sonofthehill

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patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

Got an update on the 10AE.

So the car has had a mystery small coolant leak. I finally bought a coolant pressure tester to find it.

Well, even after sitting overnight, couldn't' find much. I did find that my brand new (fel-pro I think) thermostat gasket was leaking through the gasket. Not on either sealing surface, but through the gasket thickness itself! Never seen that before, kinda dumb but easy fix.

But that leak was tiny, and no way it was the real leak. It took all night to loose a few drops.

So after going back and forth, I decided that's it, I'm doing everything that's left that wasn't done when I "replaced the entire cooling system".

That included: water pump (which was 5k miles/8years old), heater core (original), gasket on thermostat housing part, o-ring on water pipe that goes into mixing manifold. And new thermostat gasket to replace the new one that leaked.

Of course water pump means timing belt, so I did tb/wp/tensioner/idler/cam seals/crank seals/valve cover gasket. Also cleaned up a lot of the parts/covers while it was apart so it looks better now.

When the water pump was off, there was evidence of it leaking, I think. Also the bearings were notchy, and it had bearing play. So it definitely needed to be replaced.

In the interest of being reliable, went ahead and did the heater core. OMG that was awful. Ended up using rubber hoses just past the stupid o-ring things to make assembly possible.

Also the fuel pump was replaced in 2016 with a walbro 255HP. Worked fine, but replaced it anyways with a DENSO stock replacement. Also changed the gasket on the sending unit for good measure.

And, put a new set of motor mounts in it. Originals were 25 years old. Looked mostly ok, but swapped them.

Got it all back together. No issues.

It drives a lot better/smoother after the new motor mounts. Unbelievable how much newer the car feels with new mounts. I think I'm gonna do the rear diff mounts now just to see if that makes much of a difference.

Fuel pump is now silent, nice.

And.... After driving it a few days, it appears the coolant leak is gone!

So overall, it's now even more enjoyable to drive. This is the highest level of refinement/niceness I've ever experienced from a NA/NB miata. It feels better to drive now than I ever thought a 25 year old car ever could.

Also gave it the first hand wash.

Now the list of things I know it needs is getting quite short: Passenger side soft top seal leaks, need to delete the bose and put in a real stereo, swap stock fogs that are broke for aftermarket that works, and new tires to fix rubbing and oldness. I think that is everything left!

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

Got some updates going on the channel!

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)