Well, I thought maybe my oil lines had gone, but I took off the fan shroud and fan, and looked at my main pulley (the one on the e-shaft). In the middle of this pulley is a little bolt, this whole assembly came off. Threads look fine, everything looks fine on it, but it looks like it had just come loose. While I am on it, is there anything I should replace? I believe according to the FSM this is the eccentric shaft lock bolt. I stopped driving my car approx. 20 miles after seeing the oil preasure dropping.

Is my car in trouble, or can I just tighten this back up and everything will be alright?

Also, if I can do that, is there anything worth while to replace there? Seals and such?

Thanks!

 

Also, if I use an impact gun to install the bolt, will it be too much? Gun does max of 225 ft. lbs. Thanks again!

 

ok hold the phone...

is it the big 19mm headed bolt that fell out/

If so, you need to take your front coveroff and re-align all the bearings in there, because that's why you lost oil pressure.

 

Yes - if it's not too late, pull the front cover & check for damage behind the counterweight.

 

Do a search for thermal or thermo pellet since this is a common mod when removing the front e-shaft bolt and explains issues when removing it.
There is a chance that the thrust bearing has dropped.

These pictures might help:

http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/pulley.htm

http://fc3spro.com/TECH/HOWTO/OTB/otb.html

 

Alright, well I am going to pull off the front cover. What are the chances the rear has dropped? I drove for a while with the front bolt not on all the way.

Will I need to pull the motor out and check / do the back too? Can I port the intake if I do this? Not looking forward to getting this all done.

 

You drove for 20 miles without oil pressure, there is a good possibility that there is more damage then you think. You should also be worried about your rotor and stationary gear bearings.

There are no thrust bearings in the rear of the engine. It is the front stack that you need to realign. The engine does not have to come out for this procedure.

 

d00d are you nuts... as soon as anything happens in a car like oil pressure or coolant problems happen... pull over shut it off...

 

you should have never risked your cars life like that, first sign of trouble pull over and shut it off. calling a cab or something is cheaper than a rebuild.

 

Oil preasure didn't drop to 0 all around. Just when it was at idle it would be at approx. 5, or whatever that line is just above zero.

If I rev'd the car up the preasure would go back up to 90 or so. It just wouldn't stay there for long. So, i still had preasure, just not tons.

Eh, taking off the front cover and stuff soon anyways.

Thanks.