Boring Daily Build

I remember reading that Japan has really strict pollution laws, and when a car hits 100,000 KM, it must go through strict testing and must meet the original emissions for the car.

Most people just buy a new car at that point.

And, apparently in Japan, they take REALLY good care of their cars so you can be almost certain that the oil was changed every 5,000 KM and it's not burning oil.


Replacing an engine is way easier and cheaper than rebuilding one.
 
I don't want to sell it so I'm fighting myself here. Nothing is certain. It will depend greatly on if I get it inspected and plated before a new car finds its way to my driveway.
 
I'm thinking a new engine and some camber bolts will fix your car right up.
That will restore your confidence in the car and it will be fun again.

There is probably shipping on a replacement engine but it still wouldn't add up to too much.

You could swap an engine in a day or two.
 
I was considering pulling the engine and doing a cheapo rebuild. New rings, head gasket, oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, valve stems, maybe timing belt and water pump, and maybe motor mounts. Without timing stuff and motor mounts, it comes out to $180 on RockAuto plus my time.
 
I dunno??

You could open up a can of worms and end up spending a month or two at it.

You can spend a few hundred more and have it all done in a weekend.
 
I spent $385 on my winter tires and $425 on my summer tires.

If I needed a good used engine, and could get one for less than the price of tires, I would do it.

Even for my $200 rust turd. Lol
 
I was considering pulling the engine and doing a cheapo rebuild.


If I needed new heart and lungs, I wouldn't want my worn-out organs to be removed and rebuilt.

I would want a transplant from a healthy organ donor.

The Japanese are healthy organ donors.

Lol
 
That's just my point though, I don't have near $1000 to put into it right now. When the time comes? Maybe. But not right now.
 
That's where the conflict comes in lol.
I only have about $600 maybe $700 total into the Mazda. So I'm still able to make a profit right now.
I have no idea what will happen and it isn't happing tomorrow. I am gonna try some Lucas stop slip because the transmission is in question as well. Probably more so than the engine. I can live with oil consumption but a slipping trans is almost dangerous. And then there's the no self-steer. Best case scenario camber bolts and alignment will fix it, worst case scenario it needs a steering rack and the unibody is bent...
You don't have to convince me not to sell, because I'm not convinced, I don't want to. But that's not a promise that it won't happen.
 
I forgot about the transmission.

Yeah, you might be better off to let it go.

It will be a sad day for me too...
 
If I had a big yard I could park cars in I would seriously consider looking for a wrecked low mileage one for parts but even the ones on Copart seem to be rusty and high mileage.
 
... Nothing is certain. It will depend greatly on if I get it inspected and plated...

Maybe you'll get lucky and get rid of that code so it'll pass inspection.

But a slipping transmission is potentially dangerous, like you said.
 
Now that I've driven a couple of times with the Lucas in I can say that it has made the smoking much worse. Smokes for about 2-3 minutes and gets pretty close to stalling out when accelerating from a stop. My theory would be that the thick Lucas has caused the rings to stick even worse. So it'll be getting another flush or two of diesel fuel to wash out the Lucas.

Just when I pulled into the driveway the CEL came on. Confirmed P0172 system too rich bank 1, pending P0455 EVAP system leak detected (large leak).
 
Well, it might be easily fixed? But it's not a 2005, and you won't really know if it's burning oil until you've owned it for a while (unless it's really bad and smokes when you start it).
 
Went out today to install the camber bolts and the engine wouldn't crank. Kinda surprised kinda not, the battery is 6 years old but has always started strong after sitting for awhile. So I just moved on and started working on something else. Then I thought about it some more and the radio worked fine and didn't get dim and I didn't hear the starter clicking, so I went and checked the battery, 12.6V. So if it's dry enough tomorrow I'll be checking fuses and whacking the starter.
 
Back