I'm probably gonna forget a couple details off the bat so forgive me for that. It's late and all I wanna do is shower and sleep.

So onto the problem:

I believe I have 2 separate problems but lets see what you guys think.

1. I have oil in the coolant. Not much, but it's there under the radiator cap and in the overflow tank.
2. I'm smoking. I believe it was blueish smoke (It was dark last time I took it out). But it would only smoke under high boost (13psi). Yes, this is high boost for me now. Under low boost (ebc off), I would not see any smoke. Under any other conditions I would not see smoke.

Facts:

1. It was a $21 dollar ebay head gasket in there. (I believe Paul may be running the same one with no problems and he's at 300rwhp).
2. Turbo spins freely. No oil/coolant in the intake plumbing. Oil drain leaks oil all over the place, but I think that's a separate issue all together.
3. Head is a 1995 head that was put in 1000 miles ago. The head has about 90k on it and was not shaved or looked at before going back on the car.
4. Oil catch can is overfilled. Oil catch can is plumbed from valve cover thru 323gtx pcv valve to the oil catch can then venting to atmosphere under the car. (Undercarriage is completely cover in oil btw)
5. It is a Protege valve cover in which the baffles were cleaned and resealed. Vent near the TB goes to the catch can, vent at the rear where the coil pack would be is a filter (also oily, but not as much)
6. Dipstick was not blown out so I'm not pressurizing the crankcase.
7. I enjoy beer, vodka, whiskey, and large *****.

Any ideas on what it could be? I've heard things like head gasket + valve seals. Seems like I'm pressurizing the head somehow.

I found one issue with the head gasket vs OEM and I'll try to post those pics later if I can.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

Spelled diagnosis wrong. I just typed it too fast. Can a mod please correct that for me? Thanks.

 

Can help with the spelling, but your motor is another story.

 

Thanks Bruce. You were next on the list to call. I already hit up Paul, Rob, and Tim.

 

Compression/leakdown test?

 

Blue smoke and all that oil in the catch can and under the car would indicate you are blowing by somewhere and partially pressurizing the crankcase. Oil in the coolant is probably the head gasket

 

In other words she's loose at both ends.

 

I didn't do a leakdown or compression test before I ripped it apart.

So Bruce, could a bad head gasket cause the pressurizing too? I have a feeling this Ebay head gasket is ok for NA, but not FI. Ordering an OEM one today from Rosenthal. (unless someone knows where to get one cheaper)

 

Head gasket + Rings

I've had good luck with MLS gaskets from Napa - running a Mazda stock MLS gasket after the complete rebuild - 95% chance this is your oil-in-the-coolant problem

Rings are letting a lot of combustion blow by. Your dipstick wont come out because your block is ventilated via the catch can / breather filter. If your catch can routes back to the intake manifold, and it's overflowing, then this is the source of your smoking under high boost. If your catch can isnt routed back to the intake manifold, you're probably getting oil into your combustion cycle via turbo seals or valve seals.

 

I had the rings fail on my other block before because of steel sandblasting beads. That smoked all the time (even in lower boost). This only smokes in higher boost.

 

I've always been running ebay head gaskets...The Topline one I had was never a porblem. This current $20 one right now is so cheap there's a spot where it wouldn't even fit over the dowel on the back of the head and in the processes the little copper section that seals a oil and water galley come apart form the rest of the gasket. I had to lay it in place as I put the head down...still holding fine

 

Rings

 

My last block would only really smoke in high boost and only really in 1st and 2nd gear.

 

Scott, the only problem is that you're running a 1.6 and I'm 1.8. It looks like the 1.6 ebay gasket is fine. The 1.8 is actually missing 2 coolant holes on cylinder number 4. I see lots of the aftermarket ones are the same actually. So in theory, with cylinder number 4 not getting cooled, I could've blown that ring which is causing my blow by.

Here's the 1.6 OEM vs Ebay:




And here's the 1.8 OEM vs Ebay:





In these pics there's only the one hole missing near cylinder 1. I'll post pics up of my HG. It's definitely missing 2 rear holes for coolant on number 4.

I ran this setup for about 1000 miles only =(

 

Mine blew the rings on cylinder number 2, and had the same symptoms as brainyballs.

It will be very obvious if you have a ring problem (and in which cylinder) when you remove the exhaust manifold.

 

I read somewhere that Mazda had different configurations for different model year 1.8's as an attempt to correct cooling problems.

 

Besides my ideas, which were already said here, I think you could try buying my entire drivetrain so i could go V8