Best to keep it. Better the devil you know! I am lucky as I have a local garage/mot station who I have known for 20 years. I trust them to be safe and fair.

Another reason to keep your BA. One of my sons was home in his Alfa Romeo Brera, which is just wonderful and exotic but it was parked next to my abandoned Mazda and the old Mazda still looked good.

Hi Serena,

sorry to hear about your bad last year, I wish you all the best for better years now and in the future.

Unless you can find one of those 'pot of gold' type cars a couple of members have found recently, I hope to see you be able to keep your vehicle: you know you love it!

Service provider tolerance variations are the same here... I've had cars passed where I *know* the ball joint is worn and loose.

I found taking it to a mechanic you get the car serviced at was a good policy: they won't fault non-major issues (perhaps suggest you fix them 'soon') as they don't want to lose your business whilst at the same time they won't let you out with a really serious fault for the same reason.

Sadly lost our local mechanic company recently after they lost a government contract, they could fix things efficiently 'cos they had to do the local police/emergency services fleet- which could (of course) take a pounding but required quick turnaround. Had a pickup/dropoff service too, so could leave the car with them whilst at work. Cost a bit, but the service and convenience were there. Bummer.

Patrick

Hi Serena,

Sorry to hear about Sundance, but at the same time glad to hear that your going to keep him on the road.
Thought I'd be in that barn on my own

I'd have to agree with Paul, check out the local Council

The only advise I can offer towards M.O.T. would be for your next one.

I know its not always possible, but if you can keep track of your M.O.T. expiry date.

With this in mind.

Juggle some free time around. ( not always possible ) an have a go at testing it yourself before that dreaded date comes around.

I trick myself into believing the date i can legally produce her for testing, is the expiry date.

It's this date i then work around to have a look at her M.O.T. wise

Hope that helps in some way mate

Ha ha, no way. Put the kettle on

Cheers for pre-testing advice, that's a really good idea!

S

OK so now SD has a MOT

However he now has a clutch problem

Well, he had a veeeery occasional clutch problem before - a slight rasping when engaging in first - but now the mechanics have been razzing him around up and down the road (I presume, to warm the engine for emissions check), it was noticeably worse on the drive back from the workshop.

There is now intermittent rasping in first and reverse at lowest speed, when I engage the clutch, and I'm releasing the pedal. No trouble anywhere else, and after a couple of laps around the village even that disappears.

Very intermittent. Wasn't in evidence when I started off at the workshop, but then emerged halfway home.

Gearbox and clutch were replaced two or three years ago, both came out of another F, but the
clutch in particular only had a couple of thousand miles on it.

Any ideas?

S

rasp? like a tone coming from it do you mean?

Yes, it sounds like something is scraping or catching. It stops as soon as the clutch has engaged into either first or reverse.

And as I say, it's only intermittent.

S

could just be the bearing, If its not slipping or whining I'd just leave it until it starts getting worse. Clutch plates do wear and if they been screaming him about they may have scorched it a little and it will wear past that. I got a high torque clutch kit brand new for £68 which included plate, cover, release bearing ,pilot bearing and alignment tool. Only big bill would be fitting if not doing it yourself. After the money you've had to pull out for the mot I'd say just wait and see if it dies down.

Great, cheers Brucey, I'll sit back and see how it goes. If I have to spend more, then I'm resigned to that, he's given me 17 years of trouble-free motoring. There's no other trouble with the clutch at all.

I'd happily have a crack at it myself but I have no experience with clutches, and it's not like it's a small maintenance job I can just read up about and take a risk on.

S

You'd be surprised. I did my 1st clutch change when I fitted the ZE. Only took 10mins because the gearbox was off already. The labour costs just reflect how much you need to remove to get at it and then put back. Tho the gearbox is a bit heavy i used a trolley jack so i could move it onto the engine easier and lift it to line it up.After doing one I wouldnt hesitate to do it myself again

Hi Serena,

I was going to suggest the same as Brucey, a bearing e.g. thrust bearing. Can leave alone until the noise really becomes bad and/or it interferes with gear changes.

Had the same ages ago on my old Pulsar, basically left it until it became difficult to change/engage gear. The noise was a whirring noise when the clutch was disengaged and after a while required double declutching to change gear (i.e. it wasn't disengaging with the first press and also could start dragging in first). Luckily it was done under warranty so I got a whole new clutch for free!

Patrick

Yep same here, was gonna suggest the clutch release bearing (throwout bearing, thrust bearing etc) - I'd change that

But yeah, quite a big undertaking - gearbox has to come off of course, which means knuckles off, driveshafts out etc!

Cheers everyone, much appreciated, I'll have to think about this

I'm happy to have a go myself but as I said, I just don't know enough yet about the front end mechanics - I'm really hoping to remedy that this year, just get underneath the car and have a browse.

I have access to a private drive again now, and I have a set of ramps, is it possible to do the job with just those, or is it really better with a lift?

If I can't suss this myself I might just have to grit my teeth this time around and abuse my credit card again, take it to the place in Reading I was using a year or so back. They did OK on several jobs for me (apart from fitting a second rate catalytic convertor )

S

highly possible without a lift but not really worth doing just yet I'd say. I'd leave it for now, you never know how long the clutch itself has left. It'd be a shame to open it up like that just for the bearing and 3 to 6 month later have to do it again to change the clutch itself. Tho they do last a while nowadays

http://forums.probetalk.com/showthread.php?t=1701166624 a link for the v6 cluch change to look at which wont be to much different on the 4 cyl models. So should give you a good idea of the task

Yeah you don't need a lift, you can get away with a jack and axle stands ramps won't help you though, as you need to get the wheels off you'll need to remove all the air intake, battery, battery tray etc before you can do much else!

Remove the wheels, unbolt the brake calipers, unbolt the tie-rod-ends and hammer them out of the knuckles, unbolt the strut bottom bolts, unbolt the bottom ball joints, unbolt the intermediate shaft bearing from the back of the block, then use a chisel/prybar/screwdriver to lever the driveshafts out of the gearbox - you might need a couple of people for this bit as they're quite heavy! Then undo the bottom gearbox-block bolts, and unbolt the clutch slave cylinder from the gearbox (saves draining and bleeding it), and wheel a jack underneath to take the weight of the engine - (use the sump and a block of wood). Then undo the rest of the block/gearbox bolts (I think the starter motor is also holding the gearbox onto the block), then undo all the gearbox mounts and wriggle the gearbox out of the side of the car. You might have to raise/lower the jack that's supporting the engine to make room, just be careful of pulleys/belts fouling the frame on the other side! Once the gearbox is off, the release bearing is on the input shaft of the gearbox, it's just pushed into place, you should be able to wriggle it off. As bruce says though, for all that work you might aswell fit a new clutch seeing as it's quite old! 6 bolts (I think) holding the clutch cover to the flywheel, be sure to use loctite when you put those bolts back in - you don't want them flying out at speed!

There might be a couple of bits I've missed as I'm going from memory but that's the basic gist of it!!

I left my intermediate shaft on to help line up the box. Also change the gearbox oil seals around the drive shafts and grease them up. I nipped one of mine and it started leaking. It seems like a lot of work when its typed out but not as bad as it looks

That's not a bad idea actually!

Ok, so now I've got over the shock of the MOT station getting badass on the surface rust that I already knew about on my front crossmember (or rather, Sundance's crossmember ), I'm thinking about adding some striping to the car. Just some subtle stuff, because as you know, I like Sundance to look more-or-less like Mazda intended.

(yes I will deal with the cross-member, I guess that adding some striping might just make me feel better in the interim!)

What do you reckon, gang? Silver car; already has black leather seats, red wheel centres, will be getting red brake parts & springs (when I eventually get far enough down my list to renew the brake parts and springs).

Red stripe? Black stripe? Casual grey stripe? Silver mirror-tape stripe? (actually maybe not). Where? How wide?

I don't want too much, just something to make it stand out and perhaps persuade Lee to add it as a solo picture on one of the forum banners

Ideas welcome. I already have a few, but someone else might have a scorcher.

S

How about 4" black with red pin stripe 10mm in

How about changing the colour of the bump strip you already have on the side of the car?

Just a thought,

Patrick

Quick photoshop job = a couple of ideas, mainly around a pin stripe and logo, though did resist doing the hotrod flames up the side.....

Grey Stripe:



Grey Stripe with MAZDA logo



Red Stripe with Grey MAZDA logo (a little 80's looking!)



And Grey stripe with Eternal Flame logo



The stripe runs along just under the waist line of the car. Tried using Black but it looks too heavy, and a plain red stripe didn't look right either. The grey just looks subtle/smart enough

Ok, I lied, FLAMES!!!!!!!!



Only thing is, was any of this a factory option for your must be kept standard car?!?!?!?!

Jon

Thanks for whoever's car this is, hope you don't mind the photoshoppery

I don't mind..
but the flames

Thanks Jon, Sundance is now all "flamed up"



Actually no, but I appreciate the photoshop effort The second one looks very nice, actually (grey stripe with "Mazda"). I'd been looking a thicker stripes but I think for what I want they're probably too much.

Patrick: I guess I could stripe the bump strip ...

There's no way I'm going to have this figured out in time for Japfest!

S

Stripes = win! End of hahaha

The sun was out yesterday, so I grabbed the opportunity to do a couple of jobs I should have done a long time ago Changing the rocker cover gasket (and the rocker cover) and the dizzy o-ring, neither of which had been changed since the car left Hodgson Mazda in Newcastle with its first owner in 1997

Rocker gasket

Tools: socket set, random screwdrivers, pliers (to move hose spring clips), shop roll, degreaser, tea
Parts: gasket and Hylo-blue sealant.

Bit of a clean up for the new rocker cover (supplied courtesy of Lerch ):




New gasket:



Warning, this hylo-blue stuff goes everywhere as soon as you pierce the tube I presume due to the air pressure etc. Maybe put it in the fridge for an hour before you open it, so it doesn't immediately expand straight out the tube



Unwanted Hylo-blue hosed off new gasket in place:



Most important tool for today!



So much crap seeping out under the old rocker cover. All gummy underneath the distributor as well. Oil sprayed all across the underside of the bonnet!



Leads labelled - because I'll only get them in the wrong order on the way back



Bracket off:



Leads off, PCV valve off the top, hose from air intake off:



I needed a socket for the three screws at the back, there's no room for a spanner. They all came undone surprisingly easily, given that the last person to tighten them was a Japanese technician in winter 1996! These are all 10mm socket.



Sundance's beating heart. Well, not beating much and rather dirty round the edges at the moment.



Underside of the old cover - more grot. Gasket lip completely gone and the whole thing completely flat, no wonder it was leaking:



I picked off loads of crud like this from around the edges of the block, the original Mazda sealant. I used some needlenose pliers to pick it off piece by piece and prevent it dropping anywhere it shouldn't. Avoiding the spark plug holes



I forgot to take a picture, but Hylo-blue squirted all around the rim of the block before this went on



Nearly forgot this



Bolt heads sprayed black, just for the hell of it



I noticed that there should be three sets of cable tidies on this cover, but on the old one there were only two





Broke this though, when getting it off the old cover The plastic is so old that it's gone extremely brittle. So if anyone has a spare one of these, I want it!!! I was still able to use the main part to tidy the cables, though, it's just not bolted to the cover any more.



Job done! Put everything back and it fired up first time. Let it run for a few minutes but no immediate spurt of oil anywhere, so hopefully it's all good and sealed. I'll do a local test run tomorrow to warm the engine up properly, and then check again after my longer run to London on Friday. I'll take the toolkit and some spare oil with me, in case of any catastrophes on the way



Now for the dizzy o-ring

Tools: as before. More tea
Parts: new distributor o-ring (should cost pennies), a smudge of clean oil to lubricate it:

Thanks to AndyM for his pics in the BA guide http://www.club323f.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=3028&start=30

Loosened the screws on the metal retaining bands at either end of the air intake pipe. Then removed these 2 connectors from the MAF and airbox. Needed to wiggle the connector off millimetre by millimetre with the end of a screwdriver: again, not been off for 19 years. The plastic also looked very brittle, so caution to anyone else doing this!



Undid these three bolts to get the filter box bracket off. Bracket was rusty, was cleaned off and sprayed before reassembly (will buy some replacement bolts later, these have nearly had it, and they look awful):



Filter box, pipe, MAF off in one piece. Rubber on the air pipe now showing some very small cracks, I intend to find some rubber restorer to try to preserve it a bit longer. Not in bad nick at the moment, but prevention is better than replacement, as these things are like hen's teeth!! All the tugging and pulling it took to get the thing out of the car can't have helped



Now there's room to remove the dizzy:



Time to take off distributor cap and the leads, all in one. Then two screws to undo, 8mm socket. Also removed the electrical connecter on the top of the dizzy itself (again being careful, as to my knowledge it's never been off).



Noted which way the rotor arm was pointing, before taking it off:




Then removed 2x 12mm bolts before sliding the distributor off the block:



Holy crap, that's messy. All this stuff has been leaking out past the o-ring. What with that and the dodgy rocker gasket, no wonder the engine bay was such a gooey mess.



Um, I think that o-ring is long dead. In fact it disintegrated when I pulled it off:



Clean dizzy, new o-ring in place with a bit of new oil to lubricate it. Notably this new o-ring is perfectly round across its diameter, like a piece of spaghetti. The old one was flatter, more like a rubber band. This is a good picture to show that there is a corner chunk deliberately cut from the metal on one side of the distributor, so it can only be fitted back into place one way.



Before I put anything back I cleaned as much of the engine bay as possible, to get rid of all the oily crap that had been seeping out past the dead rocker gasket/o-ring. I also dealt with the rusty bracket and the bodywork around it





Then everything reassembled in reverse order; proof of the pudding etc., but the engine STARTED FIRST TIME So evidently I didn't disturb anything I shouldn't have, or mess up anything on the distributor, although I can't see how that's likely, as it only goes back in one way.

I wanted to get a third job done: swapping the heat shield for one Paul gave me at JAE, but I could only get two of the bolts off, and it was getting dark. So that's now a job for another day.

S

Welcome to the dark side.. he he..

Nice work Serena!

Sundance all ready for Japfest now

Nice work, a couple of pointers for you & others considering this job:

1. Rocker/cam cover bolts - the bolts should be torqued up in a progressive sequence, and it's easy to miss the ones in the middle, i.e. under the plug leads! If you forget these then it all seems fine for a while as the plug holes fill up with oil!

2. On my BA there's no need to number the plug leads, as Mazda have made them the correct length, I.e. they can't go back in the wrong sequence!

3. The distributor (on mine anyway) needs to go back in the same position rotationally, so as not to disturb the ignition timing.