLachy]

Time for some long overdue projects, and on Sunday I started with a simple one.

I've ordered these FM Hood Props during Black Friday and had them sent to my Sister's to avoid FM's ridiculous shipping costs, and brought them home with me. They're lauded for opening the hood further, and providing great access. You do need to drill and tap your hood hinge, and that was a little confusing to find the right spot, but FM have an install video on YouTube and that was helpful.


I needed an easy win!

I've now deleted the OEM hood prop and catch, for a much cleaner, more modern look.

Then on Monday (how good are long weekends, BTW?), I got started on a long thought about project.


Flat door cards with NA uppers and new speakers incoming!

This one is going to take a few weekends of fiddling and crafting, but I think it'll be well worth it. Think of all the leg room! I'll post a more detailed write-up in due course.

[ManiacLachy]

Quick life update here.

Earlier in the year my partner and I decided to separate, it was amicable, no fights or dramas, but we'd grown apart. I went on the trip to the US to visit my sister and family and when I returned I would begin the hunt for a new home. Of course COVID-19 through a wrench into that!

Well, last week I moved in to my new home with Hobbes (my dog). We're now in Northgate. We're in an old elevated Queenslander, so it's getting pretty chilly when the sun goes down, but there's plenty of space under the house for cars and tools.

The first part of 2020 has been a bit of a rollercoaster. I know everyone has gone through some degree of stress due to the pandemic, throw in the end of a long term relationship and buying a new home and it's quite a ride. I realise I'm quite lucky that my work has been steady and I'm now working from home full time, it could always be worse.

But of course, work on the car has come to a near stop.


Transporting a leaky boi. Gumtree cash in hand job to the rescue


Lots of room down here

I have got the door cards installed, but not finished. I ran into an issue mounting the speaker crossovers, where I put them with the door open is where the door hinge goes when you close the door! So I'll need to revisit that, and then put the foam backing and vinyl covers on them to finish.

The oil leak persists. I'm 90% sure it's the oil pan. Which means the subframe gets dropped or the engine comes out. Seeing as I want to build the engine and install the Kraken EFR setup it makes sense to do it all in one hit. But I've just spent quite a bit on a new house and all that entails, so I'm a little shy of big expenses right now.

I've also come to the conclusion that I've installed the sway bar brackets incorrectly (or they aren't designed properly?). The ends of the sway bar are now too close to the shock bodies, it's not possible to use the soft holes on the Racing Beat sway bar, which suggests the bar is mounted too far rearward. I need to try flipping the brackets to see if there's an orientation that works properly. I should have taken more care in comparing to the stock braces while they were in the car.

So, after I chase down a few of these jobs on the car and get reasonably settled I will pursue the engine build a bit more vigorously. It's been so long since I've dríven the car, I've honestly thought of parting out a few times. Which we've seen happen time and time again, if you can't drive the car for whatever reason you tend to forget what it's like and why you have the thing, and start to consider other options.