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The issue appears to be the depth of the seat for the gasket and not overall pipe length. I had the flange bolts tight yet, when I took the joint apart the gasket wasn’t crushed at all. Maybe the stock Mazda gasket is thinner than a BHR gasket (if that exists). All is good now with 2 gaskets sealing the joint.
I got lucky in not running with the leak long enough to start a fire given the scorching I saw. The smell is much reduced now and just shows up at stops with a tail wind.
I got lucky in not running with the leak long enough to start a fire given the scorching I saw. The smell is much reduced now and just shows up at stops with a tail wind.
Exactly what I found. I was planning to add a cat due to the smell initially, but once I had the gasket issue fixed decided to stay catless, I'm pre-mixing and prefer the sound of the mid pipe.
Finally had time to swap over to the summer tires. Cleaned up the rims and callipers. Need to repaint the callipers when I upgrade to stainless brake lines. Next fall will start looking around for a wheel refinisher cause wow, are there a lot of scratches and finish peeling. R3 rims are worth keeping pretty.
Noticed when I was swapping out the rear O2 sensor for a failed front O2 sensor that 2 of the 3 bolts securing the mid pipe to the manifold were missing?!?!? Tightened everything up to my old torque spec of “ tighten it until it strips then back it off a quarter turn”.
So far the O2 sensor trick is working and there’s no CEL displayed. I picked up a dead front O2 sensor free from the local Mazda dealership. Got a few raised eyebrows when I told them what I was up to.
Next week hopefully my new BHR coils will arrive. Will install at the same time as new engine mounts.
Great journal. Can you elaborate further on the failed front O2 sensor to rear thing? What codes are you getting? How do you know this works?
Krep up the journal. Cheers.
XDragon8 - I’m standing on the shoulders of giants again. The linked post above is where I found this. I think Dodo23 has been trying this for a few months. I need to check in with him on how it’s going. Weird how the linked thread just dropped off.
2 out of 3 bolts missing doesn't sound good at all! I'm surprised you didn't hear either exhaust or a rattle from it. Having all 3 bolts in might reduce your exhaust smell even more.
10KRPM - funny how fastening things together tightly makes them work better. I’ve started to be more cautious about how tight I make bolts. We have a couple sound velocity probes at work that I’ve stripped fittings on being a little overzealous. Not good when they are repeatedly thrown overboard heading for the sea floor.
The replacement bolts are still there and tight. Quieter and less smelly up front now.
Never had a CEL for my decat but sometimes randomly get either p0139 or the p0420 that I just clear. I do have a spare functional front O2 but it is definitely easy to clear codes even when on the move. Be great however if you can varify and update this before I try to squeeze my head under there!
XDRAGON8 - don’t be hasty in following me on this one. Just got a CEL for Code P0054 probably due to the car finding my dysfunctional front O2 sensor in the rear bung. Even my car calls me out when I try to be Mr Fancy Pants.
That could be due to "dead"O2 sensor. If it was non functional at all it could explain that code (without looking it up). You might need an old and tired one rather than dead! Maybe from a wrecking yard. Or there could be a very good reason that thread died off as most don't bother to update on failures, just success stories! 😉
You seem a lot like me in that you like to "tinker" with things, however these cars are very easily upset and even harder to fool. We have all tried various tricks or hacks to minimal avail.😀
The name my wife gave the car has stuck. Same temperament as the few roosters I’ve had experience with.
Completed some maintenance items over the past few weekends when it fit between post renovation organizing.
New BHR coils arrived along with wires so these were installed last weekend. I’m waiting on this tank of fuel to be used up to see if there are improvements to mileage.
White spot on one old coil. I think these are the original coils. New BHR coils about to go in.
I was slightly disappointed at startup with the idle until memory kicked in. Several months had gone by since the last MAF cleaning. Once the MAF was cleaned the idle was better than before. The engine has a different sound post coil replacement but, no noticeable increase in power. Throttle response did improve so the old coils were probably tired.
Also straightened the oil cooler fins. So far my tool of choice is a watch maker flat head screwdriver. I wish there was an easier way to straighten the fins besides time and patience.
To complete this maintenance stage, this weekend I replaced the old motor mounts. Is the bottom of the mount centre portion supposed to all squidgy? (I think not) Of course I forgot to measure the height difference between old and new mounts when they were out of the car as I don’t trust hydraulic jacks and was moving quickly.
Squidgy centre same on both old mounts. Rubber tangs on the engine side flattened. Hmmm - would be a good time for new brake lines methinks?
There is a noticeable improvement in shifting gears now. Hopefully the transmission isn’t too angry with the bad alignment going for so long. 4th gear has a bit of noise almost like a bad throw out bearing. None of the other gears have it and the noise isn’t on/off with the clutch. Might replace transmission fluid again during the next oil change to look for metal. Hate doing that since the Ford fluid is EXPENSIVE.
Lastly, the plugs were replaced with a set which were mistakenly put in one of my last orders (supposed to have wires shipped). All plugs had tan colour and shiny electrodes. Not happy with the crusty deposits but, all looked the same so this might be normal?
Thankfully I was once again looking at other people’s threads and found a little nugget. I just did the NVRAM reset tonight (pull negative terminal, wait a minute, press brake pedal). Turns out I should have done this when the coils, wires, and plugs were replaced.
Still nothing much better or different with the new coils except I made 17 mpg instead of 15 mpg. Hoping the reset helps a bit although I won’t hold my breath.
I’m still having fun trying to become proficient at the heel toe braking throttle blip. Makes me smile when it works which occurs much more frequently now. Just had a rich fellow in a Vette get riled up in traffic when I did it in roundabout today. He raced off to collect 3 points.
Just to comment on your previous post about the spark plug deposits you found on them; they don't look abnormal to me especially if the coils were nearing the end of their lifespan. Maybe this was already stated in the thread but are you running the stock OMP or do you have a SOHN adapter? If it is the stock OMP what type of engine oil are you using? Do you add any form of pre-mix to your fuel on top of OMP use?
As far as the coils go the BHR system is really nice, but comparing them to a healthy set of stock coils will not gain you much for power/performance (and you've already noted a slight increase in mileage). Ultimately the largest benefit of the BHR coils is that they should outlast the life of the engine where as stock coils seem to start weakening/failing after 30 - 50,000 kms. I had my first gen BHR coils since 2010. When I did my engine swap I re-used them on the REW. I did however upgrade to a more powerful IGN1-A coil set-up but I was still able to sell the BHR coils which were still operating in great form. That's 9 years of use out of the BHR coils on a boosted Renesis and still going strong to my knowledge.
Ryan - thanks, if you don’t have an 8 I hope that changes for you. The past year has made even commuting fun.
RotaryMachine - When I first got the car I looked into the SOHN adapter but, not an option for Series 2. I think I’m the 4th owner of this car. From what the previous owner stated neither he nor the owner before him premixed so I’m assuming there has never been premix added to the tank. I researched premix after having the fear of failed apex/side seals due to lack of oil imbedded into my psyche. Like all things in life I researched and made a decision based with on a gut feeling. I chose not to premix since I can’t figure how a uniform combination of oil/fuel will happen in the tank. That’s why I stuck with what all the other owners of the car did and used 5W20. I’m now changing to 5W30 but, still want to stay on the “thin” side to get everything possible to the seals when the engine is cold. I guess I’ll burn on my pyre at rebuild time and find out whether I’m wrong. Oil weight is a bit cultish here isn’t it? To be honest, the entire RX8 and rotary thing is a bit cultish and I’m drinking koolaid.
The only reason I ask is that regardless of weight or brand (yes some people are cultish about it for sure) whether you are using Conventional oil or synthetic will change how your plugs will foul. I wasn't aware a Sohn is not available for S2, but then again there is probably a lot I don't know about the S2 since I've never owned one. But back to oil, the deposits you are seeing on the plugs looks to me like it is just the leftover residue from the crank case synthetic oil burning in the combustion chamber. Again, oil is such a heated topic, but my understanding is that conventional oil will burn much cleaner than synthetic and won't result in the that greyish, ash looking, spark plug gunk.
Now I ran a boosted renesis for about 65,000kms and it was still going strong when I pulled it, although compression was low it still ran like a champ. I used 10w-30 synthetic in this and it had a pretty good life, but I experienced the same look to my spark plugs that you are showing.
On my new engine, under the recommendation of my engine builder I am using a 10w-40 conventional oil as this should burn a bit cleaner, and I'll need the heavier weight as I'll be pushing much more power in this engine that I ever did with Renesis. This is now a moot point as I have deleted the OMP and will be running straight pre-mix in my fuel, but that is the info I was given about conventional vs synthetic.
Anyways, just my 2 cents.
Last edited by RotaryMachineRx; 06-03-2021 at 04:53 PM.
Curious about the composition of Castrol GTX oil that I’ve been using since last June. I was under the assumption this was Dino and not synthetic. Those spark plugs were in the car since around August last year so less than 12 months. I wanted a clean slate when I installed the BHR coils and new wires so put in new plugs. I was trying to stay clear of synthetic oil due to no premix, SOHN adapter, and 3 month oil change interval. I heard most Dino oil is now a blend. Just looked at the jug and see no detail related to oil type, just no mention of synthetic on the labeling.
Not too sure on the specs of the GTX you are using, the one i have seen for cheap but not used is 15w40 and I'm more on the 10w40 dino based oil.
Of course take into account climate and type if use etc. Mine is just a weekender and summer ambient temps get to 40 deg C.
Most companies now state part syn or syn tech, which all my reading says are fine to use as a little syn oil should keep your dino oil stable in spec for longer. This is great news for our engines and the heat they deal with. Also short life oil changes most of us do help all rotaries also. Bear in mind i dont pretend to be an expert even with 20 years experience playing with rotaries including 3 years with RX8.
With the spark plugs just stick with NGK and feel free to pull them after an oil change and clean with a bit of gas and yor least favourite child's toothbrush! Then you can keep an eye on any weird deposits between oil changes. Then you're good to go. Just dont use a wire bush though on the iridium tip.
Yeah if the GTX doesn't explicitly say synthetic I would agree it is probably dino oil. Regardless, the residue you are seeing is not uncommon by any means. XDragon8 offers some good advice about giving them a simple clean, that will help with their longevity and help you notice any really strange deposits left on them every time you change the oil..... going to have to incorporate that little tidbit into my oil change routine as well.
XDragon and RotaryMachine - thanks for the tips. I like the secret toothbrush idea but, will resist. Adding the spark plug cleaning to oil changes now. It seems 5w40 is only available as synthetic. Too bad.
I’m still having fun trying to become proficient at the heel toe braking throttle blip. Makesme smile when it works which occurs much more frequently now. Just had a rich fellow in a Vette get riled up in traffic when I did it in roundabout today. He raced off to collect 3 points.
I practiced it for a bit in the 8. It's alright but at the same time, it's more useful at track where you can brake hard so it's easier to reach the gas pedal.
Speaking of Vette, with the C7 manual, you don't even have to practice that. Tap the "paddle shifters" and the car auto blips for you, which is handy at the track.
And yeah, sounds like one of those insecure Vette owners to me, LOL.
I don’t want to clutter up other threads regarding the only mod completed that has done anything to extend the time between fuel stops. The only trouble with this mod is with the range extender power plant during recovery cycle (sleep) is running an open exhaust. Some displeasure is felt by my significant other (wife) during this time of random exhaust cycles.
Horrible commute routing involves bird noise and periodic discussion with pedestrians. Range extender mounted and ready.
03-26-2021, 01:48 PM
The only reason I ask is that regardless of weight or brand (yes some people are cultish about it for sure) whether you are using Conventional oil or synthetic will change how your plugs will foul. I wasn't aware a Sohn is not available for S2, but then again there is probably a lot I don't know about the S2 since I've never owned one. But back to oil, the deposits you are seeing on the plugs looks to me like it is just the leftover residue from the crank case synthetic oil burning in the combustion chamber. Again, oil is such a heated topic, but my understanding is that conventional oil will burn much cleaner than synthetic and won't result in the that greyish, ash looking, spark plug gunk.
