Smoke could be from where thee downpipe joins to the cat.

Also check if a bung was ever put in that area for an afr gauge.

Perhaps have a "smoke test" on your car. it may show any of number of leaks.

Cracks also develop in the turbo housing. where it meets the exhaust manifold and/or the downpipe. If those cracks go beyond the gaskets you could be getting exhaust leak there are well.

 

Compression test it before you go any farther.

 

Using a proper rotary compression tester.

 

any recommendations on a good tester?

 

Buy, rent or borrow one of these... https://www.rotarycompressiontester.com/

 

Hurry up and buy. They are going to be in demand.

 

+1, at least around my area, buying the tester yourself pays itself back after the first test. You'd spend the same amount getting a shop to do it once.

 

the extra $100 is it that much better then this one?

https://www.rotarytronics.com/produc...ression-tester

 

I'd say so. Just looking at that cheaper one you can see the difference in construction quality. Plus as an owner of the one I linked a few posts back, I can tell you mine is working perfectly after about 6~7 years of regular use, and the company making them stands behind their product

 

Update!

So i did a compression test and started with the rear rotor. The results were a BIG FAT 0! i thought i was doing something wrong so i pulled the tester out and placed my finger over the hole. 0 pressure still, and when i pulled my hand away no sound of moving air what so ever.

Also the rear turbo is no longer free spinning.....

Guess its time to figure out rebuild VS swap since parts have doubled now. A new keg from Mazda is now 13k with no ETA. Housings and rotors have also doubled!

 

So the "pop" was more likely a "bang", it seems.

Cost of a new motor (and turbo) is sobering and a new paradigm we all have to come to grips with.

But if the new motor extends the life of the car for the foreseeable future, it may be worth it.

It will be interesting to discover what happened to the rear turbo.

Was there some sort of debris that took out the turbo and the rear rotor?

For instance, a nut falling into the LIM plenum could be a culprit.

Once your motor is taken apart, you might be lucky and only have, say, one damaged rotor and housing.

You might be able to source workable used examples of such and still use the rest of the motor for a rebuild.

I am doing exactly that at the moment and looking at a final cost of about C$7000 (because new seals cost a lot).

 

Sorry to hear the bad news, but glad you've identified the problem.

Around August/September, right before the price hike, I saw a bunch of the big rotary shops posting on social media about receiving their multiple keg shipments from Mazda. Maybe shop around and see if anyone's just holding onto a new keg for cheaper than what Mazda is asking for.

If you're staying twins, it's hard to beat the price proposition of going BNRs - Brian responded to my message fast on Facebook recently and it's about 2k to send your core in and get uprated turbos back. It seems to be about the same as buying a good used set from my searches.

 

post link to BNR, please.

 

BNR twins - Bryan Nickell’s Rotary supercars