DCAWD.com

Yup I hate to laugh at myself for this but I blew my motor. My car has been running a little weird lately i.e. very low idle, shaking like I have aftermarket motor mounts even though I dont and it would bog up alot.
So today me and my friend had put a boost gauge in and noticed it was spiking at 12 psi. So I set it on a more aggresive fuel map hoping it would make it run a little better. Then everything was running fine til my friend took off from a stop light (driving normally) switched to second and it started boosting and then went like it was put in neutral, spiked at 17 psi and just blew. I couldnt even find where the oil slick had started and found no parts on the road. So yup thats my blown motor thread for ya.

TheSuperhuman wrote:Yup I hate to laugh at myself for this but I blew my motor. My car has been running a little weird lately i.e. very low idle, shaking like I have aftermarket motor mounts even though I dont and it would bog up alot.
So today me and my friend had put a boost gauge in and noticed it was spiking at 12 psi. So I set it on a more aggresive fuel map hoping it would make it run a little better. Then everything was running fine til my friend took off from a stop light (driving normally) switched to second and it started boosting and then went like it was put in neutral, spiked at 17 psi and just blew. I couldnt even find where the oil slick had started and found no parts on the road. So yup thats my blown motor thread for ya.

umm ouch, I'm sorry to hear that. But we do have people like andrew around to help you fix things.

That sucks man! Sounds like upgrade time to me

Damn, unfortunately I dont have the opportunity for a built motor right now. But I think that should be coming along by the end of the year.

I swear, joining our club does NOT make your engine go boom.

Are you going to just replace the longblock, or to a complete engine swap?

I don't know much about the Protege, but I really like them. the 5 looks like a baby WRX waggon, in a good way. I had a '91 that was a great little car (other than those damned automatic front seat belts). good luck with the motor situation...

Mr Kleen wrote:I don't know much about the Protege, but I really like them. the 5 looks like a baby WRX waggon, in a good way. I had a '91 that was a great little car (other than those damned automatic front seat belts). good luck with the motor situation...

Basically, Mazda didn't upgrade the engine when they tossed the turbo on the MSP and the 2.0 is a slightly weaker engine than the 1.6/1.8L engines in the earlier Proteges that were shared w/ the Miata. So, the stock boost is only supposed to be about 7-8psi and if it spikes above 10, most people are screwed. I know that seems hard to believe for you guys, but it's true.

^^^ Wow, I'm so sorry to hear about your engine!!!! Do you have a beater you can drive till you're MSP is back up and running?

Katie: Wow, those are fragile! What's the compression on the engine? Must be pretty high if that's all the boost it can handle.

seems like the natural upgrade path would be to drop in a 1.6 or 1.8 (the 1.8s may be scarce due to spec Miata racers) and go from there. there should be a lot of them around the junk yards by now...

what about low compression pistons? would that help this issue?

sabre wrote:^^^ Wow, I'm so sorry to hear about your engine!!!! Do you have a beater you can drive till you're MSP is back up and running?

Katie: Wow, those are fragile! What's the compression on the engine? Must be pretty high if that's all the boost it can handle.

This thread highlights most of the stock specs on the MSP: http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showpost ... ostcount=1

The stock Compression Ratio: 9.1:1

As to engine swaps, let's not discuss that. It's not as easy as people would like it to be. The older engines don't really swap in very well, lots of electrical harness fun to be had apparently.

Katya4me wrote: This thread highlights most of the stock specs on the MSP: http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showpost ... ostcount=1

The stock Compression Ratio: 9.1:1

As to engine swaps, let's not discuss that. It's not as easy as people would like it to be. The older engines don't really swap in very well, lots of electrical harness fun to be had apparently.

Yep, that explains why you can't run much boost! Stock STI's are 8.5:1, hence why we can run up to 21PSI on the stock block w/o problems.

That sucks about the swaps. Atleast, if you had the time/$$$, you could get a rebuilt motor with beefed up internals.

thicker head gasket? low compression pistons? making due with NA?

it sure seems like Mazda makes a great chassis but they never give it enough power. drove the new Mazda3: it was a great car, felt very solid, but just didn't have ANY power. every car doesn't have to be a monster but at least give prospective owners the option of ordering enough power to let the car get out of it's own way.

ouch! sorry to hear that.

well i took it to the dealership and when it was being unloaded off of the tow truck i noticed there was not only oil but also coolant leaking so i have a feeling im pretty screwed

Oh, that sounds like a cracked block Sorry dude

hopefully it will be just the head gasket.... i hope.......

TheSuperhuman wrote:well i took it to the dealership and when it was being unloaded off of the tow truck i noticed there was not only oil but also coolant leaking so i have a feeling im pretty screwed

sorry to hear that. the two-edged sword of our hobby... sometimes I wonder why I mod. I was FINISHED with tuning cars after my 2000 Civic Si was stolen. but here I am, again.

Head gasket is a good possibility! Can they do a leak down test?

Head gasket is a good possibility! Can they do a leak down test?

I have no idea if they can do a test or not, but what leaves me to believe it was the head gasket is that it has been idling really low, bogging up for no reason, and would occasionally drop RPMS like it was gonna stall. So ive been figuring there has been low compression in one of the cylinders for a while now.

Im just interested to see how it hit 17 psi without hitting fuel cut or anything, last time it went anything over 10 the car bucked violently and threw a code. I think what the cause is, is most likely the WGA.

sabre wrote:

Katya4me wrote: This thread highlights most of the stock specs on the MSP: http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showpost ... ostcount=1

The stock Compression Ratio: 9.1:1

As to engine swaps, let's not discuss that. It's not as easy as people would like it to be. The older engines don't really swap in very well, lots of electrical harness fun to be had apparently.

Yep, that explains why you can't run much boost! Stock STI's are 8.5:1, hence why we can run up to 21PSI on the stock block w/o problems.

That sucks about the swaps. Atleast, if you had the time/$$$, you could get a rebuilt motor with beefed up internals.

You sure about that b/c my stock block in my XT is 8.2:1 and we have the same engines

Duh! You are right... my bad!

Well I just got back from Mazda and it was as I feared. It threw a rod through the block. So I went and picked up a few things out of it and handed them they keys and the title. So now I will be looking to get a new car maybe even a WRX(that would be my first choice actually).

Man I've been following this thread and I believe I've soiled myself. I just cant let the wife see it cuz she'll give me a "See, I told you that could happen". Really sorry to hear about it, you need an 99 Amigo as a loaner?