My 02 P5 Build

$50 for that beast..lucky dog

Yeah, not too bad for what it costs new.

Unfortunately the surround is a little rotten. There is a speaker rebuilder in Springfield that I will visit on Monday to try and get a replacement surround from.
 
My JDM engine arrived yesterday. So far it looks really good, super clean, oil cap is clean, no sludge.

I will get it up on the stand tonight and start tearing it down to the long block, with plenty of pics.
 
My clutch kit came in as well:

Liking the build so far. Lemme know how that Exedy clutch treats you, I'm thinking of going with the same one on a engine/trans out of an ES sedan thats going in my P5 (eventually). I'm guessing the new engine came with a flywheel?
 
My clutch kit came in as well:

Liking the build so far. Lemme know how that Exedy clutch treats you, I'm thinking of going with the same one on a engine/trans out of an ES sedan thats going in my P5 (eventually). I'm guessing the new engine came with a flywheel?

I'm gonna reuse the flywheel. The JDM engine came with a flexplate for an automatic. This clutch doesn't slip or chatter, so the flywheel should be okay. I'm just changing the clutch while I have everything apart so it's good to go. As far as I know it is original, and can't have much life left. I've read that Exedy is Mazda's OEM clutch supplier, so it should treat me well.

You guys will have to forgive me, I got caught up tearing down the engine and forgot to take many photos. I did snap a couple after finishing:



Here is a break down of the JDM engine thus far.

The Good:
1. Oil pan and pickup were clean, no metal particles.
2. Valve cover is clean, no sludge or deposits.
3. Coolant passages are very clean.
4. Outside of the engine is very clean. No visible leaks.
5. Appears to be low mileage like the seller said.

The bad:
1. Upper timing belt cover was broke.
2. Throttle shaft was bent.
3. Whoever banded the engine to the pallet did it right on top of a coil pack, breaking it.
4. Engine did not come with starter, so I can't compression test it yet.
5. This engine is an FSZE, not an FSDE like the ad says. The intake cam is stamped FSH9
 
In case anyone is still reading, the engine swap is done and finished. In my usual style, I got caught up in the job and forgot to take any pics.. Nothing really groundbreaking anyway.

Everything went well. Had some trouble with the axles being seized, but I didn't have to remove them anyway. That's something I'll have to deal with later. My engine mounts are absolutely trashed too, so I am gonna order the set of those today.

The engine runs perfectly smooth and powerful, except for an occasional loping idle. I don't have a functioning PCV yet, so I will replace that and see if it helps. I did plug the vacuum hose though. We'll see what happens. No DTC's yet except for the P0037 which I had before the swap.

The Exedy clutch works perfectly. The old disc had a lot of friction material left, but the release and pilot bearings had a lot of wear. I think somebody might have thrown a clutch disk in it but didn't replace those parts. Shady.....

I will be doing a postmortem of the old engine to try and see what was going on. I need to part it out anyway. You could see where oil was leaking out of the exhaust and running down the engine, and if you peek through the intake ports there is a bunch of oil leaking down the valves.
 
Last edited:
I always plan to take pictures and do a little guide... then my laziness gets to me and by the time I am done, no pictures.

Sounds like your story was a success! What did you have to do to make the FSZE work? I know people do it all the time, but I just want to see if you experienced something different?
 
I always plan to take pictures and do a little guide... then my laziness gets to me and by the time I am done, no pictures.

Sounds like your story was a success! What did you have to do to make the FSZE work? I know people do it all the time, but I just want to see if you experienced something different?

I'd probably take more photos if I had a good camera.. I've been using my phone, which takes great pics, if the lens is clean and you can hold steady enough. Then there's the matter of uploading them from it, which is tedious. One of these days I will buy one.

I stripped the ZE down to the long block, and used the old intake, all the sensors, crank pulley, and exhaust. The engines are identical aside from the pistons and cams.

I've read that you have to run premium gas to avoid detonation, but I don't know how much truth there is to that. The knock sensor can detect detonation way before we can hear it and the ECM dials back the timing accordingly... I've got 87 in the tank right now and am not hearing anything, but I'll try some premium the next time I put some gas in.

Later on down the road, I may consider a tune to try and take advantage of the cams and higher compression.

I got some motor mounts ordered, a set from Amazon for like 90 bucks. We'll see how good they are, but pretty much anything is better than what I've got now.. The front and passenger side mounts are completely separated.
 
Last edited:
this may seem like a stupid question.. but when you took the headunit frame out... did you note anything in there to put it back into? mine seems to be missing everything involved with the headunit. no frame in there at all, just some loos ewires. i dont see anything for a frame to even connect to.
 
this may seem like a stupid question.. but when you took the headunit frame out... did you note anything in there to put it back into? mine seems to be missing everything involved with the headunit. no frame in there at all, just some loos ewires. i dont see anything for a frame to even connect to.

It's just a blank opening when you pull out the factory HU. Then you can either install a DIN cage or dash kit. I just used the cage. It slips around the HU and locks it in place. You slide it in the dash first, then there are tabs around the outside that you bend outward to hold it in. Once that's done, you just connect the wiring and slide the HU in, and it will lock securely. They require special tools to remove, which are usually included with the new HU.

You can see the cage well in my third photo.
 
This morning I was getting a P0171 code which I hadn't had before. Having the PCV out lets un-metered air into the intake tube, through the tube that runs into the valve cover. Took me a bit to figure that out. Air getting in past the MAF=lean condition.

I cleared it and installed a new PCV. So far it hasn't come back.

The car still has a bit of an idle hiccup.. Not sure what's causing it, the RPM's jump slightly (similar to when you flip the A/C on), then dip and stabilize. It will do it every 3 minutes or so when warm. Might be the EGR, although I'm not getting any codes.
 
this may seem like a stupid question.. but when you took the headunit frame out... did you note anything in there to put it back into? mine seems to be missing everything involved with the headunit. no frame in there at all, just some loos ewires. i dont see anything for a frame to even connect to.

I always wondered about this...I was never sure because early on my car was broken into and everything was ripped out
 
I took it on it's first 50 mile trip yesterday. Ran perfect, but the P0171 appeared again, after installing a new PCV.

I had suspected that the injector seals were leaking and confirmed it today with a couple shots of brake cleaner. The idle completely changes when you spray the base of the #1 and #4 injectors. I removed the fuel rail when swapping the engines and didn't reseal them....

Any suggestions about where to get the seal kit from? Rockauto has it, but I'd rather not wait.
 
None of my local parts stores were able to get the injector seals any time soon, and they were significantly higher in price, and required a freight charge. Got all 4 kits shipped from Rockauto for 15 bucks.. Order went out today and will hopefully be here Monday, which is also when my motor mounts are supposed to arrive.

I also ordered a leather shift boot with red stitching and a new shift knob from Amazon.. Will report back with photos when I get those. I've been running the OEM knob that is absolutely trashed.

I also want to shorten the shifter a little. I've read that some people have removed the extension and used a set-screw type knob, and I think that's what I'll try.
 
Well I continued with the postmortem examination today. Confirmed my suspicion about the stuck oil rings.

This engine had a lot of sludge in it. The previous owner was not good about oil changes. Lots of oily carbon on all combustion surfaces. It was so bad that you could see where oil was running down the front of the motor, leaking out of the exhaust.



This is the side profile of the stuck oil ring. You can see the difference in the compression rings, which were still very free. Pulled two pistons and they were both stuck.


The bearings weren't in great shape either. Another injury from poor oil quality. They should barely be worn into the brass at 160k.


I've got 200 miles on the ZE and it hasn't used a drop of oil yet. Still running good, and my injector seals should be here tomorrow.

I found out that I somehow lost all my refrigerant while doing the engine swap. I left the compressor with the car and didn't take any of the fittings loose.
 
Last edited:
I resealed the injectors this morning and it's idling 100% better.

I took it on the first long trip today to find a rear wiper arm (120 miles) and it ran great the whole time. Averaged just over 30mpg. Out of the two big scrap yards in Springfield, I found one P5, and the hatch was missing. (rant) No Mazda6s around either.
 
Good analysis, those oil rings are a problem. I think all those problems could be avoided by changing your oil regularly! Unfortunately, this car was cheap off the show room floor and was treated as such...

Did you paint your plug wires red??!? That looks fantastic with the white valve cover. Well done!

How is the FS-ZE pulling?
 
Good analysis, those oil rings are a problem. I think all those problems could be avoided by changing your oil regularly! Unfortunately, this car was cheap off the show room floor and was treated as such...

Did you paint your plug wires red??!? That looks fantastic with the white valve cover. Well done!

How is the FS-ZE pulling?

Thanks. It turned out pretty good, considering I'm not much of a painter. After painting I sanded the raised letters down, and hit it with some clear. I'm curious to see how well it will hold up.

The wires are some sort of aftermarket that came with the car. I didn't paint them.

It runs well. Hard to tell for sure, but I think it has a little more power now.

 
Hmmm, thats weird. 40HP is something you would definitely feel, especially since its a 30% power gain.

Are you sure its an FS-ZE engine? Are you using 91 octane? Did you use the FS-ZE ECU or your stock ECU?
 
Back