Saving a 2008 Mazdaspeed 3

Despite working from home for the last 3+ months, I haven't gotten to do as much on the speed as I would have liked. Fortunately I was able to get back to working on it and got the intake valves moderately clean. I tried using the walnut shell blasting, but didn't have much luck. second method was to use B12 chemtool to chemically clean the valves fairly well.

After getting the valves clean, I got the PCV valve replaced, intake manifold brake booster fitting tapped and installed and hose run for the catch can. Moving on to getting the oil feed line replaced ended up with a snag. The 8mm bolt holding the line clam is starting to strip the head off. Once I can get that off, I should be able to work on getting the turbo installed and plumbed.

I ordered the Mamba oil feed, drain and coolant line kit, but it appears that the stainless steel coolant lines are meant to couple to the 5/16" stock hose with a short length. I am tempted to see about replacing the coolant hard line over the transmission but haven't found much info on that yet. At least I am making progress again.
 
For replacing the coolant hard line over the trans:
The hose coming off the oil cooler is 3/4" til after the 90° bend and then it turns to 5/8 at/after the hardline. On my ms3 with a pte turbo that was not water cooled, i just cut below the hardline. Used a brass 3/4 to 5/8 union. Then ran 5/8 heater hose over the trans to the heater core. Hope that helps!
 
Sho said:
For replacing the coolant hard line over the trans:
The hose coming off the oil cooler is 3/4" til after the 90° bend and then it turns to 5/8 at/after the hardline. On my ms3 with a pte turbo that was not water cooled, i just cut below the hardline. Used a brass 3/4 to 5/8 union. Then ran 5/8 heater hose over the trans to the heater core. Hope that helps!
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Thanks! I am thinking of getting some 5/16" silicone hose to couple from the stock coolant "T" to the Mamba lines for now. But it seems like a bandaid solution rather than having a proper "T" fitting that would connect to the (i assume) -4 AN coolant line.
 
Well, I got buggered again. Went to replace the oil feed line and found the stack of adapters below coming out of the block. As best I can determine it consists of:
Block -> Either an M16x1.5 to -8AN or an M17x1 to -8AN -> -8AN to -6AN -> -6AN to -4AN ->Oil Feed line

From what I have found, this is NOT the normal thread size for the oil feed line. All the reference material I have found say the block should be M12x1.5. The catch is I am not coming up with anything at all that replaces the first fitting. It measures out at 16.5mm and looks to be in the 1 to 1.25 pitch rather than 1.5. I am loathe to stack adapters like this again, but I'm not sure I'll have much choice. If anything, I would like to reduce the number of adapters at a minimum.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

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Eureka! I think I not only found the right adapter specs, but also the source of the metal in the turbo. After doing some sleuthing, and fining a distinct lack of appropriately sized metric to AN fittings, I deduced that it might be a standard thread. Lo and behold it is actually a 3/8 NPT threaded fitting on the block size. Finding this also leads me to believe a previous owner or mechanic stripped out the OEM threaded hole and tapped to to 3/8 NPT. A failure to clean the cuttings out of the block probably lead to the debris in the turbo. Or so I guess, one may never know.

I have since ordered an appropriate 3/8 NPT to -4 AN adapter to rid myself of so many possible leaking connections. Progress at last!
 
For some reason i recall NPT has a taper on it so some good thread sealant should be sufficient I would think? Also using thread sealant should keep me from over tightening and causing further damage to the oil feed area.
 
Shadowplane676 said:
For some reason i recall NPT has a taper on it so some good thread sealant should be sufficient I would think? Also using thread sealant should keep me from over tightening and causing further damage to the oil feed area.
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Yeah that should work I'm pretty sure the OEM used a crush washer. Teflon tape would probably work.
 
Last Weekend:
In place of the Christmas tree of AN adapters, I now have an appropriate NPT to -4AN fitting sealed into the block with teflon tape. Additionally, I believe a PO tapping the block to NPT was the source of the metal in the journal bearing of the turbo.
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Also just about finished mounting the turbo. PO was missing one stud on the downpipe side, so I had to order one. I did not like how the stainless Manzo coolant line kit I had was going to fit, so I used HPS high temp silicone heater hose for the coolant lines instead. I also went with a cleaned out stock drain tube for similar reasons. So far I have only used the braided feed line from the kit. Live and learn (or save for a CST-4 later? )
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This Weekend
This weekend was quite mild so I was able to get a lot done on the Speed. I was able to start wrapping up additional maintenance items that were side effects of this project. This included securing the Manzo downpipe to the cat-back exhaust, installing replacement tensioner and idler pulleys, putting the serpentine belt on, splicing a new throttle connector on (old one had melted/exposed copper by the plug), performing an oil change. Other items were replacing vacuum lines with silicone hose where applicable, installing and routing the catch can and check valve, installing the remaining downpipe stud and O2 sensors and wrapping up the rest of the reinstall items.

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Question: Do people use a 3" donut gasket between long downpipes and the cat-back exhaust? the Manzo pipe did not come with one and I suspect I have a slight leak at that joint as there is no donut gasket.

Finally I was ready to start the speed up. I pulled the injector fuse and cranked the car in sessions until the oil light went off. I cranked it another 2-3 times to ensure that the turbo was primed with oil before starting. I then gave everything another look over before installing the injector fuse, taking a breath, and turned the key...

The new starter coupled with all of the maintenance/update items resulted in the engine turning over nicely and catching the first time with ease. The only apparent issue was I still had a CEL and the throttle was unresponsive. With codes P0123 and P0222, It made me question the splicing I had done on the throttle connector. Fortunately, upon inspection of the connector, some ID-10-T (me) hadn't fully plugged the connector in.

Once the throttle was plugged in properly, she fired up and idled quite nicely. I let the car idle for almost 20 minutes as I checked for leaks, waited for the coolant system to burp from being topped off, and burn off the oils from the exhaust system. HPFP pressures looked good exhaust sounded nice and everything seemed to be in order. I shut the car off and am letting it cool before a final inspection and buttoning up the undertray and TMIC cover.

Observations
Has anyone had their OEM damper pulley separate? I noticed a fair amount of degradation in the rubber between the hub and counterweight portions on my pulley. I may have to see about replacing it at some point before it decides to part ways with the rest of the car.

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I did also notice that the TMIC heat soaks like crazy with no airflow. With an IR thermometer I was seeing surface temps on the top back side of the TMIC between 130* and 140*. I am thinking about possibly adding some kind of reflective insulator to the bottom of the top back end tank of the TMIC to help with heat rejection from the Turbo.

Additionally, I have been toying with the idea of doing an Air-to-Water intercooler replacement for the TMIC. Based on the placement, a TMIC has some downsides that I am not fond of for long term reliability and longevity. Airflow (or lack there of) from being on top of the engine isn't great, along with the heat soak issues don't help intake air temps. Another option is switching to a FMIC, but most clod side routing I have seen are quite long and go over the engine. If possible, I don't want to add excessive length to the cold side , adversely affecting throttle/boost response. I do have a large FMIC core I could use however so we shall see.

Next steps
1) Now that she is running, its time for new shoes. I am probably going to get Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate tires in 235/40-R18 to go on the 18x8 OZ rims that came with the car.

2) Unfortunately in the last 7 months sitting, the windshield has developed a pretty bad "Y" crack. A replacement will be in order after tires.

3) Continue working on the body and Misc. other items such as hail dent removal, some small scrapes/rust spots, de-glazing and sealing the right headlight

4) Do some data logging with Mazdaedit and tweak accordingly due to catless downpipe and 3" to turbo intake (hopefully adding a 3" MAF housing in the process).
 
So I got tires on the car. Definitely a better fit with 235/40-R18 than the 215/45-R18s that were on the OZ Italia 150 18x8 rims. Being on stock springs also means that there is no rubbing at full steering lock or going over decent bumps. I'll call this one a success.

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Additionally, she sounds quite nice with the catless downpipe. No major droning at highway speeds, and quiet enough until you give it a boot full of throttle. I did take a datalog with versatune free, and while I am sure the ECU is re-trimming itself out from being disconnected for 6+ months, AFRs are a bit on the rich side under full load. During full boost (14.9ish psi), AFR was reading .644 lamda, or about 9.5 AFR. I'll log it again in a while after I have driven it a bit to trim itself out and see if it gets a little leaner at full power.

Lastly, I think I will be replacing the A/C clutch as a whole. It now only wants to engage the clutch at idle. If I go to WOT and it disengages, I have to pop the clutch and let it idle for a second or two before the compressor clutch re-engages. Hopefully a complete assembly will correct the distortions I put in the friction plate trying to do just a bearing replacement last summer...

One more step at a time!
 
Shadowplane676 said:
So I got tires on the car. Definitely a better fit with 235/40-R18 than the 215/45-R18s that were on the OZ Italia 150 18x8 rims. Being on stock springs also means that there is no rubbing at full steering lock or going over decent bumps. I'll call this one a success.

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nkw1Ye3.jpg

wd9EvWQ.jpg


Additionally, she sounds quite nice with the catless downpipe. No major droning at highway speeds, and quiet enough until you give it a boot full of throttle. I did take a datalog with versatune free, and while I am sure the ECU is re-trimming itself out from being disconnected for 6+ months, AFRs are a bit on the rich side under full load. During full boost (14.9ish psi), AFR was reading .644 lamda, or about 9.5 AFR. I'll log it again in a while after I have driven it a bit to trim itself out and see if it gets a little leaner at full power.

Lastly, I think I will be replacing the A/C clutch as a whole. It now only wants to engage the clutch at idle. If I go to WOT and it disengages, I have to pop the clutch and let it idle for a second or two before the compressor clutch re-engages. Hopefully a complete assembly will correct the distortions I put in the friction plate trying to do just a bearing replacement last summer...

One more step at a time!
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By design the a/c clutch disengages at WOT that's will even happen on a new compressor.
 
JohnnyTightlips said:
By design the a/c clutch disengages at WOT that's will even happen on a new compressor.
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I understand that, the catch is it won't re-engage unless I let the engine come down to below 1000RPM. Say I pull out and step on it for 1st through 3rd, then shift to 6th for cruising, Settling in around 3000RPMs. A/C clutch will not engage at this point unless I clutch in, let the RPMs fall to below 1000 for a second or 3. I'll feel the A/C clutch catch and the air will get cold again, then I can re-engage cruise gear and proceed.
 
Shadowplane676 said:
I understand that, the catch is it won't re-engage unless I let the engine come down to below 1000RPM. Say I pull out and step on it for 1st through 3rd, then shift to 6th for cruising, Settling in around 3000RPMs. A/C clutch will not engage at this point unless I clutch in, let the RPMs fall to below 1000 for a second or 3. I'll feel the A/C clutch catch and the air will get cold again, then I can re-engage cruise gear and proceed.
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Sounds like it could also be the relay in the fuse box, at least I have seen that on some cars when it starts to act strange like that. Worth a shot as those are a cheap and easy fix before diving into the clutch. Your clutch also won't turn on if the pressure is too low on the system"not enough freon" , I don't think that applies here but it's good to know.
 
The A/C system won't turn on if the freon is too low or the pressures are too low/high. I doubt it would be a relay due to the AC turning back on once it falls below a certain RPM. It's possible that with the car sitting there is a freon leak and the charge dropped too much.

I had an issue similar to this. The drier had come apart and clogged the system partially. I took the drier off and when shook it sounded like sand inside of it. Basically the desiccant failed. I had to replace the condenser, expansion valve, flush all the lines and do a solid vacuum on the system. Been working fine since.

Also you dont have to remove the dash to replace the expansion valve. I was able to do it by dropping the glove box and getting the firewall pass thru lines loose.
 
All good bits of advice. Thanks.

I did check the charge first off, and it was still within pressure spec (cheap one-gauge filler setup, not proper dual gauges), not low or too high. When watching the clutch try and engage with the interior hot and the system warm, it kept skipping. Basically it was trying to grab hard enough to spin the compressor but wasn't able to. It got better after driving for a bit, so possibly just need to work the compressor a bit.

Prior to taking the car down this spring for the turbo and other work, the A/C was working quite well so hopefully its just a matter of running it and replacing the clutch.
 
Hey, so I was hoping to get my motor in this weekend but don’t think it’s going to happen because I just screwed myself! I stripped out the oil feed line bolt on the block. Went to google and came across your post!

So I have never had to tap any thing and some what nervous. By chance are you able to provide where you sourced your parts? I’m going to run out to Home Depot or Lowe’s and see if I can find any fittings and a tap and die set.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
magikflight said:
Hey, so I was hoping to get my motor in this weekend but don’t think it’s going to happen because I just screwed myself! I stripped out the oil feed line bolt on the block. Went to google and came across your post!

So I have never had to tap any thing and some what nervous. By chance are you able to provide where you sourced your parts? I’m going to run out to Home Depot or Lowe’s and see if I can find any fittings and a tap and die set.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I was not the one that did the original tapping of the block to the larger 3/8 NPT. All I ended up having to do was find the correct NPT to -4AN adapter to correct my oil feed line adapter tree issue. I will tell you though that whoever did it on my car, did it poorly and metal debris was partially to blame for having to rebuild my turbo.

In general, when tapping (or re-tapping) a hole, you want to go slow and take your time. Know what size drill is needed so you have enough material for threads. You also can use grease as a lube and metal chip collector to minimize metal debris into the oil gallery over WD40 or the like. If you can, also rinse out that gallery as best you can and possibly leave the feed line off and manually prime the oil system to flush the oil gallery out. There may be better threads on here about doing the oil feed line tapping, but best of luck!
 
Shadowplane676 said:
Unfortunately I was not the one that did the original tapping of the block to the larger 3/8 NPT. All I ended up having to do was find the correct NPT to -4AN adapter to correct my oil feed line adapter tree issue. I will tell you though that whoever did it on my car, did it poorly and metal debris was partially to blame for having to rebuild my turbo.

In general, when tapping (or re-tapping) a hole, you want to go slow and take your time. Know what size drill is needed so you have enough material for threads. You also can use grease as a lube and metal chip collector to minimize metal debris into the oil gallery over WD40 or the like. If you can, also rinse out that gallery as best you can and possibly leave the feed line off and manually prime the oil system to flush the oil gallery out. There may be better threads on here about doing the oil feed line tapping, but best of luck!
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Thanks for the response! Ah okay I see now. I did come across some other posts on here and they were mentioning different fitting sizes so I think that may have caused some confusion and overthinking on my end. Thanks for the tip about priming the oil system with the line off, i was dreading having to reverse all my work just to rip the oil pan off lol i may do it to be safe before priming. i guess my worry is more so of shavings getting in and messing some thing up.
 
Well, went out to take the Speed down to the corner store for some snacks and found that one of the neighborhood dogs took a hankering to my left front fender. Guess its time to source a new fender and get it painted. Always something I guess.

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I still have some kind of clunk in the left front despite replacing the sway bar end links, ball joints, new axles both sides (still OEM intermediate shaft) and strut top mounts. Doesn't seem to be consistent with steering input or bumps, while small undulations can induce the clunk. Not sure what else to look at other than maybe an internally blown Koni yellow strut?

I did get some Corksport Boost couplers for the TMIC that I have to install, the current stock/unknown couplers leave a bit to be desired. Plus the new ones are red...

Lastly I have a new A/C clutch I need to install, just need the time to install it. Current one only engages for a short while and when it kicks off from WOT, I have to idle the car before re-engaging the A/C clutch, if it decides to engage.
 
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