View Poll Results: Should I try my first rebuild?
Yes. Stop screwing around and get to work!
7
70.00%
No. Dumbass, you should try something else first.
3
30.00%
Voters: 10. You may not vote on this poll
To rebuild or not to rebuild....
08-25-03, 06:39 PM
#1
Must...scrub...parts...
Thread Starter
To rebuild or not to rebuild....
I've finally got the money together for the rebuild kit, but I'm getting cold feet. It's down to the bare block now, but before I pull the engine and open it up.... Essentially I'm still not convinced I have a blown coolant seal. Here's the facts.....
1. Overflow is always full, sometimes spills over a crack in the top, sometimes it bubbles, sometimes it doesn't
2. Temp guage varies. Sometimes it goes too far towards hot, so I shut the car off. Othertimes it goes up and down or wiggles. I think it might be broken or something. I've also noticed that when I keep the car at high rpm's the guage goes down, and at low it goes up.
3. Low coolant buzzer goes off. Sometimes intermittently, more often it will stay on for 30 seconds ever 3-5 minutes.
4. Coolant dissapears on me.
5. Upper radiator hose is pressurized like a balloon and it's hard to squeeze.
6. I don't get a steady stream of bubbles, they come in spurts, but they don't stop no matter how long I try to bleed them out. Also the coolant level steadily pulses up and down, and spurts out every one in awhile.
7. I did the geyser test, I don't get a geyser, just a steady flow of coolant out the filler neck.
8. I only get a massive cloud of smoke if it has sat for more then a week, otherwise I get a more moderate cloud of grayish smoke.
9. Radiator does have a thin layer of whitish crud in it, however there's no hot or cold spots on it. I have tried flushing it a couple of times to no effect. More recently it seems to have developed a pinhole leak. I've noticed a small amount of steam coming up by the battery.
10. Tested positive 60 ppm hydrocarbons. However, I sprayed the hell out of the turbo with WD40 when I was trying to get the turbine housing off, so I'm wondering if that could have contaminated it.
11. I think it's running very rich, as it fouls spark plugs very quickly.
12. The car is hard to start, especially when it's cold.
13. The heater works intermittently, this could always be the logicon, but it might not.
More background info:
The vac line of the wastegate actuator fell off and I had foolishly installed a FCD I didn't need without an aftermarket boost guage. I drove it that way for about a month before the turbocharger got fried. I replaced it with a s4 center and compressor and reused the turbine housing. After installing that, the car was fine for a few months. Then it started boiling again, and bubbling out the overflow. I replaced the cap and the filler neck, which temporarily stopped the problem, and it never got that bad again. I also noticed at this time that some idiot who owned it before me had grounded the low coolant sensor. I fixed that and replaced the sensor, which started going off every time I drove it. I left it alone over the winter and started working on it again this spring. Sometimes the problem went away for a day or two, sometimes it was really bad. A few times I even drove it for close to 45 mins without problems. The last of these times it was running great, except for the occasional coolant buzzer. Then I smelled something funny. It went a way, but a few minutes later I noticed a trail of sparks behind me. The turbocharger was on fire. I put it out and towed it back to my house. My insurance company totaled it, so I got some money and retained salvage. The damage turned out to be less than everyone thought, just a few burned vac hoses. Later inspection makes me think the turbo isn't badly damaged, but I'm not sure. I drove it one last time before starting to tear it apart and it behaved the same is it had been.
Final Facts:
1. This is a rebuilt engine with 6k miles on it. It was broken in properly.
2. I've tried flushing it and using the block seal with no effect.
3. I've replaced the waterpump, thermostat with OEM mazda, radiator cap, filler neck and upper and lower radiator hose.
4. I've got all the stock plastic ducting and I cleaned the crap out of the radiator fins.
So, to anyone who's read to the end of this novel, what should I do? Should I stop delaying and pull it apart, or can you think of something else that could have caused this?
1. Overflow is always full, sometimes spills over a crack in the top, sometimes it bubbles, sometimes it doesn't
2. Temp guage varies. Sometimes it goes too far towards hot, so I shut the car off. Othertimes it goes up and down or wiggles. I think it might be broken or something. I've also noticed that when I keep the car at high rpm's the guage goes down, and at low it goes up.
3. Low coolant buzzer goes off. Sometimes intermittently, more often it will stay on for 30 seconds ever 3-5 minutes.
4. Coolant dissapears on me.
5. Upper radiator hose is pressurized like a balloon and it's hard to squeeze.
6. I don't get a steady stream of bubbles, they come in spurts, but they don't stop no matter how long I try to bleed them out. Also the coolant level steadily pulses up and down, and spurts out every one in awhile.
7. I did the geyser test, I don't get a geyser, just a steady flow of coolant out the filler neck.
8. I only get a massive cloud of smoke if it has sat for more then a week, otherwise I get a more moderate cloud of grayish smoke.
9. Radiator does have a thin layer of whitish crud in it, however there's no hot or cold spots on it. I have tried flushing it a couple of times to no effect. More recently it seems to have developed a pinhole leak. I've noticed a small amount of steam coming up by the battery.
10. Tested positive 60 ppm hydrocarbons. However, I sprayed the hell out of the turbo with WD40 when I was trying to get the turbine housing off, so I'm wondering if that could have contaminated it.
11. I think it's running very rich, as it fouls spark plugs very quickly.
12. The car is hard to start, especially when it's cold.
13. The heater works intermittently, this could always be the logicon, but it might not.
More background info:
The vac line of the wastegate actuator fell off and I had foolishly installed a FCD I didn't need without an aftermarket boost guage. I drove it that way for about a month before the turbocharger got fried. I replaced it with a s4 center and compressor and reused the turbine housing. After installing that, the car was fine for a few months. Then it started boiling again, and bubbling out the overflow. I replaced the cap and the filler neck, which temporarily stopped the problem, and it never got that bad again. I also noticed at this time that some idiot who owned it before me had grounded the low coolant sensor. I fixed that and replaced the sensor, which started going off every time I drove it. I left it alone over the winter and started working on it again this spring. Sometimes the problem went away for a day or two, sometimes it was really bad. A few times I even drove it for close to 45 mins without problems. The last of these times it was running great, except for the occasional coolant buzzer. Then I smelled something funny. It went a way, but a few minutes later I noticed a trail of sparks behind me. The turbocharger was on fire. I put it out and towed it back to my house. My insurance company totaled it, so I got some money and retained salvage. The damage turned out to be less than everyone thought, just a few burned vac hoses. Later inspection makes me think the turbo isn't badly damaged, but I'm not sure. I drove it one last time before starting to tear it apart and it behaved the same is it had been.
Final Facts:
1. This is a rebuilt engine with 6k miles on it. It was broken in properly.
2. I've tried flushing it and using the block seal with no effect.
3. I've replaced the waterpump, thermostat with OEM mazda, radiator cap, filler neck and upper and lower radiator hose.
4. I've got all the stock plastic ducting and I cleaned the crap out of the radiator fins.
So, to anyone who's read to the end of this novel, what should I do? Should I stop delaying and pull it apart, or can you think of something else that could have caused this?
08-26-03, 04:59 AM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Gainesville, FL
Posts: 456
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
dude , this is coming from a 18 year old, who has the worst of luck, while trying to do a rebuild I spend 3k, my reccomendation is http://rotaryresurrection.com/ kevin will hook you up with a great job plus is only 1500 bucks!!!!
08-28-03, 10:49 PM
#7
OH,YOU TOUCHED MY TRALALA
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: st.louis mo
Posts: 734
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
hell while its out street port it!!! thats what i am going to do. thankfully i have eric aka resourse. grat guy and can rebuild a engine in his sleep. by the way your car is on drugs. id check to see if that block seal isnt blocking some of the passages.
ej
ej
Trending Topics
08-31-03, 08:40 PM
#9
It's a Hammer
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Richland WA
Posts: 998
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Correction thats http://www.pineappleracing.com
09-01-03, 10:20 AM
#10
My cars louder than yours
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Augusta, GA
Posts: 1,969
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yeah man, if youve gone that far, and have the kit, go ahead and do it. Hell next week you might have blown a apex seal and then you would really be in the hole with some money. Just Do It.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
NickNac113
1st Generation Specific (1979-1985)
13
10-01-15 09:25 PM