What's wrong with the Mazdaspeed Miata?

Ok, bought the 2004 Mazdaspeed.  The body / chassis is in great shape.  Previous owners kept it all stock.  Recent timing belt/water pump/radiator change out.  Shifter needs need bushings for sure.   Wish me luck...

Nice! Welcome to MSM World!

In reply to jharry3 :

Nice. I have a 2005. I changed to 15" wheels on mine, but still have the 17" wheels in the garage. Other than that, mine is stock still.

T.J. said:

In reply to jharry3 :

Nice. I have a 2005. I changed to 15" wheels on mine, but still have the 17" wheels in the garage. Other than that, mine is stock still.

Why the switch to 15" wheels?  I noticed several people make that remark.    Better tire choices? Better ride? Lighter wheels?

Yes all around. And better wheel choices too.

They also look less goofy. 17s on an NA or an NB just looks awkward.

That is the best shade of red ever on a car.

Shifter rebuild is a piece of cake, check the bolts you can get at that connect the shifter to the top of the transmission, they will be loose.  A little blue loctite on them is not a bad idea.

Also, check the exhaust manifold bolts, particularly the ones closest to the firewall

Intake and downpipe really wakes that baby up, just sayin'  15" wheel is better everything, not all will fit over the brakes though, be advised.

Maybe check around Mazdaspeed Website

If the 15" interfere with the brakes, you can install a low profile banjo bolt. That solves most interference problems, but there's no hope for the RPF1. We also have shifter rebuild kits.

I mostly switched to 15" wheels for looks mainly.

If you want to keep the stock wheels and need a replacement, I have one unmarked straight one left from my 2004 MSM.  Let me know and I'll send it to you for the cost of shipping.  Otherwise, it may end up going to a recycler.  Having said that, a good set of 15" or 16" wheels are a definite upgrade over stock.

That's pretty generous, Joe. When we ran our salvage operation, there was a lot of demand for undamaged MSM wheels. They're a little on the soft side.

The 2004 and 2005 MSM wheels are slightly different IIRC, but that doesn't matter in this case since both 2004s. 

Most MSMs are 2004s. 2005 was a really small production run. And yes, the wheels are different.

Keith Tanner said:

That's pretty generous, Joe. When we ran our salvage operation, there was a lot of demand for undamaged MSM wheels. They're a little on the soft side.

That's why I only have one left.    It's a pretty small market, and most MSM owners have bent at least 2 stock rims by this point.  Plus it's one more thing for me to move from Virginia to Colorado and store.

Shifter rebuild.  My shifter was a sloppy mess on the MSM I just bought.  I ended up ordering a shifter rebuild kit from Flyin' Miata plus a bronze lower bushing from 5X racing and took it all apart this week end.   Bronze is better than plastic, right?

The rebuild was a piece of cake.   And I found out the reason for the sloppiness.  It was completely missing that lower bushing. 

I mean no sign of one ever being there. 

Transmission oil change is next.  Hopefully putting in the Redline transmission oil smooths it out some, shifting to 2nd gear is a little grumpy.

Pro tip: I ground off that little flare at the exposed portion of the upper shift lever - all the parts slipped over so much easier.  It didn't take much and the upper plastic bushing and small rubber boot just fell right on.  WD-40 to lube the rubber goods.

MSM CAS - On my 2004 Miata Mazdaspeed.  Where is it? 

There is just this thing where the internet says I should have a CAS with a leaky O ring on the back of the exhaust cam:  

That's where the Cam Angle Sensor is on the NA. NBs don't have that feature or the leaky o-ring that goes with it.

Your Crank Angle Sensor is mounted to read off a trigger wheel behind the crank pulley, at about 2 o'clock when you're looking at the front of the engine. It's backed up by a cam sensor (forget the acronym) that's on the front of the cam cover on the intake side.

Keith Tanner said:

That's where the Cam Angle Sensor is on the NA. NBs don't have that feature or the leaky o-ring that goes with it.

Your Crank Angle Sensor is mounted to read off a trigger wheel behind the crank pulley, at about 2 o'clock when you're looking at the front of the engine. It's backed up by a cam sensor (forget the acronym) that's on the front of the cam cover on the intake side.

Thank you. So my oil leak must be only the cam/valve cover gasket, not both.     Or can that Crank Angle Sensor/et al, in the front, also have a leak point?  I am trying to track down oil leaks but they seem to be coming from all sides(yes, indicative of the valve cover gasket).  And maybe also the power steering pump.    I'm changing out vacuum hoses and all the little water passage hoses right now so while I have it partially apart I want to fix the superficial oil leaks.   And hoping its not rear and/or front crank seals.  It loses about a pint every 1000 miles, not much in the way of drips on the garage floor, but the bottom and sides of the engine are always oily. 

 And Mrs Jharry3 is completely unsympathetic to my owning a "small car" that always seems to need to be worked on  instead of a big new one like normal people.

The crank sensor won't leak, it's bolted to the front of the block and reads from the trigger wheel behind the pulley (all external).  I've fixed leaks on the cam seals, front/rear crank seals, and the oil vapor separator next to the intake.  If you don't have the FM check valve on the return from the separator and like to corner fast, that could be responsible for a good amount of lost oil.

The oil separator can cause consumption problems, but it goes out the tailpipe and doesn't end up on the outside of the block. 

Pulling the valve cover is easy and you can reuse a fresh gasket. So I'd start there given the description. Rear mains are pretty solid, front seals have a lifespan of about 90k. But if you're seeing sheeting down the sides of the block, the high probability answer is valve cover gasket. 

Keith Tanner said:

The oil separator can cause consumption problems, but it goes out the tailpipe and doesn't end up on the outside of the block.

True.  I was thinking that 1 pint of oil per 1000 miles would leave a large puddle under the car.  How much is it leaving on the ground?  I suppose there's a lot of surface area for the oil to coat, and much of the oil drips away while driving.  In any case, the valve cover gasket is an easy thing to replace.

JoeTR6 (Forum Supporter) said:

Keith Tanner said:

The oil separator can cause consumption problems, but it goes out the tailpipe and doesn't end up on the outside of the block.

True.  I was thinking that 1 pint of oil per 1000 miles would leave a large puddle under the car.  How much is it leaving on the ground?  I suppose there's a lot of surface area for the oil to coat, and much of the oil drips away while driving.  In any case, the valve cover gasket is an easy thing to replace.

Looks like it is the valve cover gasket.    As far as oil drips go - the MSM has a large chassis brace  and a large pan under the engine/transmission. Neither have any openings.   They have some sort of sound deadening material in them.  I found these to be soaked with oil - so it explains why I don't get drips on the pavement. It must be dripping out the pans while driving.   And the pint/1000 miles is probably a high number.