Well of course, a lot of this is due to my wild procrastination. I haven't had the miata on the road yet this year, because I wanted to do the timing belt before I woke 'er up for the year.
I took it in to get that done yesterday (with a 15 month old child, and my lack of know how, I have neither the time nor ability to do it myself). I knew I had a teensy oil leak somewhere on the block (I thought Oleg had that licked when he did the CAS O-Ring and VC gasket), but it turns out it is far worse than imagined. She's leaking pretty badly.
So, it could be one of a few things.
1. VC Gasket is bad: no big deal.
2. CAS O Ring is bad: also no big deal
3. Rear Main Seal: Engine pulled, won't be back by Friday.
4. Oil Pan: Either the subframe in the front needs to be dropped, or the engine needs to be lifted. Either way, won't be back friday.
5. I don't want to think about what five could be.
Alignment with the used LCA was good but still feels off to me. Of course I haven't really driven the car since getting the Miata so asked the girl child to give me feedback after she drives to school tomorrow. And mom and I decided that we will be taking 1/2 of her paychecks until she has paid $250 or 1/2 of the deductible. Told her it is not punishment but a lesson learned the hard way and that driving is a privilege and if things like this happens there are financial responsibilities that will affect your daily living.
Though yes, it would have been even easier than that with the engine out. Not enough for me to pull the engine as well though, especially the pain of unmounting the transmission while still attached to the PPF, or unmounting the transmission from the PPF.
