Bad wastegate = new turbo??

[mustangsvo85]

oh and another thing I noticed yesterday, the dip stick tube was loose so I tightened it, and there is a stamp on the cylinder head near there, "HOUSE" (obviously done with hand stamping tools). Can I presume this head was rebuilt??

 

[mustangsvo85]

I did unplug the battery, cleaned the terminals as well. That constitutes resetting the computer, right?

 

[hornsfan10609]

It should but I always turn on the lights or hit the brakes to drain the system just in case.

 

[mustangsvo85]

Amazon same day shipped my gauges. Any reason why I can't use the first O2 sensor for the AF gauge and just Tee into the BPV line for the boost gauge? I searched here but I couldn't find much for MSPs.

 

[ZealoustheEnder]

The bung in the down pipe is fine for the a/f o2 sensor. Have you addressed your fuel pump yet?

 

[mustangsvo85]

I didn't buy another O2 sensor. Can't I just T off into my existing one? I have an autometer 4375 gauge.

Haven't addressed it. How?

 

[ZealoustheEnder]

You have to have a wideband o2 sensor. Have you upgraded your fuel pump. You my find your a/f to be to lean which would be a sign that your fuel pumps not cutting it.

 

[mustangsvo85]

Should I have ordered a different gauge? Directions say I can just tap into the existing O2.

I have not touched the fuel pump. I'd rather not just throw parts at it, especially expensive/difficult to replace ones. With the gauges up and running, I should have more info to diagnose from. Oh and I don't have any performance mods to it. I did the turbosmart wastegate actuator and I have some cork sport hot and cold pipes (try and reduce risk of vacuum leaks).

 

[ZealoustheEnder]

Oh I see, it is a narrow a/f gauge. That will work it not as accurate as a wide band. after you install it it should help you diagnose some conditions. Like whether you need fuel pump upgrade.
It was only a hundred for my fuel pump upgrade.

 

[mustangsvo85]

I got the valve cover off because it leaked a lot. I noticed a few things;

-The head is stamped, likely a rebuild I guess
-timing belt cover had missing bolts and some damage
-Rotated engine to line up cam gears in case belt skipped a tooth, the belt is very loose between the gears. I can almost make it skip a tooth by hand.
-Spark plugs were gapped too wide, set to 0.40 and so i tapped em down to 0.30.

I'm guessing I don't have a stock motor. Either previous owner blew it and tried to fix it himself or this engine has way more than 54k miles. I did a miata water pump and timing belt a decade a go and it ran like crap when I was done. I found out that I didn't get the belt on right. I did the head on my 00 ES and I had an awful idle and acceleration issue, so I redid the the timing belt about 4 times before I figured out I had a bad injector seal. Can anyone see if poor tension on the timing belt will cause it to stumble and hesitate???

 

[hornsfan10609]

Don't worry about the fuel pump unless you have problems with it, they do not commonly fail on Proteges. A failed timing belt tensioner will cause the car to run horribly and if you can move the belt that much you have a problem with the tensioner or a missing spring. Spark plug gap will also cause it to hesitate and stumble. It's possible the motor has been replaced, hard to tell with these cars as they blew up so frequently. No reason to assume the engine has more miles than the car though.

 

[mustangsvo85]

Yeah I can move the timing belt about an inch between the cam gears. Not sure if its a tension issue, worn belt, or extra cam friction. I'll be busy the rest of the week so I won't get to pull the accessory belts and timing cover for a while.

 

[hornsfan10609]

The belts can't wear that much without breaking, if you can move the belt at all the tensioner must have failed.

 

[mustangsvo85]

how likely is it that the tensioner failed? remembering this car was probably driven hard and had the overboost issue with a broken wastegate actuator. I guess if someone did a DIY head swap, they could've cheaped out on the timing belt set or even forgotten/failed to set the tensioner (if memory serves right, you could tighten a bolt and keep the tensioner loose so the belt can be set). I appreciate your help, btw!

 

[hornsfan10609]

No problem, that's why I'm here. The tensioners can fail due to age or wear the car doesn't have to be beat on for parts to break. The tensioner on my MSP failed last year, the car still ran but you could hear the belt rubbing on the timing covers.

 

[mustangsvo85]

I have the belt and tensioner off. The tensioner bolt was on TIGHT. I don't think it was doing its job. The cam gears have white pain on them so the head was definitely off (indicating I and E as well as the timing marks). The belt had white marks on them that were SUPPOSED to line up with white marks on the cam gears, but they were off by a few teeth. The tensioner spring has a bend in it too. The bearings/timing belt guides are in good shape though, they roll smoothly and they feel like the bearings are tight. I'm going to replace the belt and the spring. There was oil everywhere which could be the crank seal, but it could just be from the leaky valve cover since there is oil much higher than the crankshaft (pretty much everywhere under the timing cover). Worst case I just open it up again to replace the seal. Wish me luck!

 

[hornsfan10609]

Good luck, it sounds like the tensioner, spring and new VC gasket will fix it. Be sure to put a dab of silicone in the corners of the end cam caps where the timing belt goes when installing the VC.

 

[mustangsvo85]

Yep that was the problem. The tensioner spring was pretty bent. It runs great now. I had leaky cam seals too so replaced those as well. I drove it around for an hour last night and I'm finally happy with the car. No oil leaks either. Last night the darn cat fell off though. I thought maybe I forgot to tighten the bolts, but this morning the actual first cat broke off the rear weld. Looks like I need a muffler shop now, but that's easy at least hahaha. Thanks for your help!! I still need to get the gauges in and see how it's actually boosting and fueling.

 

[OThree.5]

No problem, that's why I'm here. The tensioners can fail due to age or wear the car doesn't have to be beat on for parts to break. The tensioner on my MSP failed last year, the car still ran but you could hear the belt rubbing on the timing covers.

Thats exactly what happened to me when I was first starting out with my MSP last month or so.. Except I tried to start without the crank sensor plugged in and it made me skip timing.

 

[OThree.5]

I have to say after reading this, I really was WAY luckier than I thought I was. I have 150K and less problems than this MSP with UNDER 60K. Thats insane! I guess driving it frequently is the best bet!