Engine Bay Clean Out
 

Good Morning All,
I have an '05 MSM with a FMII setup and am MS3 that is finally fully functional. I've been trying to research what I can clean out of my engine bay now that I've got my MS system up and working and am looking for some help on what under the hood is not being utilized now. I'm unsure of most of the solenoids that are mounted between the water reservoir and the power relays on the passenger side of the engine bay as well as the cluster of plugs just in front of the VVT side of the head just above the water neck. Also the large charcoal canister just left of the throttle. I'm trying to make room for a MOSS coolant reroute tube and it seems to be a little tight right now. Does anyone know of a thread or resource i haven't been able to find that may help? I've seen a number of engine bay pics that have most if not all of this stuff removed I just can tell if its been replaced with something in another location or gutted completely.

Thanks much!
-Jeremy

Where do you live? Do you have emissions or safety where you live?

What you can remove all comes down to what you need to keep the car "street legal".

Fortunately, I'm not in an inspection state (Oklahoma) so the bare minimum is kosher. I've been studying 'The Definitive "How do I catch can" ' thread on MiataTurbo.net and am going to try just putting a breather filter on the exhaust side to get rid of the STB and Oil separator. (Down the road i'll get a catch can setup for the intake side). This is a weekend warrior car that sees little/no track time so lateral G's is not much of an issue. One thing I do need to find is a good how to on modifying the valve cover with the copper scrubbers.

For those that have removed the stock oil separator, did you remove the oil drain line from it and how did you plug where ever it connects to the bottom of the engine?

Thanks again for the help,
-Jeremy

The Cobalt coolant reroute kit sold by Moss will work just fine with all OEM under-hood components in place. Be advised that it isn't really necessary in the '01 and later cars (my personal opinion, not the group consensus) owing to a re-design of the head gasket which addresses the uneven coolant flow through the engine.

There is no stock oil separator on any Miata. Are you referring to the PCV system or perhaps the evaporative emissions control system (which includes the charcoal canister)? A photo would help.

Thanks Joe!
I would love if someone shows how they routed the coolant line in an MSM as it is tight with what I thought was an oil separator. It is the black canister mounted unter the STB mount on the passenger side. It is routed from the driver side vent on the valve cover, through the STB to a canister again mounted just under the pass side STB mount, then routed along the STB to the intake pipe for vacuum I presume. As mentioned there is a pipe out of the bottom portion of the canister that looks to go to the bottom of the engine. This may have been part of the FMII kit that was installed before I purchased the car... This canister is what makes the fit tight between the IM and the underside of the passenger side STB mount and where I'm concerned about rubbing...

Thanks again for the help.

There is indeed an OEM oil separator on the MSM. It's also not that great in stock form. Adding this made a huge difference in oil "consumption" for my track car (with aftermarket ECU). I suppose you could take the system out but there won't be much weight penalty to keep it (with the added check valve) and your car will be cleaner and potentially less smelly.

Missed the MSM part. Apologies for the confusion.

You mentioned VVT, you know you don't have it, right?

You also mentioned the three plugs on the front of the upper timing cover. That's your injector harness, knock sensor, and ECU harness. So yes, you do need to keep those.

Snap a picture of your engine bay and post it, we'll most like be able to help you more. Much of it can be eliminated, unfortunately with a late model car such as yours, it'll be difficult to make it look any better without chopping up your wiring harness.

Thanks for the reply.After wrongly assuming all newer model NB's had VVT I now realize the MSM's dont. I learned something today! :-)

I noticed the stock catch can, which I thought was a small charcoal canister just to the left of the TB attaches to a hard line on the frame rail that I believe runs to the actual charcoal canister. Can the hard line on the rail be capped or does it require vacuum to properly operate the actual charcoal canister near the fuel tank? I'll get pics up as soon as I'm able for additional feedback.

Thanks all,
-J

I would plug the drain on the stock catch can ("oil separator" on the diagram) and add another catchcan and check valve to the stock PCV valve line,
and remove everything highlighted yellow

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...44d5e41a93.jpg

Thanks so much for the diagram and the time on the response irodd. Any ill effects from removing the charcoal canister and accessories that you noted and did you cap the lines to it from the fuel tank or put a breather filter on them?

Thanks again,
-J​​​​​​

I think possible negative effect is uncontrolled tank expansion(or collapsing)
Probably you can keep these parts as the breather line (just check if "Eval Leak detection pump" is open without 12V or remove it).
I am still with emission control - my car is my daily driver, I didnot remove all these parts from my car yet.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3857118caf.jpg