NewP5 Owner. Saying Hello!

Make sure you grease your slider pins.
You have to flip the caliper up, then pull it out/off.






Was your piston hard to push back in?
Was it rusty, did it appear seized?

I had a tool to help push the piston back in and it wasn't too difficult. Im not sure what seized would look like. I used the silicone grease that came with the autorock package.
 
A seized piston would be more of a feeling as you push the piston in. It would start getting really hard to push in. If the piston was clean and shiny then it should be fine.

If it looked like my front piston, then it would bind as the rusty part enters the bore.




My rear caliper piston. Lol



The only other thing I can think of is that when you close up the caliper, it is really tight and the brakes may be just "seating" themselves and making a bit of clearance. I don't know about the clicking sound. For me, that's always been with old rusty stuff.
 
Update! After driving about a thousand miles, I can confirm that the car does burn oil. Will perform a seafoam treatment as suggested following the guide from Chris Fix.


More updates to follow.

Again, thank you everyone for your support and continual guidance/mentorship on my p5 adventure.
 
In addition to cleaning the combustion chamber via the intake, I would suggest doing a couple of engine flushes with seafoam or another similar solvent.
 
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Is it the same seafoam that you put into the gas tank?

 
Is it the same seafoam that you put into the gas tank?


Yup, same stuff.






I put a shot of it in with every fill-up and half a bottle in my oil at every oil change.


It's the oil that needs to be treated if you're burning oil.

1/2 a can, run it until the oil is black, drain and repeat.
 
Seven bucks, ... Must be nice.









Walmart Canada...








I get it for $13 a can at Canadian Tire.
 
Update! After driving about a thousand miles, I can confirm that the car does burn oil.

How much oil did you burn in those thousand miles?

Some guys burn a quart every 150 miles.


The distance between the low mark and the full mark on the dipstick is one liter.
 
There's also Berrymans which is supposedly the same thing and under $3.
It's interesting that you use half a can every oil change. The website says 1 oz for each quart and run it for 100-300 miles.
 
Super helpful about the dipstick, I did not know that!

It burned a quart as it was on "low" when I checked the oil level earlier this week.
 
It's interesting that you use half a can every oil change. The website says 1 oz for each quart and run it for 100-300 miles.

That's what was written here in the forum years ago and I've been doing that ever since.

My engine is cleaned out now so I put that half a can in with the new oil and leave it there until the next oil change.
The website said that it's fine to do that and just keep an eye on the color of the oil.
I guess I've been using it at twice the recommended strength but I haven't noticed any issues.
I've been doing it for almost 10 years now.
 
So! More exciting times on the P5. I discovered that one of the engine mounts are broken (boooo) so I would need to get that replaced.

Since that's something I don't think I should mess with (I don't believe I have the tools to even do it) a a mechanic that my community recommends is asking 300 to have that done. does that sound reasonable? Anything on rockauto that you guys recommend?

2nd question. The mechanic also said that i should think about replacing the timing belt again since it was last changed 130K (car is at 190 now). Is this something that can be done on my own or should I have him do it as well?

Again, all of your inputs are greatly appreciated.
 
$300 sounds like a lot of money for a single mount unless it's your rear mount.
That one is a PITA to replace.

You can get a set of all the mounts for about USD 50.



The one side mount is different for a manual transmission and it looks like your only option for that mount is about 50 USD.
You need to remove the pin from your old mount and install it in the new one which is only a bit of a challenge.


The front and two side mounts are quite easy to replace. You just need a 1/2" drive breaker bar, a proper 6 point socket, and maybe a short extension.

A lot of guys just replaced the front and side mounts and just left the rear one alone.
Those three can support the engine quite well, and if you don't drive your car like a race car, you should be fine with three good mounts.
 
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Thank you for your insight as always. I'll verify that it's not the rear mount that is broken. I'll see if I can find a video of how to tackle this challenge.

According to the estimate it is the no. 2 engine mount that needs to be replaced.

Thank you again for taking the time on my amateur hour adventure.
 
Your welcome. I enjoy this.


As far as your timing belt goes, you can probably go a bit longer on that belt.















The timing belt is pretty involved.
I'm pretty handy around cars but I found it quite challenging and I never would have attempted it without the how-to on this forum.

There's a thread about how long people have gone on their timing belt.
Some guys went over 250,000 miles.




Our car is listed as an interference engine but I know of only one guy that had bent a valve while countless others have snapped a belt and simply just replaced it.

One guy snapped his belt 3 times and just replaced it with no damage.


I'm not going to bother replacing my belt again.
I'm just going to wait for it to snap which probably won't happen before my car rots into the ground. Lol

I've got CAA and they can just tow me home for me to replace it if I have to.
 
Ooo that's good to know. Thank you for that. I like the option where I get to spend less money unless i absolutely need it. I'm also liking the 3 engine mount option as majority of my driving are highway miles with some hills and my wife that is learning how to drive a manual so 'we' (she) can get a Mazda Miata in the future.
 
Here's a link about changing the timing belt.
 
I haven't replaced any of my mounts (my engine bounces around pretty bad in the engine bay. Lol
It forces me to drive smoothly and gently, which should help me get the maximum life out of my car. Lol)


I did remove my passenger mount though to do my timing belt and did have to support the engine.

I used the jack from the car and just snugged it up to the engine block on that side.

It's not like the engine is going to drop out of the car but it will sag enough that the bolt holes in the mount won't line up properly when you go to reinstall it.

There is very little pressure on the jack because the other three mounts will be supporting the engine.

Just be careful where you place the jack.
It needs to be near the mount but not pushing on anything delicate.

You do one mount at a time to keep things supported and lined up.
 
According to the estimate it is the no. 2 engine mount that needs to be replaced.
Yeah, that one's easy and cheap.




It's got that roll damper thing attached to it that will have to be swapped over, but you should be able to replace that easily for like $20.

Spend the money you save on a big ole breaker bar and some 6 point sockets if you don't have them.










Ten buck US, plus shipping.


 
My front engine mount was torn too, but I fixed it.







I just jammed two chunks of rubber in there. Lol
 
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