German car.

Say it with me . . . "never again," "never again," "never again," . . . .

Alas, I have a Mercedes my wife won't let go of.

Right? Sadly, I absolutely love this car even though it's a bitch to work on. If Mazda would get their shit together and bring the Mazda 6 wagon skyactiv diesel with a 6 speed to the USA I'd buy one in a heart beat.

Dat HPDC Al casting doe...

IIRC, the ND sway bar is like that too.

--Ian

You haul engine to CSTG. You get built properly. I give you deal.

Curly...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1441572137

I shall make the trip.

For those out of the loop, I was enjoying my car last night and after letting off after a pull in 4th gear at 20psi at 8k rpm, it starting chugging like it wanted to die. Managed to crawl slowly home(was close) I saw smoke pouring out of the catch can and a compression of 70 psi on cylinder #4. Guessing a piston ring gave up the ghost.

Good game me. If there was money on this happening I believe Hornetball won the pot on that several pages ago.

Hopefully if things don't look to bad, I can reuse the rods and pistons (not holding my breath on the latter), crank, and oil pump(billet). Also assuming no damage to the head.

That way I just need a used short block, pistons, rings, bearings, and someone(CSTG) who knows their way around a Miata.

Bummer.

I was semi joking, but if you really want to, I can squeeze in an engine build. If you get the car here too, we can get it dyno'd at KO Racing which is just next door too.

It'd be a bit of a crazy trip for an engine build, but if you wanna make it work, let's figure it out. Just wanna see you up and running again. Total bummer dude.

^Solid dude there.
Do it Jeff.
Take a break from the bakery and hang out in Portland for a while. I have some friends that would be happy to put you up for a few days if these guys have full houses.

I figured you were partially joking, but then I considered the fact that I would much rather go out of my way to have someone who knows what they are doing. Having someone I don't have to worry whether they following the proper specs is worth going out of my way for.

The dyno being next door is rather convenient as well!

I wouldn't put it on your schedule any time soon, as I need to see if I can afford to rebuild it anytime soon with the holidays coming up(lots of gifting supplies for the bakery).

It IS a good excuse to get drunk on very good IPA while sitting in the mountains having my mind blown at how green it is. I've lived in the desert too long. Everytime I go to the Pacific Northwest I can't believe it gets so green.

Hopefully by now, you've got a solid manager you can trust. Sometimes it's a bitch being a small business owner, but there is nothing more noble in my opinion.

Took a couple hours due to beer and Radiolab(great podcast) but its out. Time to tear into this thing and see what happened.

Attachment 237587

Attachment 237588

Got the oil pan off and was terrified I might see an explosion of glittery metal bits but all I saw were 4 small bits of metal that broke off something. I haven't removed the pistons/crank before and so I'm going to read up on it a bit before I attempt it but I'm guessing these are parts of the piston rings.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442140355

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442140355

I couldn't get a fingernail or feel an edge on the cylinder walls so I'm hoping there isn't any other damage and will be able to retain the pistons. Too early to tell until I completely tear it apart.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442140355

That's not rings.

Correct. All rings are in place and fine.

Bryan and I are scratching our heads at figuring out what those pieces are.

Here are some pictures of the bearings. As I don't know much, I'll leave my opinion out of it. My gut tells me not good. The crank surface is not bad at all though.

From Left to Right 1/2/3/4
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442157595

Attachment 237584

Attachment 237585

Attachment 237586

That's some serious galling, especially the bottom ones. Pics of the crank?

Surprisingly, really good. No galling or obvious marks.

Why do you think I lost so much compression in #4? Bearings don't cause that....

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442160697

It looks familiar, but I can't quite think what it is. Looks like some sort of bearing cage. Are the black pieces metal? It appears to be some sort of plastic (ABS?) from the pics.

Damn, now that I have the picture in my head, I do believe you are correct. It isn't magnetic I know that. Not sure if plastic or not, haven't tested it for that.

See, this is why we need props back.

The pieces of metal are probably bearing material, they look horrible.

It almost looks like those three other pieces could fit together to create some trianglular shape with a beveled circle in it, maybe you'd recognize it if you put the pieces together. That's going to slowly kill me until I know what it is.

Seriously, I'm at a loss as to what that might be. It DOES look like a plastic cage for a set of ball bearings but there are not ball bearings in a BP. There are however ball bearings inside an EFR... :noes:

Plastic or metal, ferrous or not (stick a magnet to it) will also help with identification. I mean, if its plastic that's not going to help, but you get the idea. in4answers.

<p></p><p>Um, is that a chunk of crank missing?</p>

Looks like a grind mark from balancing.

Those pieces have been bugging the crap out of me. I've been scouring exploded diagrams and parts lists, and I just don't see where it's a part of anything that should be inside an engine. The best I can come up with is something that got injested.

Ingested into the oil pan?
<br />
<br />Maybe you just blew another head gasket and over reacted?

Pics of the head? How do the valves look?

--Ian

I've got a dollar on the bottom end not being the cause. But thank god you pulled it because those bearings look like they got a hard dry ---- beating.

I didn't think it made any sense...

Well as Aidan stated, it may have been premature doing a tear down of the block, but those bearings made it rather fortuitous that I did.

EO2K, the black pieces are not magnetic, but haven't tested if they are plastic or not yet. Turbo spins perfect without any catches/play.

Just looking at the bottom of the valves nothing is amiss, they literally only have about 500 miles on them so they still look new.

My guess is a blow head gasket and maybe coolant making it into #4? Upon closer inspection the surface film of oil is looking rather milky on the head/oil pan. But I shut it down hot, and it sat outside in the rain for a couple days.

Some rust on the cam lobe tips, but the head looks normal besides that.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442179306

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442179306

Not sure is this is a kosher thing to do, but could you pour a bit of oil into all the cylinders and see if 4 drains faster. Because if you don't have to pull the pistons then you don't have to hone the block, etc.

Pistons are out of the block.

Should the oil pump be rebuilt while it is out of the block? It is a B.E. billet pump. Didn't have any real issues with oil pressure but wasn't sure what the S.O.P. was on it.

Jafromobile is my spirit animal.

While I'm trying to figure out my next move, which I believe to be the following:

-84mm Wiseco XX rings
-MLS Headgasket
-Water pump &pulley kit and associated gaskets
-Crankshaft front seal set
-Oil Pan Gasket Set
-Rear Main Seal Set
-ARP Flywheel bolts(need new ones anyways)
-Camshaft front Seal Set
-Exhaust & Intake Manifold Gaskets

Not sure if I'm forgetting anything there, but it roughly works out to be $330 to rebuild the bottom end in parts, no clue what associated labor will be depending on who I get to rebuild. I want to take it up to Curly in OR, but not sure if I have the time to take that trip.

Going to resurface my flywheel as it looks like it is in great shape. Probably get a new 6 puck ACT clutch disc as mine is getting a little worn out. Reuse my pressure plate as it still looks good.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442196749

I know the person who rebuilds it will hot tank and clean all these parts but I figure less time cleaning = less labor costs to me.

Cleaned out my oil pick up

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442196749

Removed gasket from oil pan and cleaned all the things

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442196749

Ditto on the crank case cover(not sure on the right name)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442196749

Ditto on the block and chased all the threads to remove gummed up gasket.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442196749

All looks very good.

You can reuse your flywheel bolts unless theyre damaged. Also you're looking for felpro's "lower conversion" gasket set. It'll have everything for the short block, minus rings, bearings, and a few seals on the sides of the block.

Thanks for the heads up.

In regards to the main and rod bearings, is standard the norm that everyone gets or is that something you buy after measurements are taken into account for clearances/tolerances.

Also saw Andrew and Emilio state its hard to find ACL bearings at the moment. What is a recommended alternative?

I have a set you can buy. Youll wanna measure to make sure it's what you need though. That much damage could of created hest and destroyed your bearing surfaces, and therefore you'd need oversized bearings and a regrind.

King bearings are the current alternative.
<br />Powder coat your block, it looks awesome and is super easy to clean.

Have you found the smoking gun yet? Suspect it was just the HG again?

No clue yet. Seeing how clean everything was, no carbon deposits, I'm guessing coolant got in the cylinder. With the other HG issues though, I never had it run on only 3 cylinders so it must have popped pretty hard.

I think having the block machined once and for all will be the best deterrent to this happening again, I hope at least.

I guess to look at the bright side, my bearings were pretty close to causing a lot more damage so it may have been good to tear it down and take a look. Just glad my crank bearing surface didn't get destroyed. There is basically no damage to the crank surface, comparatively.

Going to have another shop recheck my valve lash while I'm at it as well. I think part of the performance issues is the valve not full closing.

I wish I had someone local I "knew" I could trust.

Just curious, what's up with the #4 sparkplug in the picture of the head?
Looks funny; could just be lighting; could have already been discussed

Haha, didn't notice that, looks like the compression tester adapter didn't unscrew with the hose.

Took the crank to the guy who built my head and had him measure the rod and main bearings. Said it only needed a light hone.
1.9663" on the main bearings
1.7691" on the rod bearings.

So standard ACL/King should work great!

<p><img src="http://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.miataturbo.net-vbulletin/720x540/80-13469_401738279023_596899023_426224_1_57efcf12c769 1b22fbec0e5e6f25e04bb25e474b.jpg" title="" /><br /><br />&nbsp;</p>

Pretty. The engine paint I used when I first had the block out looks fabulous still so I'm not going to waste time/money on sandblasting/powdercoating.

Dammit! You still haven't found out what those pieces were from. It is going to drive me crazy until I know.

I haven't a damn clue rleete. I've gone over every piece of anything connected to the engine trying to figure out if it could have come from that or not and nothing makes sense, or at least nothing has a ball bearing type "surround/cage" that it could have come from.

Trust me, it is driving me nuts as well. I hate mysteries.

Tell me this is normal...please, it has all the irregularities of something not designed to be there...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442274750

<p>Yes, that is normal. Threads about it pop up every once in a while with people freaking out.</p>

I about lost my shit for a second there. Seems like they could have made that hole a little smoother

<p>I think its funny. &quot;Lets scare the shit out of everyone who opens this engine for the first time&quot;</p><p>I would totally do shit like that.</p>

Man, I love this build... Read every page. What about going with the "left in" theory on the mysterious parts?

Ha. That hole has freaked out dozens of people over the years. I can just imagine the engineer doing it on purpose, and giggling every time he thought about it.

I'm guessing it is just an oil return hole? My dremmel hand is getting itchy haha.

So I have ARP head studs and ARP2000 bolts for the rods. Any reason to get ARP Main studs as well? Looks like they didn't see a point when they originally built the motor but maybe they didn't want to line bore the block?

1. obtain running stock junkyard motor
2. dump it in
3. turn down boost:hatecat:
4. drive car without problems
5. give curly 6 months to rebuild the 'nice' engine
6. swap back when curly is done

bummer about the car- hopefully it gets up and running again soon

More like wire wastegate open. Even on 7psi springs the EFR has made very pretty ventilation carnage.

Was it 99MX5 that blew his block on startup?

And now that I know the block and crank have no wear, and are easily reconditioned, a rebuild will suffice.

<p>Ship to TSE for build?&nbsp;</p>

You don't need a line bore for ARP main studs. I put them in with drill set to 5 ft/lbs with a tiny bit of the ARP ultra-lube, then torque the nuts to 60 ft/lbs, with the lube on either side of the washer and on the threads.

Generally if you put the lube on the stud, it'll get on the bottom of the washer when you slide it on, then a tiny bit more will get the top of the washer, and there's plenty left to lube the threads for the nut. This is also why you do an oil change after ~20 miles of driving.

To give you an idea of how much lube I use, ARP sends 2 packages with any of their stud kits. 2 packages will do the entire engine, which includes the cam bolts, head studs, main studs, and MBSP bolts. Which is everything (I think) I use the stuff on.

Amazon had a really good deal on their Ultratorque lube a couple months back and I got a 10oz container of it for like $15. Figured it can't hurt when I need it, and can when I don't have it.

Trying to get a lot of this crap done so that when I do get the block back I can just slot it all in and get it ready to assemble.

Looking for some of these gaskets on the oil pump to rebuild it/change the seals/gaskets. Until I can find them, I won't go to crazy on the oil pump.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442290993

Block in real good shape

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442290993

as are the crankshaft bearing caps

Attachment 237583

Finally got the water return all cleaned up and the rust off the nipple

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442290993

Oil intake pipe cover thingy and bolts

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442290993

Rear main seal seriously degunked(it was bad)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442290993

Mixing manifold nipple is pressed in steel. Paint it!

Also make sure you mic the crank and plasti gauge the oil clearances.

I had the head machinist mic the crank for me to make sure I was ok using standard sized bearings

1.9663" on the main bearings
1.7691" on the rod bearings.

but yeah when I get everything I'll figure out how to use the plastigauge

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442326078


Hnnnnggghhhh oh god that felt good to figure out.

Thank Bryan, no, he didn't figure it out, but he gave cause to an errant thought path that brought me to the conclusion.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442326078

After cracking the 2860 CHRA (holy shit balls that C clip was a challenge)

And parsing the volcanic ash that was my turbo...hello Mr. random ball bearing, what are you doing out there!

Attachment 237582

Opening it up further I found the bearing races in pieces. Sitting in the oil pan for who knows how long must have turned them black.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442326078

I'm gonna go out to eat dinner tonight in solving this mystery.

WOW !!

I think every single one of us would have wondered about this for the rest of our lives otherwise.

Very cool (and disturbing that all that crap made it into your engine)

Which leads me to believe this was the cause to all my engine issues since getting the EFR setup.

Although, where the bearings are, the only path they could make it to the pan is through the oil drain line. So maybe all that shit didn't touch anything in the engine.