15 replies to this topic

[dmq]

So I finally finished my car and promptly blew my 150,000 mile 1.6 motor in my second race. I bought someone's spare motor that has under 50,000 on it and am waiting for it to be shipped. I picked up an engine hoist off of craigslist, so now what? I've been searching and reading as much as I can find. Based on what I've read, I think I'll remove the hood and radiator, disconnect everything and pull the motor with the transmission. Simple. Yeah, well I guess I'll see.

What else should I do while I have it pulled? Anything I should do to the newish motor before it goes in?

All tips, advice, warnings, lessons learned, and links to how-to's would be greatly appreciated.

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[Greg Kimble]

Get a load leveler, it will make the job of getting the motor/trans in and out much easier, about $40 from Harbor Freight. The FSM has a good step by step guide for removing the motor. While you have it out, I would clean the engine bay well with degreaser and a pressure washer.

Greg

[dmq]

Thanks, yeah I scored a lift with a load leveler off craigslist for $50.

[Dan Cooper]

While it's all out, it's probably worth splitting the trans/engine and checking the clutch/flywheel/PP.

[Richard Pressman]

I always remove the front sway bar, too. One less thing for the engine to get hung up on. Only takes another five minutes.

Before installing the "new" engine replace any rubber part/hose/seal you are not absolutely sure about - mounts too.

[Dave Metz]

[quote name='dmq' timestamp='1312243809' post='11214']
So I finally finished my car and promptly blew my 150,000 mile 1.6 motor in my second race.

I don't feel so bad now... made it through my second race, was qualifying for my third when mine blew this weekend. Let me know how it goes! I'm looking for one as well, only a 99 1.8 version. Good Luck.

[Alberto]

You may need to remove the front bumper/nose. I did. Definitely remove the sway bar and radiator.

While you are there...
1. Replace the rubber coolant plug at the rear of the motor.
2. Replace the rubber plug behind the alternator / in front of the oil filter.
3. Clutch disk if worn.
4. Rear main seal if leaking. If it ain't, don't touch it.
5. Trains front seals if leaking. If it ain't, don't touch it.
6. Timing belt and associated stuff?
7. Remove the trans with the motor (easier IMO) and add this stuff to the underside of the trans tunnel and the driver side firewall. http://www.summitrac...rts/DEI-050503/
8. Wash/Clean the engine bay.

[wgroves]

Bag and label all your hardware. Tag label all vacume hoses, wiring, etc Keep good notes as you disassemble. Take your time and be methodical. Once you have the engine/trans pulled, the easy part is done. Your challenge then is getting everything back in properly. Good Luck

[Jason J Ball]

Its much easier to accomplish swaps with Motor and trans as a unit. Getting the motor coupled to the trans while still in the car is not impossible, but you'll need additional hands. I like to take off the valve cover, coil pack, and CAS because even with the load leveler, you'll have trouble getting the motor mounts to drop into the sub-frame holes without bashing the firewall. Removing sway bar and radiator are a must.

[Keith Novak]

Pilot and throwout bearings would be good while you're in there as would the clutch line with a braided line if you've been considering it. They're much easier with the engine out than in. Don't necessarily worry about hooking up brackets or plastic deelies that hold wire bundles to the back of the starter and such. Be careful with the fuel injector o-rings. They're easy to nick on installation and a little nick will spray a lot of fuel that might take a session or two to start spraying. I'd get a couple spares, and a spare fuel rail plastic insulator. When you knock one out into the engine bay they're hard to find.

When you get to the rear PPF bolts, loosen them but don't remove and whack the head from the bottom with a hammer to dislodge the top nuts.

Be very carefull if you stop late in the evening with something half done and note where you're at. It's an easy way to forget to hook something up or torque something down.

[Gunpilot]

I just went through the same senario.

I decided to pull motor WITHOUT the tranny. It actually went smoothly. Stabbing it did take 2 people and some foul words. Jacking the tranny as high as it would go and using a leveler on the motor helped.

I did a full rebuild on that motor, but the one thing I suggest is to clean fuel injectors. I rigged up a device using rubber hose and a syringe to pressurize the injector with carb cleaner. I fabricated a switch and used a spare battery to activate the injector. I cleaned reverse flow first and then normal flow. This is the same technique used to clean my pool filter (alternating between reverse and forward flow). I know there are cleaning services available, but I like trying to do as much on my own as possible.

Doing this, I actually found an injector that was stuck open (flows with now power applied). Use pleny of vasoline on orings to prevent damage.

Here is a link to video of me running the injectors on a bench in my garage.

http://s447.photobuc...elinjectors.mp4

Oh...take pictures of everything before you remove old motor. It helped me out many times.

[William Keeling]

2. Replace the rubber plug behind the alternator / in front of the oil filter.

I have never found a part number for that -- does anyone know it?

[davew]

I have never found a part number for that -- does anyone know it?

The guys at Mazda know how to find the number. I keep a couple on hand, but throw away the baggies when they arrive.

[dmq]

wow!!! thanks for all the great info. This site (more the old site) was probably my main source of info for building my car. Its awesome to have so many knowledgeable people just a few clicks away.

[Tom Hampton]

I have never found a part number for that -- does anyone know it?

Part numbers for 1.6L (I don't know if they are the same for 1.8 or 99):

Alternator/Oil filter water cap:
Cab be found on the engine block page at mazdaspeed.
Cap: 10-328
Clamp: 18-291B

Rear of Cylinder head water cap:
This is located on the cylinder head page at mazdaspeed:
Cap: 13-104T
Clamp: 15-538

[dstevens]

Tom has the D Codes listed, from those you can get the part numbers. It's pretty cheap. I'm about half way through a rebuild right now. I did gaskets rings and bearings. I'm measuring every thing to make sure its still within spec. At 80k there was some blow by and a few seized oil rings and a couple of big end bearings that were suspect. Pics at the link in my .sig.