Massive smoking issue & crappy idle - after major "improvement" 2003 Mazda Protege :(

Great job, looking good.

In another thread (perhaps the one that's linked in this thread), someone mentioned that there are oil passage holes in or near the ring grooves in the pistons that clog up. They theorized this was in some way responsible for oil burning and recommended drilling them out to a larger size. Do you do this on your rebuilds of this engine, Maxx Mazda?

I would use a ball hone, if available. They remove less material and do a great job of breaking the glaze.

Maroon said:

Great job, looking good.

In another thread (perhaps the one that's linked in this thread), someone mentioned that there are oil passage holes in or near the ring grooves in the pistons that clog up. They theorized this was in some way responsible for oil burning and recommended drilling them out to a larger size. Do you do this on your rebuilds of this engine, Maxx Mazda?

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I've heard of that for the Toyota 1ZZ engine, but not this one.

No I don't drill them out larger because I use forged components which already have larger holes by design. As long as they are not blocked, they should be left the original size to prevent over-oiling of the cylinder walls.

Thanks @Maroon. Re the oil holes in the piston, I soaked each piston in carb cleaner and cleaned the holes as best I could with a chunk of one of the oil rings, small drill bit and some lockwire. Followed by several shots of carb cleaner in each hole. I think they're likely as clean as they're going to get. It looks like the drain hole comes out the chamber/pin where the piston head rotates. I saw that comment about upsizing the holes but I don't want to mess with the design in this case.

@Mrgiggles I'm pretty sure that's what the machinist lent me.

I watched a few youtube videos on deglazing last night - a crash course... I'm going to spend the first shot cleaning up the block/parts and then I'll give it a go later this afternoon. I see a lot of people use WD40, should I use that, synthetic, dino or???

LostinCanada said:

Thanks @Maroon. Re the oil holes in the piston, I soaked each piston in carb cleaner and cleaned the holes as best I could with a chunk of one of the oil rings, small drill bit and some lockwire. Followed by several shots of carb cleaner in each hole. I think they're likely as clean as they're going to get. It looks like the drain hole comes out the chamber/pin where the piston head rotates. I saw that comment about upsizing the holes but I don't want to mess with the design in this case.

@Mrgiggles I'm pretty sure that's what the machinist lent me.

I watched a few youtube videos on deglazing last night - a crash course... I'm going to spend the first shot cleaning up the block/parts and then I'll give it a go later this afternoon. I see a lot of people use WD40, should I use that, synthetic, dino or???

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I've always used WD.

The cylinders need to be washed really well afterward to remove all the grit. A rinse with brake parts cleaner, and then hot soapy water will probably work best. Then immediately oil with whatever you'll be using in the crankcase. They will rust in no time if you don't.

Thanks @MrGiggles! I guess I better pick up that Dino oil before I start the project then. I have some synthetic left but I've always understood you shouldn't mix the two? Not sure if the article was accurate or not, but I read recently that synthetic actually creates a barrier to dino on bearings etc. if you mix them beyond a certain proportion.

Looks like fun! makes want to rebuild my old engine. Just got new one running last night. Runs nice and NO SMOKE! (yippy)

Just got to put the wheels and hood on, and take it for a drive. Thinking about buying my friends 02 protege sedan as a back up/extra vehicle.

Congratulations! Hope it stays that way! Still working away at the cleanup process on the bits from my rig - in between other work - so it will be a bit before I'm ready to run mine - still have to collect a few more gaskets and seals from Mazda.

OK I have two questions!

Oil pan - how important is the paint inside? I was cleaning bits and pieces yesterday and noticed the inside of the oilpan has a coating of dark brown paint. Inside the pan, the paint is not chipped, however light rust is starting to bleed through the paint. As well, where the silicone was, the paint seems to be only one coat and it was missing in a few places. In the end I used a wire wheel to clean off the old silicone so of course it is even more missing on the sealing surface. Do I need to repaint the inside of the oil pan or just put it back as it is? There is a baffle at the bottom of the pan so that will impede a complete coat but since the bottom of the pan usually is full of oil hopefully this wouldn't matter. If I should paint it, is there a certain type of paint to use that won't break down in the oil?

Cylinder head bolts. Ok, so I'm a nerd, when I pulled out the bolts, I measured them against book specs for stretch - standard is 114.2 - 114.8 max length 115.5. My bolts were all within spec (standard). The machinist said it was really important to change them anyway and gave me a bunch of compelling sounding reasons. The Mazda bolts were $15/ea trade price so I went with aftermarket - ajusa? Made in spain... says they are for the FS engine... Anyway, when I measured the bolts, and as best as I can see that small, they all seem to be around 113.5/113.8mm. Should I be concerned about that?

OK third question! How do I deglaze the cylinder without harming the oil jets? The few references I found say you have to destroy them to remove??? Please say there is another way!

LostinCanada said:

OK third question! How do I deglaze the cylinder without harming the oil jets? The few references I found say you have to destroy them to remove??? Please say there is another way!

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You'll have to be very careful with the depth. That's another reason to go with a ball hone, you won't hurt the jet if you snag it.

It's not a huge deal if you can't reach all the way to the bottom, you only need to run the hone where the rings contact the cylinder wall.

I wouldn't worry about the oil pan. If you paint it, there is a good chance of it flaking off and clogging the oil pickup. It'll never rust while submerged in oil anyway.

Thanks for the quick reply! Moment of panic... LOL. I had a closer look at the situation and I see that the oil squirter is in the protected zone below the piston travel - I will plunge carefully with the ball hone then. The machinist was recommending protecting the crankshaft with a rag but since it is defended by the oil squirter and I can rotate the crank to a lower position for each cylinder I won't bother.

The new head bolts will be shorter because they haven't been stretched yet. The length specified in the service manual is for the reuse of bolts that have already been torqued. Do not paint your oil pan inside.

Thanks!!! That's what I was hoping re the head bolts. Cylinders honed - no casualties! Weird mark in #4 gone - YAY! Off to get some dino oil and more brake clean... gawd that stuff goes by quick. Then more cleaning to do...

Any tips for cleaning the head gasket side of the block? Can I get away with very light scotchbrite? Machinist was talking about using a file wrapped with very fine grit emery paper and back and forth motion... don't have any file but would any straight edge do? Or?

Red or green scotchbrite but be sure to rinse all the crud out of the oil and coolant galleys after you do it.

Your final clean of the cylinders must not be with brake clean. Use soapy water with a scrub brush to make sure you get rid of all the particles from the cylinder walls. Use compressed air to dry it afterwards.

I ended up using a razor blade (carefully) and finished with the steel straight edge with 1000 grit wet/dry - think it turned out ok. I don't have compressed air here so I guess a dry towel will have to do. Out of curiosity can't the final wipe be brake clean if you wipe it down with oil next?

The oil is only to prevent rust. I use 50W so it sticks.

To answer your question, no. Brake cleaner is a solvent based cleaner and won't remove everything. It may appear clean, but scrub with soap and water and then look at your rag. It'll be black. Even after you've used brake clean.

Ahhh - got it. Thanks.

Well? What's the story?

Ahhh yes... thanks for asking! Work in progress, sidetracked by life a little. Had to give back the loaner truck today so the pressure is on to get my ride back in order. So far got the cylinders honed; pistons installed; bell housing to block re-mated; lower and upper oil pans forensically cleaned, siliconed and reinstalled; head installed/torques - holy crap that was a fun job! (rolleyes) ; lifters, cams, caps and sprockets installed; starter taken apart, cleaned and reinstalled; exhaust manifold/CAT reinstalled, various hoses, bolts fittings reconnected.... AND the rear engine mount from hell FINALLY installed after carrying the darn thing around for 6 months. It was torn too so glad I won. Changed the first three (two were torn) with zero difficulty, but kept getting stumped on the lower 10mm nut from the electrical bracket - what a dumb ass design! They totally could have moved that bracket over so the lower bracket stud was in the middle (and well above) between the two engine bolt studs/nuts adjacent to the firewall. Tried bending the stud out of the way to get on the affected 17mm nut but ended up rounding the nut so in the end I cut the offending stud off with a hack saw... may it RIP. The torque on the last nut was particularly difficult to break despite repeated and prolonged soaking and I didn't want to risk pooching it further. The upper nut will have to take the load of the wiring harness from here on in.

Tomorrow it's intake and timing... and all the other remaining bits and pieces... fingers crossed I can run it and if so no issues. Looking forward to tearing down the road and seating those new rings! AND hopefully finding that my oil is not all departing out the exhaust anymore - or anywhere else for that matter.

One potential glitch is the shaft popped out of the seal in the transaxle (from the Passenger's side) and I lost a lot of fluid. When I pushed the bell housing back with the engine block the shaft seemed to go back in place, however there is a risk that the transaxle seal is no longer in properly. I'll have to keep an eye on that. I heard a loud sucking sort of pop when I was prying the bell housing apart (carefully) and after investigation discovered that was the cause. I sent a PM to the poster of the original how-to thread and he said that didn't happen to him. So it's worth noting to watch out for this, though I'm not sure one could prevent it. I certainly didn't have a huge gap to work to access the 10mm bolts for the upper oil pan with so it must be a fine line. Anyway, I'll report back once I refill the reservoir and check for leaks.