What about the bolt issue? Apparently if it's not the exact right bolt it can seep out. Is this a cascade of oil or a slow drip or just a seep?

Man, that really sucks.. sorry to hear it man :(. NOW, lets try and get somewhere with this, are you 100% sure without a doubt that its coming from the oil pump? There are a lot of places oil can come from that will "look" like the pump. The pump has a bunch of edges on it that can hold oil and make it look like the source.

The bolt was pulled from the 1.6L engine, same location, same A/C bracket. I made an assumption that the front end/oil pump didn't change much. But the leak itself is starting around the pressure relieve valve area of the pump, up top near the o-ring. I am thinking that if the pump wasn't tightened evenly while seating the silicone, it might force a portion of the oring out of it's groove, which might promote leakage. It isn't gushing, but it is a steady drip (more prominent during warm up when oil pressure is quite high).

I'm towing it to a shop in NH where a good friend will take a look at it. I almost want to seek a 1.6L oil pump gasket and just try the shotty RTV+gasket route which has worked for another member.

Either way, EVERYTHING ELSE is great, the engine fires right up and sounds wonderful, but it's not worth risking this investment to break a motor in on an oil leak. Do it thrice, do it right.



Also, I got a job. In Germany. In September. I'd love to see this car to it's full potential before I leave for 15 months.

Well, at this point, it's not the cam seals, nor the valve cover gasket. Those were bone dry after UV test, and I didn't remove the valve cover as I was able to get teh FM Cam ninja tool to lock into position with the timing covers off. I don't know any other way for oil to accumulate at the top of the pump. The pulley might by slinging the oil upward if it was the crank seal, but I had removed it during disassembly and installed a new one upon reassembly with the FM tool, making sure the seal didn't flip out on itself at the crank interface.

I truly am at a loss and do not know how to approach this differently.

So... Does that mean it'll be going in storage while you're gone, or being sold? Not being a vulture, just wondering. Congrats man, sounds very cool!

I am unsure at the moment, it depends on how far I can go with the car before letting it go. I have a set of XIDA's coming in to round out the suspension. Other than the front bumper and fenders and installing the FM butterfly brace, the car will be pretty much where I would have wanted it.

built motor, efr, 6 speed, suspension... it's just begging for some fresh paint and the car is done.

Hmm, on the A/C bolt, i highly recommend putting some RTV on the threads before you pop it in, that way you know its sealed.

the pulley CAN fling oil up onto other things, so never rule that out. Try to get a video of the car running showing the UV and whatnot, maybe we can help.

I'll double check on that A/C bolt, maybe teflon paste instead of silicone. I really want to avoid using that UV stuff again the oil was pretty gross afterward and I don't know how much of it is trapped up in the turbo still (won't cause too much lubricating issues?)

It really didn't look like the A/C bolt was saturated though, but I'll give it one more go.

The oil galley plug right behind the water and oil pump looks to be the culprit. It was grimy and loose. Is this a common issue? It satisfies all the observations made. Leaks whenever running (because it was the oil channel post filter, under pressure). Deposits oil right on top of the oil pump, but no noticeable seepage from cam seals. Easily confused for high pressure o-ring failure. I hope to get my car back this week. It's been a brutal 80 days without miata.

So, did everything pan out with your job and you're keeping the car?

I've taken the job in Germany. I'm uncertain of the cars future, but I need to get it running. Might garage it at my dads place. Might have a friend take care of it. Might sell it, not sure.

Now my brand new water pump apparently leaks right behind the pulley. Is this car cursed?

Why not take the car with you? A turbo and absence of speed limit go together rather well. Ask Zaphod. He's not that far away from Friedrichshafen and should be able to give you some TUEV pointers.

That'd be a lot of fun; if only the car ran first

Ah man. Well at least you got a good gig, and germany is supposed to be a pretty awesome place to be. Best of luck sir, wish I could be of more help. I'm still kinda dumb when it comes to this stuff.

I ordered a new water pump; just have to sell the extra Boundary Engineering Oil pump to make some funds back.

It's so close. SO CLOSE. I almost forgot what it sounds like.

shameless plug: https://www.miataturbo.net/miata-par...-1-shim-80015/

Miata is back and leak free! Just changed out the break in oil and putzing around. Hope to have it tuned soon.

My headlights are doing something funny. One side is up, the other is down. As soon as I flip the switch or turn on the lights, they alternate. Raised goes down, the other goes up. I tried disconnecting one of the retractors, flipping the switch and plugging it back in. It is still flip/flopped. I guess I'll have to adjust that little lever arm on it's splines.

dafuq?!

lol ah man... props for getting the leak sorted. Awesome. Love this car.

Drives around nicely learning and adjusting in megasquirt. I just have to figure out why A/C doesn't work. The whole build is built around keeping that functional. I thought it was low on R134a so the clutch wouldn't engage, but even after recharge it doesn't work.

Is the A/C function affected by MS3, or does it just merely use the input to the A/C relay to trigger other things (like idle up and datalogging)?

Will test for leaks, but it was all working fine with MS1

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1406789806IMG_7205 by Payam Fahr, on Flickr

Holy shit. I need to fly you out here for decent pictures of mine.