How long does it take for you to make oil pressure?
 

Ok my HLAs are rattley as fuck. The previous owners did not really use the car much (it was only a runnaround for a middleaged missus to go to the shops in) and the oil was black as sin. I have changed it about 3 times now in less than 1000 miles and its looking cleaner. I have also tried all sorts of HLA cleaning treatments with varying success.

Now when I start the car up first thing in the morning from cold then it will rattle worse than a Massey Ferguson and it will take about 4-5 seconds for the oil pressure needle to rise. Now after this happens the HLAs will then either quiet down to a tick or to complete silence.

So I suppose the question is how long does it take for you to make oil pressure? And is bag of spanners on startup normal?

When I'm running normally I get good oil pressure so it couldn't be the pump could it? perhaps all of the shit thats blocking the HLAs is also gumming up the pumps pressure bypass valve?

I'm going to pull the head sometime soon to do some porting and whilst I'm there I figure I'll give the HLA cleaning writeup on Mnet a go, can't hurt right?

Opinions, ideas and flames welcome.

Thanks

What weight oil do you use? Something a little lighter when cold may help, like Mobil1 0w40. I have pressure after 2 seconds in my turbo'd daily driver with 255k miles running 10w40 or 20w50. My other turbo'd Miata has oil pressure as soon as it starts, I use the M1 0w40 in that, motor has about 90k miles on it.

I used some 15w40 mineral shite for flushing and now running some semi synthetic 10w40. I thought that using a lighter oil would get me less pressure. Or does it flow into the HLA more easily through the tiny shit encrusted oil passages?

Higher pressure doesn't mean better. It could mean that the oil can't get to where it's going as easily. Block all the oil passages and you'll get some crazy pressure. That doesn't mean your engine is safer. Thinner oil will get up to the head(valves/lifters/cams) quicker.

Cool might try me some nice thin shit then next time I change. The bag of spanners noise isn't going to kill my engine is it? Just the HLAs taking a few secs to fill?

I can only tell you what worked for me. 5w30 (I used Castrol GTX) does help quiet HLA's a bit quicker than the 10W30 or 10W40. I know some have gone to the 0W40 but I haven't tried it so can't comment on that.

clean and uncompress the lifters.

What oil filter do you use. And speak english please, lol.

ATM I'm using fram. :eek5: I know I know Devil Filter :eek5: But its all my parts shop stocks. The owner is about 50 years old, grumpy as hell and firmly convinced that Fram is the best! I'm trying to get him to order me some wix filters.

Brain by uncompress and clean do you mean take the lifters out pull em apart and soak them in cleaner to remove old oil and sludge as per the write-up on the Mnet Garage?

Thanks for the replys guys.

Well, you already know that Fram eats big, fat ,hariy ass with a spoon, but why the fuck don't you just go buy a real filter elswhere.
I had a terrible cold-start ticking myself, I started using just the regular mazda filter or a M1 if it was on sale or something, the ticking is gone, nothing else was changed or cleaned or anything.

I'll just chime in quickly to give a +1 on the 0W40 idea. After experimenting with a number of oils back when I first got my car ~4 years ago (a '92 which had 45,000 miles at the time) I settled on Mobil1 0W40 and have used it ever since. When the lifters start taking more than a few seconds to go silent in the morning, I know it's time for an oil change.

At startup, it should only take about a second to make oil pressure, so that's a bit of concern. This could however simply be the result of using a shitty oil filter that permits drainback after the engine is shut off. As an experiment, I suggest you head down to the parts store and splurge on an M1-104 filter. If that improves the situation, then great.

Disassembling and cleaning the lifters, or just replacing them altogether, is probably the ultimate solution as Braineack says. If you're feeling spendy, you can buy new ones for $6.95 each here: http://www.store.partsdinosaur.com/product974.html

Personally, I've had my head apart twice in recent years, both times I've told myself "I gotta replace those damn lifters" and both times I've slacked off and not done it. They may be a bit noisy, but they work.

I thought it was an M1-108?

M1-108 is the oil filter which is officially specified for the Miata. M1-104 is the filter which is specified for Honda B18 series engines. As I used to own an Integra, I had one left over after I bought my Miata, and decided to give it a try. It has the same thread, O-ring, drainback valve, and overpressure valve as the M1-104, however the canister and internal media are slightly larger both in length and diameter. I postulate that this causes it to be slightly superior, both in filtration efficiency and pressure drop, and therefore use the 104 on my car.

Others have reported using the filter spec'd for the Millenia, though I don't know the P/N on that one.

Zabac, I only went with the Fram beacuse it was a case of "Drained oil = check, removed old filter = check, replaced sump plug = check......fuck I forgot the new filter!!" So I got what ever he had. Unfortunately I dont have as many cool filter options in the UK. I can get Fram, Champion, and halfrauds own brand and I classify all of these as shite. The only good filters I can get are WIX and Mazda so I think I will get a nice WIX because the MAZDA stealers want rediculous money for the OEM filters.

Joe, Great tip on the Honda filter. I'll check the application guide whilst I'm in there next. I used to work in the store so they're used to me digging through books crossreferencing bits and bobs for my mad projects. I think you are right about the reason its taking a while to make pressure. The Frams are known to have weak ass floppy drainback valves.

So list of things to do in order of priority.
1 - Stop being a winey pussy and live with the rattle for a bit.
2 - Next oil change (I've only just dont it) Switch to WIX and a nice 5w30/0w40
3 - When I have the head off clean/replace lifters as required
4 - When I have the sump off for tapping inspect OP for wear and clean.

Thanks for the input guys and I will let you guys know how it turns out with the oil&filter change in a few weeks. I am just far too tight to change the oil a week after I spent money on 10w40 synthetic :bang: Well actually I have some left so I'll grab the WIX and just top up with 10w40 and see how much difference it makes. I always find it so hard to change one thing at a time. I just get too enthusiastic, jump in and do loads then wonder what I did that actually fixed the prob :D