Author: Seb Palmer

At this point I’m starting to lose count of how many times I’ve taken stuff apart and put it all back together. But I guess it’s all good, in a way? As with repetition comes better facility.

I’m posting this in its proper timeline sequence, but retrospectively. And as a result I’m a bit sketchy on detail. But I think at this point I had the engine back to life, running. But it wasn’t sounding strong or healthy.

I.e. the timing was still out somehow. My intuition told me that it was probably the trigger wheel. which can be seen behind the harmonic damper in the above image. Just two of the teeth are visible in this shot.

In removing all of this stuff initially – trigger wheel, damper/pulleys, and central crankshaft wheel – I’d needed to use mucho persuasion! This lead to the trigger wheel getting somewhat deformed, by the time I’d banged/prised it orff…

I used numerous hammers, mainly large heavy soft-headed types, and some vice compression action, to flatten the bugger! And then I re-installed it, making sure it was properly aligned: concave face forward, convex rearward, locator pin in hole, and engine TDC, resulting in the top tooth (of just four!) being just past 12 o’clock.

With the trigger wheel replaced and hopefully now in its proper position, I had to once again set up the timing. By now I’m getting quite good at this. That said, it’s always hard work!

I didn’t super document any of this, given I’d done it all before. Instead I photographed the bits that were specific to the days’s work

Pictured below was a bit of lower engine detail I’d missed before. The plastic clip and metal doodad I’m holding should be affixed to part of the three-part front engine cover, which protects the cam-belt and pulleys. but two thirds of that isn’t back on, due to it being k-nackered!

Once this fixture was removed I cable-tied the lead out of harms way. All of this business required, once again, the drainage and removal of the radiator and various pipes and hoses.

Having lived with a bodged radiator plug fix up till now, the arrival of a new genuine Mazda radiator plug was most welcome. There they are, directly below, and facing the same way. The old one is completely jiggered!

With the trigger wheel properly installed, and the new radiator plug allowing a coolant refill, I took her around the block, and then parked her up in her accustomed spot. And all was well! (Aside from the persistent coolant leak!)

By close of play today the engine was running much more smoothly. And where before she’d struggled as you increased revs, she was now sounding consistently healthy across the whole range. Result!

Whilst I suspect nobody cares about this opinion, and probably rightly so, here goes… I’ve always disliked opera. In fact I’ve pretty much always hated it.

It has always evoked the spirit of the gentry playing at being shepherds like the overprivileged tits they are. The mannered vibrato heavy self-satisfaction that opera singers favour is, after little girls screaming (I’m surprised no military has weaponised that awful sound), and death metal screaming/grunting, possibly my least favourite type of sound the human voice can make!

Over the years a few pieces have snuck through chinks in my anti-opera armour. But today I think I might’ve found a doorway into appreciating this appallingly overblown art-form. At least sonically. The answer/trick? Turn it way, way, way down!

We’re out in the garden, it’s beautifully sunny, birds are chirruping, and all is well with life. We brought a DAB radio my mum recently gave us – thanks, ma! – out with us. And I put BBC Radio 3 on.

Bass singer Matthew Rose is presenting Inside Music, and I’m really digging his choices. Even though they are quite often a bit off my usual musical map.

Today I didn’t do that much on the car. I re-filled the radiator with coolant. My sealant gasket fix of the radiator sump plug seems to be working, which is great (although I also have a brand new plug on the way to me).

[video?]

I also torqued the crankshaft main bolt, to 160 NM, which required dropping the sway bar again, and removing some o’ the upper pipe works. And then, not forgetting to reconnect the negative terminal on the battery, it was time to have another go at starting her up. I was totally convinced it would be exactly as before, and not work at all!

So it was gobsmackingly amazing when the engine actually fired and turned over. I’m not a religious man, but… Hallelujah! Seems my timing belt change was successful after all. Sadly this state of bliss didn’t last long; the engine, whilst running, sounded bally awful, spluttering and struggling. So I switched her off, pronto.

Going round to the engine bay revealed an almost explosive looking oil leak had occurred at the rear of the engine. So I had to clean that up, and then take off and re-seat the cam cover. Whilst I was at it I cleaned up and removed the previous gasket sealant. I then refreshed the latter, with a new application, and re-seated the cam cover. Sadly I don’t have a small/low enough torque wrench for the final buttoning up.

So I’ve ordered a smaller (5-25NM) torque wrench, via Amazon (pictured above). That ought to arrive tomorrow. Once I’ve torqued off all the bolts topside, it’ll be time to try again. Third time lucky!?

I’ve learned a lot, and enjoyed working on the car. That said, there were some hairy/sweary moments. And occasionally it was too much like hard work. That one episode where I worked on one nut/bolt for about three hours was not a favourite moment!

And we’re still not there yet. There are at least three things still outstanding: 1) Have I sorted out the oil leak? 2) There’s also a very slight drip-drip-drip type coolant leak from somewhere on the thermostat housing (despite the new gasket). 3) Did I bugger the trigger-wheel when struggling to get the crankshaft pulley off?

This last is a bit of a worry, as it concerns the accuracy of the timing, as did the whole cam-belt replacement shenanigans. Apparently it can quite easily by put on the wrong way round. It’s also supposed to be quite specifically aligned. I’m not sure mine is right in any of these respects!?

My thoughts at close of play today are that I’ll have to wait for the smaller torque wrench, then tighten off ye engine and try it again. If she runs and doesn’t haemorrhage oil again, I’ll take her for a shirt run around the block. But I’ll most likely need to get her to a garage to have someone competent look over her… hmmm!?

And finally, what about work? Last Friday I did a full days’ teaching, for the first time in two weeks. My journeys were long and very arduous: two trains, a bus, and a long walk either end of the day, with a taxi journey in the middle!

Will I be able to teach tomorrow? It looks unlikely. I don’t want to lose that school and those pupils! Perhaps, if I get the car running tomorrow, all will be well and back to normal? But what about getting to a garage and checking the trigger wheel, etc?

* It didn’t work, sadly. So I wound up using a pair of circlip pliers, instead.

Yesterday a thermostat gasket and engine under-tray bolts arrived. I fitted the thermostat housing gasket quite late in the day. I’m holding off on the under-tray until she’s working again, or whatever else may transpire (gulps!).

I ordered a radiator sump plug replacement from MX5parts, which won’t get here til Monday or Tuesday, and being impatient to get the 2nd fix tested, I thought I’d attempt a DIY repair of the old damaged plug.

I sanded it down with two grits of sandpaper, and cleaned up with a scalpel. I then used the gray gasket sealant I was supplied by BOFIracing. Just checked that… ‘Allow 24 hours to fully cure’ ! Well, that will still give me a potentially usable plug a day or two earlier than waiting for the new part.

I’ve let it cure for about six or so hours, and installed it. It went in very easily and nicely. It may need tightening up a little bit more. I’ll wait till tomorrow, and test it with a wee bit of coolant.

As can be seen from some of these photos. I got under the car, partly to put the radiator plug back in. Let’s hope it holds! Whilst under there I got shots of other things, like the oil sump plug. No leakage there. Very gratifying!

Did a load of other stuff around the home today: put the towel rack that had fallen off back up; cleaned the living room window and frame; cleaned and refreshed the lounge to kitchen door paint, which had gotten mucky and grim looking.

Also tried a set of buffing pads – pictured above – I got from Amazon Vine, on the headlights. The plastic over these has become very cloudy and dull. This means the headlights are a lot weaker, as the plastic is nearly opaque!

I have to say that I’m not sure the five grades of pad, coarse to smooth, really did very much. The pics here suggest a very minor improvement. If any!?

I’m itching to try the car again. but I need to torque up the crankshaft bolt, and I’m scared that doing so will knock the timing out of alignment. I’ll wait till tomorrow. And I can try out the radiator coolant as well.

* I’m an idiot! Of course there aren’t any leaks… I haven’t re-filled with coolant yet. Dumbkopf!!!

Whilst engaging in a spot of FB banter/lurking, this topic somehow hove into view, along with a parallel thread in which ‘Trane was compared with that other modern deity, Elvis (Baz Luhrmann has a biopic on the latter coming out soon, God help us!)

I wondered, did the Oops, er… oops? I mean the Pope (I love that predictive rendered Pope as Oops!), know of this beatification?

A bit of Googling revealed that John’s elevation to sainthood was actually a demotion from godhead! And not via the ‘purple inflatability’ of the Oops. Oh no! It was the AOC, or African Orthodox Church (of America) that sanctioned this sanctifying:

‘In September 1982, Coltrane was officially canonized as a saint by the AOC.’

[Source, NPR. Read more here.]

I love a great deal of John Coltrane’s music. And I also dig a great deal of Alice Coltrane as well. She was a super-spiritual sort as well. It’s kind of cool, as well as downright weird, that ‘A Love Supreme’ has become a kind of hymn and regular service at the church that bears his name.

I find it all totally understandable. John and Alice have made music with tremendous emotional and psychic or spiritual power. But these are vexed terms and ideas, for me.

Not going to say much about it all here and now. Just observe that these things are whatever they may be. They exist!

After the crushing disappointment of yesterday, having re-assembled everything only to find the engine still not working, I was back at it again today.

I do feel I’ve learned a bit. As I was able to dis-assemble everything I needed to, tweak it – the timing, in particular – and then re-assemble it all, much much more quickly and competently than I did first time.

I called BOFIracing, and also emailed both them and MX5parts with a pic, regarding an extra and errant lead/connector that I can’t match up with a socket. Neither could tell me straight off what it was (BOFI got back to me saying it’s something to do with AC). But it was suggested that whatever it is, it isn’t the reason the engine still doesn’t start.

Talking to BOFI was a bit different today. I bought the cambelt set and cam cover gasket from them. And they’ve been pretty patient and helpful thus far. But the guy I spoke to today seemed a bit impatient. He recommended I watch a video that would tell me ‘everything you need to know’.

The video he linked to (here) is a carpassion video that I’ve already watched several times. And whilst it has some helpful info, it’s far from ‘everything you need to know.’ In order to get all the necessary knowledge, I’ve had to watch loads of YT videos, and cobble together an entire process from many disparate bits and bobs.

By way of explanation, the VVT timing belt video the BOFI guy recommended – linked to above – is done with the engine outside the vehicle. So there’s nothing in it about how to remove the cam cover top, VVT swing arm doodad, or loosen the alternator, etc, to remove the belts.

Anyway, today’s work went a lot quicker and smoother than on previous days. And as the first two photos directly above attest, the timing wasn’t aligned as it should have been.

But to find this out required, as previously, quite a lot of dis-assembling: I drained the coolant again, and took the rad’ off, again. I also drained the (new!) engine oil. The latter was leaking a little under the sump. But despite the little leak the main thing was I’d bought and wanted to fit a new oil filter.

To get the old oil filter off, and the new one on, I had to remove a chunky metal part (the intake manifold brace, acc. to Greg Peters). Prior to this I couldn’t get a grip on the old filter. The extra bit of space created by removing the mysterious metal member meant I could not only remove the old filter, but I could also install the new one. Very little of this job has been easy!

So my disassembly this time was a wee bit more complex and involved than before. But this ultimately made others tasks easier. I drained the coolant and oil, recycling both, as both were new in yesterday (and not cheap!). I had to filter the coolant, as some crud had gotten into it.

All the usual rigmarole was required: I took off the negative terminal of the car battery; the spark-plugs were removed, the VVT stuff lifted out of the way. I loosened off the alternator and the other thing (AC?), to get those two front belts off. This then allows the water pump wheel to be removed. With this, and all the pipes and wiring removed or disconnected, I could concentrate on re-setting the timing.

There were sundry things along the way, such as taking apart the thermostat housing, and cleaning the now set liquid sealant from where the two parts meet. The temporary gasket idea didn’t work! I also totally trashed the little plastic radiator drain plug. It had been in a lousy state from the get go. And deteriorated rapidly when used.

Anyway, as the three or four pics directly above show, first I aligned the cam pulley with the notch and lone locator tooth, lining them up as best as I could. Then, with the two idlers loose, I set the right (E for exhaust) cam and pulley wheel. This was a tooth or two out before. I zip-tied it off, Greg ‘carpassion’ Peters style.

Next I torqued the right non-moving idler to its specified 32 ft/lb or 42 NM (using torque settings I found here). I then adjusted the intake cam (I, and also VVT, in my case), which was a whisker out. Once that was right, I re-attached the tensioner spring on the left idler, let that find its natural position/tension, and torqued that up as well.

Snipping the zip-ties off, I then put the whole lot through two full rotations. Some folks say you should do 1 & 5/6ths rotations, but that only works – I think? – when checking against some marks on part of the cambelt cover I didn’t re-install (because those bit were all busted up!). After two full rotations everything was still aligned as I’d set it. And, as the fourth of the above pics shows, the camshaft pulley remained TDC.

I also counted 19 teeth between the two TDC (top dead centre) points. This isn’t easy on a VVT engine such as mine, because whilst the the exhaust cam pulley has an E marked at the appropriate point, the I/VVT side doesn’t. But both have marks lower down that can be aligned with recesses on the backing plate.

With the timing set up as it should be, I re-assembled everything else. Having eventually added a new oil filter, I refilled the oil. Some has been lost, inevitably. I haven’t added the coolant however, as I need a new radiator drain plug and thermostat housing gasket. The old plug is totally, erm…. pluggered!

I’ve ordered a new thermostat housing gasket, from MX5parts. Whilst I was getting that, I also ordered four new bolts for the plastic engine under-tray. The latter was held on by just two bolts and a cable-tie! It should be fastened at six points!

So what remains to be done? First I need to replace the radiator plug, which was damaged to start with, and has deteriorated beyond rescue now. Then I need to install the thermostat housing gasket. With both of those things done, I should be able to refill the rad’ wi’ coolant.

I also need to torque the camshaft bolt, to roughly 168-9 NM. This is one operation I’m a bit confused and cagey about. Do I do it purely against the natural resistance of the engine? Or should it be in gear with the handbrake on? Or do I lock it off with spanners and a wrench?

I might also need to torque the engine oil sump plug. I think I already did this? But I’d better check for oil leaks and re-check the torque setting tomorrow. And talking of torques, I better also check the cam-cover gasket bolts as well!

I don’t think I’ll bother putting the engine under-tray back on until I’ve got the car running again. Ditto for the cam belt guards. Please, oh ye Gods of the Mazda MX5… please start!

Today, Tuesday (actually yesterday, as it’s past midnight now!), was a real mofo! Certain steps in this job that seasoned mechanics might do in seconds, took me ages!

I didn’t take so many pictures today. I hope I won’t wind up regretting that? Pictured above is how things looked after a good five or six hours of work. Everything off, ready for new cambelt, and pulleys.

Getting the harmonic damper and the main cam shafts nut off was very tricky and time consuming. Rust had turned the several pieces into a single monolithic block. Much WD40, hammering, and swearing, was required!

Panning out somewhat, so as to see all the gubbins.

Lining up stuff on the windowsill. Some of those plastic bits, that shield the cambelt, etc, need replacing, as they broke (due to bolts that wouldn’t come out!)

A before and after shot; cleaning up fixtures and fittings, prior to gradual re-assembly. And below, the old idler wheel and the new one. Shiny!

And, also below, the other idler, this time avec spring arrangement. For the left (alternator?) side. New pulley and spring; old bolt and spring cover, the latter both cleaned up.

And now three pics zooming in on the new idler/pulley wheels.

And lastly, the two of ‘em, shiny and lovely.

I didn’t photograph loads of this stuff. For example, my three hour plus struggle with the hideous bolt holding the alternator at its junction with the engine block.

Today was a day of much anger, swearing and frustration! it wasn’t just the aforementioned nut that was driving me nuts. The harmonic damper was a real mother to remove. And the camshaft itself?

I thought I was going to lose it! But eventually I prevailed. And in the end the job progressed, albeit much more slowly than hoped for, to past the halfway point, as new parts were added.

The light was starting to fail, after 12 hours more or less solid work. So Teresa held a torch for some of the following photos. Above, the cambelt goes on.

With help from Teresa, we got the damned cambelt installed. I also set the harmonic ding-dong to its intended position.

So, that’s it for this post. A few more pics. But not much to say. A frustrating and very tiring day. Working slowly. Oh so slowly! But getting a bit of DIY style atisfaction

Last of all, in my working duds! And beaming in a grimy way…