CW-VIESOCK

Nice that a roadster is helping one of here step-sisters.

jdcorbitt3

Seperateed the transmision for the engine. the IMS bearing looked new. there was no wobble in the bearing bolt and it spun smooth with no jittering. I did not fail.
I took the head off. the cylinders had absolutly no scoring. i dropped the oil pan and blew out the oil jurnals. I found a small piece of ferous metal in the descending jurnal from the scavange pump. there were absolutly no other particals in the engine. the bullet caused the pump failure and resultant bent valeves.
no valves broke and they appear to just have pollished the pistons where they hit. I havent found where this piece of metal came off. i am thinking it might have been loose in the engine from the factory for a while.
looking at the internals, this car was very well maintained.

jdcorbitt3

bent Valves and the Bullet

Macster

Kind of off subject, but one can see from the first pic the location of the oil level (and temp) sensor and why having the car on a slant can affect the reading so much.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Macster

The valve/piston contact is interesting in that it was enough to mark the piston/valves, enough to bend the heads, but not enough to cause the heads to come apart from the valve stem.

Valves are not homogenous, but are made up of 2 and sometimes 3 different pieces: The head, stem, and the stem tip.

These 3 pieces have different metallurgy to deal with the very different functions they much perform and the conditions under which they have to perform their functions. The pieces are friction welded and finished machined.

Like almost everything else in the engine that they work at all is amazing. That they work as well as they do and for in all but a few cases for as long as they do without any problems is beyond amazing.

Sincerely,

Macster.

jdcorbitt3

The engine was idled for less than 3 seconds when the guy heard the rattle and shut it down. That is what saved it.

John

jdcorbitt3

I got the s engine today. I pulled the IMS bearing cover on the s engine. The bearing appeared new. It shifted off center so now I can't put the cover back.

logray

Alert! Were the 3 externally accessible chain/paddle tensioners removed and engine locked at TDC prior to IMSB flange cover removal?

jdcorbitt3

I locked the engine at TDC and removed the timing chain tensioners, but I did not lock the cams. I put the tensioners back in. I think the exhaust cam on bank 1 jumped a tooth. I have to get a cam lock from Pellican. I am really getting tired of this car. $350 for a water pump kit, $600 for a bearing. There is nothing magical about any of these parts and this car is mass produced. The parts shouldn't be 10 times that of a normal sports car. This isn't a Gulfstream, but I feel like I should be calling 1 800 965 GULF for parts.

lml999

Hope you didn't tow it too far. AFAIK the official towing capacity of the Miata is "O lb". I think you were over the factory spec.

Page 3-11 in the '99 Miata manual: "Never tow a trailer with your Mazda."

We do live in a world of "we pay our money, we takes our chances" but if you had to make an emergency maneuver with that setup and lost it, your insurance company (and the insurance companies of any other involved parties) might not look kindly on your exceeding the towing spec.

Not giving you a hard time, we're all grown ups here. We evaluate the situation, we make our decisions.

Shoot, I've driven a stick shift car wearing ice skates...

Seemed easier at the time to keep the skates on to drive from one pond to another, but it was a bit cumbersome...

Lee