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Noticed that it's still pissing fluid while hot after the seals were ostensibly done. Judging from where the drip is, it looks like the shop cross-threaded or otherwise hosed up the transmission cooler connections. Tomorrow I get to climb underneath with a flashlight to hopefully see where the leak is coming from.
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Feb 10, 2013 07:28
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Coronet XX posted:Are they stamped yet, or still just ink/paint on metal? Texas plates always look so fake to me since they weren't not stamped. Texas plates were always stamped until 2009. I think a handful are still stamped (mostly the "EXEMPT" plates that city/county/state vehicles get). Printing costs a shitload less, and also has a far shorter turnaround time - and the plate doesn't warp when they're printed. There's also like 80,000 custom plate options now, instead of the 1-2 we used to have.  Coming soon to a plastic car near you! randomidiot fucked around with this message at 09:23 on Feb 10, 2013 |
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Feb 10, 2013 09:18
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Well, I found the problem after pulling the valve covers. One of the valve keepers broke up, and one of the rockers seems to have broken along with it. We'll have to pull the head, but the valve seemed to be intact and there was no debris in the oil. It could definitely have been a lot worse. Here is the offending piece of metal in all its glory:  edit: rocker was busted as well, and I am dumb when it comes to IDing Ford small block bits Imp Boy fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Feb 10, 2013 |
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Feb 10, 2013 19:53
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Imp Boy posted:Well, I found the problem after pulling the valve covers. One of the valve seats broke in half, and one of the rockers seems to have broken along with it. We'll have to pull the head, but the valve seemed to be intact and there was no debris in the oil. It could definitely have been a lot worse. That's some serious oil starvation. Better be drat sure to pinpoint the cause before you rebuild it.
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Feb 10, 2013 20:06
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Wait. That's a valve keeper, and they come from the factory split like that so you can install them. Something else is going on here... if that came out, it means the valve is no longer positively engaged with the valvespring, which means it may have dropped into the cylinder too far and damaged something else, though I hope it didn't for your sake. The valve seat would be the part the valve seats against in the cylinder head. Did the rocker failure look like a materials/manufacturing failure, an assembly/install failure, or oil starvation?
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Feb 10, 2013 20:13
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Sir Cornelius posted:That's some serious oil starvation. Better be drat sure to pinpoint the cause before you rebuild it. Will definitely be doing that, the odd thing is that it was running great oil pressure and was full on the dipstick after the failure. It may have been a faulty part or install from the machine shop that rebuilt the head the first time around. Or a clogged oil passage, we shall see. Edit: right, valve keeper. Sorry, I'm still a bit new to engine work and a friend had identified the bit. Rocker failure looked like a material failure, it had a crack on the pushrod side. The valve seemed intact and had not fallen into the cylinder, but it will have to wait for the head to be pulled when more adept help gets back into town in a couple of weeks. Imp Boy fucked around with this message at 20:18 on Feb 10, 2013 |
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Feb 10, 2013 20:14
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Good oil pressure at the gauge takeoff point is not the same as oil pressure and flow to the heads.
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Feb 10, 2013 22:33
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Took the car in for new rear brakes, which turned into rear brakes and rotors, down to metal on metal. Moral of the story, don't lend your car to friends while you go away. I got back and it sounded like my rear wheels were trying to rip themselves off, asked hour long ago it started making a sound and was told like the day after i left it with them. That was a month ago. Never again. Normally if I go away I get my old man to come I've once a week to take it for a short run to keep the battery from packing in but they were away as well.
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Feb 11, 2013 03:13
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trimmed and reinstalled splash guards in the front wheel arches and replaced some missing bolts on my sump guard. no more rattling over speedbumps!
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Feb 11, 2013 04:17
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Bought some RPF1's locally for the track.  Cut and buffed this poor car. It went from pink to red after some 3M Extra Cut III and Foam pad polish  . 
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Feb 11, 2013 05:30
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   Goddamnit. Today was the last day of the warranty, except they aren't open Sundays.  Left a voicemail about it, and already had an appointment to get a few other things looked at, they should cover it.e: looks like the factory emissions warranty is still intact: my.gm.com posted:80258 Miles/8 Year Saturn 96/80M Emission select components * randomidiot fucked around with this message at 07:48 on Feb 11, 2013 |
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Feb 11, 2013 05:48
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Had an EGR failure on a Dodge Ram 1500 2004 5.7L at about 75k, and again at just exactly 150k. EGR also failed on my 1988 Delta 88 at 100k (both cars had expensive tri-solenoid EGR valves). Maybe it just happens? 
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Feb 11, 2013 07:25
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No EGR on this car, thankfully.  For that matter, only 2 vacuum lines too.The only EGR issue I've ever had was on the Altima, one of the lines cracked and caused a low/no flow code.
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Feb 11, 2013 07:31
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Noticed a puddle of fluid under the truck, pulled it into the shop for a once-over. Seems that when I did the thermostat, all the crud that flaked off the hose neck had been forming a seal. I guess since I replaced the radiator cap too, the now-pressurizing system punched the rest of the way through and it leaks from the upper hose now. Should be a $10 fix. Man I love cheap domestic parts.
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Feb 11, 2013 08:46
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the spyder posted:Bought some RPF1's locally for the track. A touch off topic, I know... but I have a ryobi buffer and a bunch of cloth/foam pads. I have no idea how to buff/polish and I'll be doing all sorts of paint fixin' in the spring. Please recommend me a good product line to start with. A good combination of cheap price and decent quality is preferred so I can learn the process without breaking the bank. For right now, I really need a good post-wetsanding polishing compound to finish the paint job on this motorcycle tank.
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Feb 11, 2013 20:11
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Installed a VR-sensor for the crank. Undrilled premade mounting point was a nice surprise:   Then I used way too much time and knucke skin to install a bias-bar pedalbox:        Finally I broke the brake light switch and sheared two out of five bolts on the turbo  ..and picked up the plenum from the welder:  
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Feb 11, 2013 20:50
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Found my second fuel regulator. Yep, The shop installed the new one but left the old one plumbed in too. I only found the old one because yesterday one of the hoses cracked and pissed fuel all over my drive-way.
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Feb 11, 2013 23:02
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Dropped the car off at the shop. After closing time, so no loaner until whenever I can find a ride down there tomorrow. Oh yeah, no bus service in my area (nearest stop is 3 miles away), so getting to class will be.. interesting.
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Feb 12, 2013 07:31
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 Put this on yesterday. I know it's dumb but it makes me smile. Dropped it off at the shop today for oil change and broken tie rod replacement/alignment.
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Feb 12, 2013 18:39
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I've been getting a fuel system code in my GTP that I've narrowed down to the evap canister. Pulled the splash guard to reveal a part that is nothing like what I bought. poo poo. Returned and on order for tomorrow. Also did the plugs and boots in the girlfriends Focus. Fixed the rough idle. Its been down on power and chugging more gas than usual lately. The balls are back but only time will tell if the fuel economy will return. That little fucker used to get 35+ mpg most times, but down around 30 lately. Hopefully it'll be a little less thirsty too.
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Feb 13, 2013 01:46
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Grumbletron 4000 posted:Also did the plugs and boots in the girlfriends Focus. Fixed the rough idle. Its been down on power and chugging more gas than usual lately. The balls are back but only time will tell if the fuel economy will return. That little fucker used to get 35+ mpg most times, but down around 30 lately. Hopefully it'll be a little less thirsty too. What did the old plugs look like?
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Feb 13, 2013 01:55
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Got a tyre plugged on the Fairlane. The rears need replacing because they are only a hair's breadth off the wear indicators but I don't have a spare $300 or so to get a pair of cheap and nasties for the back right now so $30 on a plug it is.
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Feb 13, 2013 02:06
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EightBit posted:What did the old plugs look like? They all looked like this. Brown, not oily at all. The electrodes look a bit worn to my untrained eye. 
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Feb 13, 2013 02:40
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Grumbletron 4000 posted:They all looked like this. Brown, not oily at all. The electrodes look a bit worn to my untrained eye. That looks like a perfectly normal used plug. Replacing them didn't hurt anything, but that's not dire "electrode is totally gone" major decrease in fuel economy worn out. I'd check the air filter if you haven't already done so.
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Feb 13, 2013 02:48
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Geoj posted:That looks like a perfectly normal used plug. Replacing them didn't hurt anything, but that's not dire "electrode is totally gone" major decrease in fuel economy worn out. That's about what I thought when I looked at them. They were the OEM plugs with 102k on them so they were due to be replaced. Changing them made a noticeable difference in the idle and it definitely feels more eager. The air filter does look crusty so I'll be picking one up tomorrow when I get the part I have ordered for my car. I've found that A girlfriend with a smooth running car is a happy one.
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Feb 13, 2013 02:59
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Grumbletron 4000 posted:They all looked like this. Brown, not oily at all. The electrodes look a bit worn to my untrained eye. Without a shot directly from the side it's hard to judge the gap due to perspective, but that looks pretty large in the shot here. 102k is probably a bit high for the mileage (or kilometer-age?); you may not be out of the woods yet but the plugs were not helping.
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Feb 13, 2013 04:29
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I imagine those are NGK Iridium plugs? They look okay, gap a bit big, but otherwise the coloration is pretty good.
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Feb 13, 2013 04:36
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I filled up the LPG tank. Not very exciting but it was interesting. I haven't run it on LPG since I fixed up the fuel pump's petrochemical bukkake fetish. Although the LPG setup is technically too small for the engine and the energy produced by LPG is lower than petrol, the engine still seems to have more power running off LPG. It throws no codes while running on petrol so I'll have to look a little deeper into it.
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Feb 13, 2013 04:49
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DJ Commie posted:I imagine those are NGK Iridium plugs? They look okay, gap a bit big, but otherwise the coloration is pretty good. I'm pretty sure they are iridium but the only marking on them is a part number. I replaced them with autolite platinums. I'd like to have gone with OEM but they didn't have them in stock. Ford calls for a .051 inch gap. I gapped the new plugs and eyeballed them next to the old ones. They were close enough that it didn't matter.
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Feb 13, 2013 14:10
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Ugggggh. Dropped the MS6 off for scheduled service and to get a quote on replacing the heater core since I'll be hosed before I tackle that job again. Anyways, they found the front axle shaft is leaking AGAIN. Already had it replaced under warranty once at this same dealer.
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Feb 13, 2013 17:07
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Holy gently caress it's been an exhausting 24 hours for a gearhead. Last night I attempted a bodgy-as-gently caress heater bypass. The parts stores around here sell heater hose connectors that have fittings for either 5/8 or 3/4 inch ID hose on each end. Not knowing which mine were I grabbed one of each, which was fortunate because predictably, I have one hose each size. So, having nothing else on hand, I took the 5/8 connector, wrapped it up with some filament tape and clamped the larger hose down onto it. It held, temporarily; as I was at the parts store returning the unused 3/4 one and replacing my PCV valve (so my engine doesn't blow high-pressure blowby gas out the pinhole in the oil filler cap) I noticed it was starting to come apart, so I went inside and grabbed some wide 3m tape. Went to class, came home, went to the store again after I discovered I was missing specifically the one allen wrench I needed to get the calipers off. Parked it in the driveway, came out not 5 minutes later to see a fresh puddle of coolant beneath the truck. So I redid it, but I'll get to that later. Because before that, I did front end work. I finally got my brake parts and new control arm (but not the new mirror glass I ordered and paid for THANKS NAPA) as I was doing the bypass last night. So today was the time for that. Driver's side went smoothly, no problem. The passengers side made me want to rip my loving head off and toss it in the middle of I-4. I did the upper control arm first, which was a bitch since there was barely any space next to the manifold to undo the 2 nuts holding it on, and then wrestled with it for about 45 minutes trying to get it off those two studs before I thought to undo the nuts holding the actual arm to the pivot bar. I then got to spend another 15 minutes swapping the loving bump stop of all things, since apparently "complete assembly" means "comes with everything installed except the cheapest piece of rubber in the entire suspension. They were this type:  and that skinny bit had to be pulled through a slot in the arm. I tore most of it off, even after coating it in grease, but it eventually seated and I got it buttoned up nicely, and started on the brakes. That's when it started raining. It got to a high of 86 today, and then a cold front came through. It was drizzling in spurts as I was pulling the old rotor and pad off, and right as I went inside to install the new bearings is when the faucets opened all the way. I got to put the rotor, outer bearing, and new pads on in the chilling rain with the wind blowing. At this point I'd been going for about 5 hours nonstop. I was literally crying as I put the caliper bolts back on, but I had to keep going because I need the truck for work tomorrow. The worst of it is, I had been inches away from shelter the whole time. There's a bunch of my mom's poo poo in the garage, but had I known it would rain I could have cleared enough space to at least get the nose under the roof, but by the time the rain started in earnest I had it totally disassembled so it was stuck on the jackstands. So I finally get the wheels back on, lower it down, pull it forward to get started fixing the heater hoses and of course that's when it decided to stop loving raining.  This job sucked. I bled, I cried, I first sweated in the February heat and then shivered in the cold rain as my clothes got soaked. I'm kinda zoned out even now as I type this post up, and I feel like poo poo because (as if enough didn't go wrong today) I missed my loving workout AGAIN. But god DAMMIT, my loving brakes work now. I'm gonna go have the last 3 beers in my fridge. And then probably some whiskey. Fender Anarchist fucked around with this message at 04:24 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 04:10
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Installed the correct sized main and rod bearings.
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Feb 14, 2013 04:17
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I did a lot of small, menial jobs today that I had been putting off, mostly of the electrical nature. I also took out the gauge cluster trim and repainted it because humidity given it a ton of little white bumps. Jobs completed: Aux Fuse panel installed to run small accessories (I made this thing back when I was planning a few more circuits). I drilled a few holes in the CC brain case to mount my fuse block, circuit breaker, and relay. The two circuits it's running are an XD-16 and LC-1. The screw terminal strip mounted to the plastic piece is just for grounds.  I also ran a direct feed to my Walbro GSL392, 10AWG, probably overkill by a lot but it's what I had around. I mounted the relay and fuse in the passenger footwell hidden behind the carpet, there was a conveniently placed lug there to attach the relay.  Repainted the cluster trim as I said in the opening. The flash washing out the image makes the paint look a lot more grey than it actually looks in real life. While it doesn't look "brand new," it looks much, much better than it did.  And finally I got my black knob boost controller mounted in cabin. This was an old Porsche 968 cubby which had an analog clock where I now have my MBC.  Pardon all the dust, it's been close to two years since I've cleaned or even driven the car.
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Feb 14, 2013 05:50
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Ordered a bunch of parts to begin the race prep of the Miata - for now just tuneup stuff, plugs, wires, fluids, gaskets, and more. Once I flush all the fluids and do the tuneup I am going to start gutting the interior and do a straight pipe exhaust, maybe with an electronic cutout so I can keep it barely street legal as a backup car. I will probably run a few autoX sessions with the stock Chinese tires/brakes, but I will definitely upgrade to some RPF1's, direzza star specs, and hawk pads before I take it to a real race track. Anyone in upstate NY wanna help? I have a garage, tools, and free beer. 
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Feb 14, 2013 19:34
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Finally changed the oil.  Which ended up taking twice as long as it should have because the drain plug was torqued to approximately one thousand foot pounds.  The old oil was pretty sick looking. I should probably write down the mileage so it gets changed on time next time.
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Feb 15, 2013 02:06
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Finally got it back from the shop. New driver's side sway bar end link, new sway bar bushings. No more clunking!  They also fixed the wiring to the evap purge solenoid (new plug), so no more CEL. Total cost: $0... exhaust still rattles really bad, they said "this is normal". I'll go up to the DIY garage and throw it on a lift next week and see if I can figure out which heat shield is loose.I doubt I'll use CarMax for repairs again now that I'm out of warranty; getting a loaner is nice, but their hourly rate is $99/hour.. and 2 days to fix an end link and bushings. I need to find a good indie shop for when I run into something I either can't tackle myself or don't have time to tackle. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 03:52 on Feb 15, 2013 |
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Feb 15, 2013 03:49
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Voltage posted:Ordered a bunch of parts to begin the race prep of the Miata - for now just tuneup stuff, plugs, wires, fluids, gaskets, and more. Once I flush all the fluids and do the tuneup I am going to start gutting the interior and do a straight pipe exhaust, maybe with an electronic cutout so I can keep it barely street legal as a backup car. I will probably run a few autoX sessions with the stock Chinese tires/brakes, but I will definitely upgrade to some RPF1's, direzza star specs, and hawk pads before I take it to a real race track. Anyone in upstate NY wanna help? I have a garage, tools, and free beer. Just FYI that no track that I know of will allow an exhaust system that terminates below the vehicle. Also in my opinion you'd be better served to get tires and brakes first and w/e exhaust you want much later, if you're looking for a setup that is actually faster.
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Feb 15, 2013 03:59
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I was getting sick of looking at my stupid silver-painted plastic hubcaps with their stupid fake chrome lugnuts, so I bought a set that didn't try desperately to look like alloy wheels, painted them black and put them on: They look pretty decent to me, but I'm considering whether I should refinish the steelies in silver and put on the 106 Rallye-style centercaps I found on Ebay.
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Feb 15, 2013 16:58
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VelociBacon posted:Just FYI that no track that I know of will allow an exhaust system that terminates below the vehicle. Also in my opinion you'd be better served to get tires and brakes first and w/e exhaust you want much later, if you're looking for a setup that is actually faster. Doing the exhaust is pretty low priority at this point, suspension upgrades, wheels/tires would be first. I got up under the car yesterday and it looks like most of the exhaust has been recently replaced so I'll leave it as is until I have absolutely everything else done.
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Feb 15, 2013 18:21
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Voltage posted:Doing the exhaust is pretty low priority at this point, suspension upgrades, wheels/tires would be first. I got up under the car yesterday and it looks like most of the exhaust has been recently replaced so I'll leave it as is until I have absolutely everything else done. That sounds like a good plan. I'd also be aware that if you're hoping to get into autox, most groups like SCCA and similar will have your miata in a really ultra competitive 'sport modified' category if you do much to the suspension. It's sorta a tradeoff IMO, my friend has an S2000 that is primarily prepped to be maxed out for a lower tier of AutoX and he had to forgo many suspension upgrades that would have really made the vehicle more fun to drive in order to stay in the less competitive class. I think if you do so much as put multi-adjustable coilovers on your vehicle it'll be competing against really strong cars. Fake edit: Actually your miata, stock, is in the SSB category (Showroom Stock B), but when you start modding the suspension past a point ends up in EP (E production) with SC lotus's, SR20 240's, ported RX-7's and the like, up to 450hp I believe.
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Feb 15, 2013 22:08
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