Brian_K's Build Thread

I ran mine under the rear subframe too. s*** was ungodly loud, but the turbo whistled like a 18wheeler.
Seeing your progress makes me want to work on mine. Im just too lazy though

haha your old exhaust was the reason I decided to give it a try. Don't get me wrong it sounds really good, but I felt bad when I drove by my neighbors and all the little kids covered their ears...

btw do you have everything for your KL swap yet?
 
started on "fixing" my paint issues this past weekend. 3/4 door handles have clear coat failure. My original plan was to remove the dead clear coat, re-clear and then blend everything. I'm horrible at paint prep/blending, so this is good practice. Ended up taking off too much paint on the handles and just decided to repaint the whole thing lol.

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Single stage duplicolor. Not the best, but it works. Still need to add a couple coats of clear this weekend.

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and the rear valence... completely forgot I originally used plasti-dip (hate this stuff) and then sprayed over it with some cheap matte black paint when i started to chip lol. Not sure what i was thinking back then... Anyways the plasti-dip was at the point where it was too old/brittle to peel, but still a pain in the ass to sand down. Ended up removing most of it with my finger nails and a bondo spatula lol.

sanded/prepped and painted with leftover single stage automotive paint from when I painted the roof.
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Also retrofitted an old yakima roof rack since my p5 didn't come with one. works well
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This past august I completely uninstalled the turbo kit since I had to take the car in for its 2-year smog check. It passed with no issues but around the same time I had noticed an increasing amount of oil being burnt.

Did a compression check about 6 months ago and all cylinders were at 170-175psi dry, So i assumed the valve seals needed to be replaced. I was losing about 1/2-3/4qt of oil every ~400 miles. To my knowledge the engine still had the original valve seals which isn't too bad considering it currently has 196k on it. I was going to pull the head to do it, but a bit of poking around on the internet led me trying the rope method with a few other tools.

I used the following tools:
- Lisle 36050 Valve Keeper Remover and Installer Kit
- Generic ebay no-name valve seal remover/installer kit
- Nylon rope

The Lisle valve keeper remover/installer worked extremely well at both removing and installing the keepers on the valves. It easily saved me a few hours and a few bucks from being forced to remove the head and replace the head gasket/cylinder head bolts. If you're going to replace your valve seals I'd also highly recommend picking up a cheap valve seal remover/installer kit off amazon or ebay. It works way better than attempting to remove them with needle nose pliers.

I was also originally going to replace the valve seals with OEM Mazda ones, but decided to try the Beck & Arnley branded seals since I didn't feel like spending an arm and a leg on a very high mileage motor. I also recall reading that the FelPro kit supplies identical seals for both the intake and exhaust, which causes more leaking. If anyone is interested, here are the part numbers. The seals are also manufactured in Japan :)
022-1631 (exhaust)
022-1630 (intake)

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I still need to put more miles on the car to see if the valve stem seal replacement has fixed my oil consumption issue, but I'll post an update in a week or two.
 
So glad youre still keeping the p5 alive. On of my favorite p5s for sure
Thanks man, I've really let the car go the past year. It needs a lot of work. How've you been?



Did you check for seized oil rings??
(I didn't read your whole thread)

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123770462-Smoke-on-cold-start/page2

That's my next guess if the valve guide seals don't fix it. Is there an easy way to check without disassembling the block? I'm assuming that's the only other thing that would cause oil consumption if everything else checks out. Although it seems like the small cloud of smoke that used to come from the exhaust under acceleration has disappeared but I'm keeping my fingers crossed lol.
 
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Yes,.. Easy test.

Leave your car out overnight then in the morning remove a plug (or more) and look down on top of the piston. If you see oil, your valve seals are leaking.
If they're dry, replace the plugs, start your car for about 20 seconds then shut it off remove your plugs and check your pistons again.
If they are now wet then your oil rings are seized.

Your rings don't sound like they're fully seized...
Some guys were smoking out entire neighbourhoods.
 
Yes,.. Easy test.

Leave your car out overnight then in the morning remove a plug (or more) and look down on top of the piston. If you see oil, your valve seals are leaking.
If they're dry, replace the plugs, start your car for about 20 seconds then shut it off remove your plugs and check your pistons again.
If they are now wet then your oil rings are seized.

Your rings don't sound like they're fully seized...
Some guys were smoking out entire neighbourhoods.

Thanks, I'll test it this week and see what happens.

After going through the thread you linked in your previous post it sounds like the issue is inevitable, especially on a high-mileage motor.
 
After going through the thread you linked in your previous post it sounds like the issue is inevitable, especially on a high-mileage motor.

I think I'm on top of it. I change my oil every 3,000 miles and put half a can of Seafoam in with every oil change.
I don't burn a drop of oil at 245,000 km.
 
Yes,.. Easy test.

Leave your car out overnight then in the morning remove a plug (or more) and look down on top of the piston. If you see oil, your valve seals are leaking.
If they're dry, replace the plugs, start your car for about 20 seconds then shut it off remove your plugs and check your pistons again.
If they are now wet then your oil rings are seized.

Your rings don't sound like they're fully seized...
Some guys were smoking out entire neighbourhoods.

good info to know.
 
I think I'm on top of it. I change my oil every 3,000 miles and put half a can of Seafoam in with every oil change.
I don't burn a drop of oil at 245,000 km.

Interesting, I'll keep that in mind. I've been changing the oil every 3-4k (except for my most recent oil change :/), using synthetic. It might be too late but i'll give Seafoam a shot before my next few changes.
 
Interesting, I'll keep that in mind. I've been changing the oil every 3-4k (except for my most recent oil change :/), using synthetic. It might be too late but i'll give Seafoam a shot before my next few changes.

I figure if those tiny little drain holes on the pistons haven't completely clogged up then you've got a chance to wash away some of the buildup over time.

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123665633-How-to-Clean-your-engine-with-seafoam

https://seafoamsales.com

Apparently switching to regular Dino oil reduces your oil burning a great deal.

My engine is free of sludge now so I put the seafoam in with the new oil and leave it in the full 3,000 miles. That way it's constantly cleaning away crap.
 
I figure if those tiny little drain holes on the pistons haven't completely clogged up then you've got a chance to wash away some of the buildup over time.

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123665633-How-to-Clean-your-engine-with-seafoam

https://seafoamsales.com

Apparently switching to regular Dino oil reduces your oil burning a great deal.

My engine is free of sludge now so I put the seafoam in with the new oil and leave it in the full 3,000 miles. That way it's constantly cleaning away crap.

Yea that's what I'm hoping for. Are you running regular dino oil in your p5? I've always thought running synthetic is better all around, but I've also read numerous threads on the bobistheoilguy forum stating the opposite. I also didn't know you could run seafoam for the entire life of the oil. Looks like I have a bit more reading to do than I originally thought lol.
 
Yes I just use whatever is on sale at Walmart. 5W30
I believe even cheap stuff is gonna last 3,000 miles. I just want to dump it before it fills up with too much carbonizing lacquer.

You can leave the Seafoam in all the time once all the sludge has been dissolved and drained from your engine. You just need to keep an eye on your dipstick and check for color.
I'm sold on seafoam. I add a shot to my gas tank with every fill up and if my idle starts to bounce I put some up the brake booster.

My car runs great with a smooth idle and doesn't burn any oil,.. Too bad its a rusty turd.
 
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Yes I just use whatever is on sale at Walmart. 5W30
I believe even cheap stuff is gonna last 3,000 miles. I just want to dump it before it fills up with too much carbonizing lacquer.

You can leave the Seafoam in all the time once all the sludge has been dissolved and drained from your engine. You just need to keep an eye on your dipstick and check for color.
I'm sold on seafoam. I add a shot to my gas tank with every fill up and if my idle starts to bounce I put some up the brake booster.

My car runs great with a smooth idle and doesn't burn any oil,.. Too bad its a rusty turd.

I just figured synthetic would deal with the heat better than conventional oil, but you're right if the oil is replaced every 3k miles it shouldn't matter much. I'm going to try adding it a few hundred miles before my next oil change and add it earlier each time. I agree Seafoam works great as a fuel system and intake cleaner I just haven't touched the stuff in a while. Lol luckily rust is one thing I don't have to worry too much about where I live.
 
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