500 + miles and the rings not seated.... Something is not right....

Run a leak down test... that will check the rings and let the story be known.

 

I already did leak down and compression twice. Compression was at 175 on all cylinders and leakdown was about 14% loss on all cylinders.

 

That all sounds good....

smokes only on decell........ the only thing in the block I can think of is the cross hatch finish is improper, and holding more oil, and the oil scraper rings loose seal from the decreased ring load from compression.

And that is a reach..... a verrrrrrry long reach

What rings (Part # and brand)
What grit stone did the machine shop use to hone the block?

 

Will try to get that info.

 

Well, got my car back from the shop last night and it was a very interesting night. The engine builder left the car outside the shop and the keys so I could pick up the car. So I get to the shop that is about 45 min away from my house, and my first thought is to make sure I don't see anything obviously wrong with the car. I pop the hood and fire up the car. I instantly see a spray of oil just gushing right from the turbo feed line. I quick shut off the car and check the feed line and it's totally lose not even finger tight. Both ends too, the line to the 90 degrees elbow and elbow to the feed adapter both totally loose.

So I call the guy and tell him "you got to be kidding me right?, the oil feed line is totally loose and there is oil absolutely everywhere." His response was that he has no idea about any of it and he is not taking any ---- from me. I did not blame him for anything at that point by the way. He keeps saying how he drove the car 4 times and stuff like that. I said, I don't care I just need a wrench to tighten the line and get on my way.

He shows up a in about 15-20 minutes and tries to fix it while at the same time telling my how he made 100% sure it was all tight. So making me feel like I myself unscrewed it for some reason.

So long story short, he can't figure out how to freaking use a damn wrench to put the line back on so I just tell him to give me the damn thing I will do it myself. At that point I notice the retaining c-clip is missing from the wastegate arm. Tell him I can't drive like that and need a new one. He says he has no idea where it is and he is positive it was there when he left the car. Again making me feel like its all my fault.

I drive home with terrible oil smell lingering in the cabin.
Today in the morning I decided to just make sure its all put together alright. And good I checked. 3 nuts on the downpipe were totally loose, a couple were missing lock washers and the most interesting thing was a peice of long rtv shoved inside the oil feed adapter inside the turbo. I took the adapter off and noticed that there was something stuck inside the housing. Took a metal pick and there was a long *** piece of black rtv. I have never ever used black rtv around the area of the turbo and I have no idea how a large peice of rtv would have made itself inside the adapter. My thought is that he possibly tried to use it as a makeshift oil restrictor.

So thats the story from last night. Oh and I have never had any oil in my charge pipe before and today in the morning the compressor housing was absolutely full of it. I specifically checked the charge pipe probably a day of two before I dropped the car off and it was 100% dry.

Now I am totally done with the shop. I am pretty much writing the $2000+ I spent with the guy as a total and absolute loss.

 

Dont really know what to do. Should I demand money back for all the shitty work that has been done? I am not bringing the car to that shop ever again. After seeing that the guy can't even uses a damn wrench.

 

How did you pay? Credit card? If so call the card company and tell them to reverse the the charge.

If cash or check.... 3 words...... Small claims Court

 

Pretty much all of it was paid in cash:-(

 

I do really need to try and pin point what could be causing this smoking issue. Please people give me some places to check.

Could it be related to the pcv system?

 

I went back and read the thread again.... Something caught my eye....

you have supertech pistons.. good

You have NPR rings.... this may be the issue

There is 2 part numbers for the NPR rings

SWT20060-0 for 90-93 mazda Miata

SWT20063-0 for 94-95

Both sets have 1.50mm compression rings....

now the 20060 have a 4mm oil scraper set up and the 20063 have a 3mm oil scraper.

I have checked on ST website and they do not have ring thickness listed, but a call to there tech dept should get you the info.

Do you have the part number of the rings that were installed?

You can put the 3mm rings in a 4mm piston groove and they will be sloppy and will not work properly.

But you would not be able to put the 4mm rings in the 3mm piston groove


Why? Just why? did the builder use cheap OE rings on forged ST pistons? Insted of ordering in the ST ring set? I doubt the price diff would have been $50

 

I thought supertechs come with their own appropriate rings?


Oh how about, I dunno, OPEN UP THE MOTOR?

I swear, you make me laugh and want to rip my hair out at the same time.

page 1: "hi guys I'm burning oil checked this this and this"
- " remove and open up the motor"
- "ok I tried this this and this and eliminated pretty much any other variable"
- " remove and open up the motor"
- " ok guys I took it to the mechanic and he did this this and this"
- " open up the motor"
....
..
page 10: " so guys I don't know what it could be, can you please tell me where to look?"

REALLY?

Check your tire pressure. That's probably it.

 

18psi... they should have, unless he bought them used, or the builder messed the rings up some how.

Also opening up the engine can be scary for some folks.

Even if he did, would he know what to look for?

 

I hear you, its just that he's beating a dead horse. This is obviously way above his head, he's done all the checking on it thats within his abilities, and either has to pull motor and attempt to dig deeper, take it to a pro, or learn to live with the smoke.

Its like going to the dentist and refusing to open your mouth.

 

Just to clarify. Apparently the rings are Nippon steel rings. Don't know the part number but will find out.

And to clarify the issue again. When I decelerate there is no smoke untill I hit the throttle. I get a puff of smoke.

 

But WHY????? use the Nippon (NPR) rings on the ST pistons?????/

Its the rings or the cylinder finish.... thats all that is left

I know you do not like what I am saying, or the others that have been telling you the engine needs to come apart.

But thats looks like what needs to happen.

**EDIT** Update

Well no way oe rings will fit on the ST pistons.

The ST rings are made by NPR

The ring pack that fits the ST piston is as follows

1st ring 1mm (Chrome)
2nd ring 1.2mm (steel)
Oil ring 2.8mm

 

What's the part number on that?

 

ST pn GNH-7850 for the .5mm over = .020
GNH-7900 for the 1mm over = .040

From the ST website

http://supertechperformance.com/pistons.html?id=5

 

I think 15% loss (leakdown) is quite alot for a brand new engine.

Anyway, your options are:
- get a proper oil feed restrictor and try that, if it solves the issue then huray
- if not, find someone who _can_ build your engine and drop it off there.

 

Looks like I got the right parts. Rings-gnh7850 and pistons p4-ma7850-n10

 

So now we are back to square one....

bad cross hatch on the cylinder walls
Maybe improper installed rings ( Who was it in the past couple weeks did that on there rebuild??)