When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Seems like the easiest solution is just to keep the eccentric shaft sensor disconnected rather than an inexperienced person fumbling around with grounding things out. Of course if you are experienced, then do what works for you.
How can you ground something out when the wire is IN YOUR HAND and you touch it directly to the battery post when you want to apply power? It's not as if you're blindly reaching under the car trying to connect a live powered wire and hitting ground instead...that end gets connected first, when the wire is unpowered, before it is touched to the battery terminal.
The ESS is a significant PIA to access with the stock intake, battery etc. installed. Yes you can do it without jacking the car up, but you have to half-climb into the engine bay and hold your hand at just the right angle to even touch it. I can easily see a significant number of DIYers being unable to access it without removing the stock intake or battery, or jacking the car up. With my method basically anyone can reach under the car and access the starter wire which just slides right off the solenoid terminal closest to the ground with two fingers (or if you have an auto model the starter wire in question is right beside the spark plugs, also pretty easy to reach compared to the ESS).
Is it really that difficult to say "ensure the key is off" and "ensure the car is out of gear in neutral"? IF said person cannot follow those instructions there is NO WAY they could R&R an engine, so that argument seems moot.
Well, if it makes you guys feel better, go right on trying to pour a little oil in this certain inaccessible hole, unplugging this other inaccessible sensor, disconnecting that other inaccessible hose, reconnecting the hose, pouring more oil into another inaccessible hole, catching the runoff and cleaning up the mess, etc. I'll stick to the 3 minute procedure I've done about 30 times successfully now. I guess you really can lead them to water but you can't make them drink.
Okay, got engine and everything re-installed. Aside from a mishap with an oil cooler line not being secured (losing about 2qt of oil), everything went well...
Except...
The oil pressure idiot gauge in the cluster reads zero.
We primed the system using Rotary Resurrection's method of waiting for oil to show up at the filter (except we disconnected the ESS).
I noticed the zero oil pressure quickly and shut it down. We verified that oil was still flowing to the filter by repeating the priming steps (disconnect ESS, remove filter, crank for a second) and oil comes out. I also disconnected and reconnected the oil pressure switch wire.
We verified the oil level and it's good. After clearing the codes, nothing comes back.
We did install a Sohn adapter while the engine was out but that doesn't seem like a troubleshooting candidate.
Anyone got any ideas?
Edit: anyone know how the pressure switch operates? I've read that it's closed when pressure is low (i.e. zero resistance) which means it should be open when pressure is high. But, if that's the case, just unplugging the switch should cause the gauge to read high.
We tested continuity from the switch connector back to the PCM and it's good.
Edit 2: When cranking with ESS disconnected, the resistance between the switch and ground spikes to the hundreds of kilo-ohms so it's definitely responding to pressure.
Edit 3: Never mind. It randomly decided to start working.
Last edited by NotAPreppie; 02-21-2016 at 09:51 PM.
I'm up to taking the bell housing bolts out, but I cannot get the bolts to come loose. The extensions and especially the u joint do not help the situation either. What do you reckon? I might try soaking it in acetone/atf, but I'm thinking I might need an impact gun to get these ***** off.
One of the things we did was to remove the engine mounts and engine mount brackets and then lower the engine a little while still attached to the tranny. Then we were able to remove the top bolts with a particularly long 14mm wrench (using the angled box-end).
Have done several. Ed up with long extensions, wobble ones, not universal joints, and then say screw it and use a breaker bar. It is very hard to get leverage under the car. Just make really sure you are turning them the right way. They make a horrible snap when they come lose.
Yeah I lowered it as much as I could and got the wobble joint and tried it. It worked!! 04 Green, after toying with that bolt for over 5 hours, I have to say, it was the most beautiful sound I ever heard
Now I'm stuck on the rear transmission harness, I have no idea what it looks like and how to get it off! Have to try my luck haha!
Thank you so much for this how to, it helped me immensely throughout the entire removal.
A few little pointers for those who will attempt this! Take these with a grain of salt, I had no prior mechanical knowledge before attempting this so go easy on me! haha
Keep a very close eye on that stud on the engine block, I didn't and heard a huge bang, and it turns out it smashed it's way into the metal bracket near the ABS unit, I can probably bend it back though, not too big a deal.
Also, when unplugging the cables at the back of the gearbox, don't try and do any unplugging until you remove the clip that holds all those cables together. If you do it without unclipping, you will be doing this almost blind. Add the fact that these cables have been exposed to the elements, and you'll find out that they are near impossible to remove by hand.
Feel the top of the gearbox and you'll feel a bunch of cables, pull up on it and it should all come loose. When it does you will have a bunch of slack and you can move the cables to the side of the transmission tunnel which makes it much easier to see what you're doing and also to get tools in there like pliers.
The most frustrating part was removing the top gearbox bolt, the right tools make this job a lot easier, but it ended up taking me the best part of 2-3h for just this one bolt.
Whatever you do, mix yourself up 50/50 acetone and atf, spray it onto all 5 bolts and leave it overnight.
The easiest way to do this is to use a swivel bar that swivels on one axis, unlike a uni joint. This way, the socket doesn't move out of angle easily if you knock it onto something. When removing these bolts, give them a good jolt in the beginning, kind of mimicking an impact wrench of sorts, you'll find that helps heaps.
Once you crack the bolts loose, you can use a ratchet to make it quicker.
My last tip, mostly related to the gearbox section, if you find yourself incredibly frustrated, just take a break. It usually doesn't go as planned (at least it didn't for me). There's always little stuff that'll go wrong, sockets that don't align, bolts that are just to tight. I ended up getting really pissed off and throwing my tools around at one stage ahahahaha. Just take a break and come back once you've got more energy and cooled down!
If you are having trouble with a traditional u joint type swivel....use an elastic band or a bit of electrical tape to stiffen it up a bit without binding it completely. Then it will go on the head of the bolt easier and won't flop around or bend and fall off. Makes putting some muscle into it a lot easier. Will also allow you to use an impact without it spinning off as well.
I have found the best way to get the pesky transmission bolts off is with about 24" of extensions and a proper Snap-on 14mm swivel impact socket down the side of the tranny.
It is well worth buying just that one socket...most of the hard to get at higher torque engine bolts are all 14mm
For a proper Renesis rebuild you should use new rotors and rotor housings if you want to achieve the best possible compression and engine life. It seems like the current Mazda rebuilt engines have this so my recommendation is to buy one and start there for the best cost economy. There are recent threads about these rebuilt Mazda engines and their new vs reused parts on the forum.
When I had the website rebuilt and hosted on a new platform, the old pics/directory went away and all the forum writeups with pic links went down.
I still have all the pics in folders backed up on my computer. If some mod etc. wants to take the time to upload all my pics to the forum somewhere then go back and edit all the posts and re-link the pics in order I will gladly supply the pics for you to do so. It's not something I have the time to do at this point.
When I had the website rebuilt and hosted on a new platform, the old pics/directory went away and all the forum writeups with pic links went down.
I still have all the pics in folders backed up on my computer. If some mod etc. wants to take the time to upload all my pics to the forum somewhere then go back and edit all the posts and re-link the pics in order I will gladly supply the pics for you to do so. It's not something I have the time to do at this point.
Mods, is it possible to make this happen?
Looking to tear my engine out soon to send to OP for a rebuild and I could really use the information.
If you are fortunate enough to have the engine out and apart from the Automatic Transmission, the torque converter can be removed using a Flywheel Stopper Tool, like this. The Stopper is not recommended for use with the AT, but if you get a couple longer bolts, it works easily. I used a breaker handle in the Starter area. Push the stopper to the front of the engine and turn the flywheel to the next bolt, etc. Flywheel Stopper on Automatic Transmission
3 .Pdfs have been added to First Post in this thread of RR.
I cant recall if it was the updated version of pics but has a 2020 date so I guess it is.. This is of the ENGINE Teardown
You don't have to fuss around with the oil cooler line clips - while those clips are still used in places, both lines now un-bolt from the front cover easily, making this step much less finicky.
The two MOPs are on top of the engine under the UIM & oil filler neck, so bashing them against something on removal isn't an issue.
I initially got worried when I removed the oil pan and there was no rear regulator, even though the rear iron was threaded for one! Well, the S2's don't have a rear regulator apparently, so nothing to be concerned about
Otherwise, I basically followed the instructions that RR posted here and got the engine out while leaving the trans in the car. We'll see how well it all goes back together in a bit.
One other S2-specific note - they have made it easier to disconnect the wiring from over the transmission. Continuing my list from above:
4. The engine harness is now split, and the portion that used to drape over the transmission to go to the rear O2 sensor & transmission neutral/reverse switches etc can stay on the transmission. It disconnects at a plug that mounts right next to the front O2 sensor plug on the top rear of the engine. This means that the only unclipping of wires from the transmission that's necessary is the front O2 wire that is held onto the pass-side front of the trans.
5. Also, the battery/alternator/starter harness can be left in the vehicle as long as you unbolt the connections from the alternator, ground locations on the coils and lower drivers side of the middle iron next to the block's coolant drain plug, and of course the starter which needs to come off anyway.
A last note, I left the transmission in the car as per RotaryResurrection's instructions, and working on my own with the engine hoist, a jack under the front of the transmission, and a jack under the rear of the oil pan, it took less than an hour to get them mated up and bolted together. The hoist allowed me to control the up-down position of the engine, the jack under the rear of the oil pan controlled engine pitch, and the jack under the trans controlled trans pitch. This made it pretty straightforward to get them aligned, and a good shove on the front of the engine slid the input shaft home so that there was only about 2-3mm or so between the rear iron and bellhousing flanges all around. That was close enough to pull things the rest of the way together with the bellhousing bolts. The big keys were getting the angles as close to correct as possible visually before just shoving them together, using the exhaust manifold to rock the whole engine a bit when sliding to allow the splines in the input shaft & clutch to line up, and just being patient and checking to make sure nothing else was in the way (like the exh manifold hanging up on studs in the catalyst flange, any chain links from the hoist getting between the iron & bell-housing, etc). I haven't attempted to pull the trans with the engine on the RX-8, but have done it that way (and engine-only) on my 2nd-gen RX-7 a few times, and found that it was a similar amount of work on the RX-7 to do it either way, so the deciding factors came down to whether I wanted to drain the trans fluid and had the space to pull and store the trans outside of the car. With my relatively small garage, newish trans fluid, and what sounded like a pain dealing with the PPF, I suspect pulling the engine only was the best choice at least for my scenario.
Yes I am aware the pics no longer work. When I moved the website to a new host, all the old pic hotlinks died. I have neither the time nor motivation to go back through this forum and relink all the pics to a new host. If some moderator wants to take time to rehost them and link them in sequence, I will provide the old pics. In the meantime, you'll have to make do with the text.
Here is a write-up of how I remove engines out of RX-8s (Series 1's)**
The manual/factory wants you to drop the engine/transmission/sub-frame/suspension out the bottom as a unit, which requires a lot of space and a vehicle lift. This write-up shows you how to do it the conventional method that other RWD vehicles get their engines removed...out the top, trans staying in the car. I've used it 3 or 4 times now and have gotten the procedure down to about 3 hours give or take, not rushing particularly but also working at a good steady pace.
When it is engine rebuild time for you guys, remember which builder took time to photo document, transcribe, and post this procedure for free on your forum for your assistance. ASH8
Have added 3 .Pdfs of RR Engine Teardown with Pics from this site...see below.
Years ago when I was contemplating removing my engine, a member, I think it was @WaitingforFI ,
was kind enough to print out the process for me with color pics and put it in a binder.
I'd be more than happy to post the pics if anyone wants them back.
02-05-2016, 09:11 PM
