Engine Life?

[dan_swin]

On a mk1 1.6 mx-5 what's the maximum typical life of an engine in terms of mileage if its been serviced well? I ask as I'm looking at one which is in good condition but has done 152k miles and I wondered if this would mean it's reaching the point where even a well serviced engine would start to have it's failings?

Thanks alot,
Dan

[MX-5 Lazza]

Mileage means nothing as long as it's been well serviced.

[dan_swin]

Thanks, thats the sort of thing I need to hear! For what it's worth the car in question is this one :- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-MAZDA-MX-5-MONZA_W0QQit...

Thanks again,
Dan

[Munter]

Theres a guy in the US with 300,000 miles on his car before...the clutch pedal snapped...

So worry about metal fatigue there before the engine!

[T40ORA]

160k on our 1.8, the last 100k after I bolted on a supercharger. Still sweet.

[skinny]

165 on mine, turbo'd from the start

[Evangelion]

And I thought the ride height on mine looked high!

[Munter]

Evangelion said:

And I thought the ride height on mine looked high!

That must be one of the very last MK1s. Mine was on 4x4 suspension like that but didn't have the high level rear brake light.

To the OP I don't know what your plans are for the car. But if you're thinking about bolting on lots of upgrades you might like to know that the later cars had a different size CAT. Which really limits the number of off the shelf exhausts you can buy without playing around.

Edit: Ah it's a 1.6. So if it's a UK 1.6 it'll be a bit gutless. 88BHP over the 130 in the 1.8.

Edited by Munter on Saturday 27th February 18:52

[ukianj]

Watch out for 1990 1.6's - they have a 'short nose crankshaft'. Mine has just gone at 170k.... Not ideal.

[Allandwf]

My old Volvo had 212000 when I sold it, and still going strong. 150k + should be no problem to a car these days.

[Howard-]

ukianj said:

Watch out for 1990 1.6's - they have a 'short nose crankshaft'. Mine has just gone at 170k.... Not ideal.

Oh good I've got 124k before I need to worry about that then

[JFReturns]

I've got 120,000 miles on mine, engine seems fine but my clutch slave cyclinder went. If this hasn't been done yet I would do it, relatively cheap and may save a breakdown

[GravelBen]

ukianj said:

Watch out for 1990 1.6's - they have a 'short nose crankshaft'. Mine has just gone at 170k.... Not ideal.

Yes the short nose crank was used from the first cars in '89 until mid '91 IIRC, but the problem is blown a bit out of proportion apparently - a mechanic on the NZ MX5 forum reckoned he had actually dealt with more long nose crank failures than short nose!

Edited by GravelBen on Monday 1st March 09:12

[snotrag]

Don't worry about it. Even if something did go wrong, 2nd hand engines are ten a penny.

I bought mine on 80 something, recently passed over to 100k miles and it feels better than ever after regular thrashing.
Change the oil regularly, make sure its running in good tune and you can't go wrong.

[bluetone]

^^^^ a strict diet of fully synthetic changed when the HLA noise starts increasing (@ every 3500 miles in mine) and the job's a good 'un.

Edited by bluetone on Monday 1st March 10:52

[dylan0451]

120k with track abuse from the previous owner. changing to a thinner cold temp oil cured the rattly top end, and resealing the sump fixed the oil leak (i think). i'll have total piece of mind after fitting a coolant re route and doing compression/leakdown but so far so good! strong little engines

as far as i can see from reading of short nose failures/LWSC etc. it normally happens after the cam belt pulley has been taken off, (i assume for changing front main seal as you can change the cambelt without taking the pulley off) and not tightened to the correct torque

i think the nut is supposed to be torqued to 88 ft/lbs?

i papped myself after i found out about the issue, however was reassured when i checked the nut and the torque wrench clicked at 88, 95, then 100 ft/lb - i decided to leave it alone, as it appeared the last person to do the work was aware of the potential problem

[dan_swin]

Thanks for all the advice guys, it's been a great help!

Munter said:

To the OP I don't know what your plans are for the car. But if you're thinking about bolting on lots of upgrades you might like to know that the later cars had a different size CAT. Which really limits the number of off the shelf exhausts you can buy without playing around.

Edit: Ah it's a 1.6. So if it's a UK 1.6 it'll be a bit gutless. 88BHP over the 130 in the 1.8.

Edited by Munter on Saturday 27th February 18:52

The car is for my girlfriend so the power disadvantage wasn't really an issue and meant insurance was possible! After some searching howerver, I found insurance on a 1.8 was cheaper and today we bought a nice example of a 1.8 from another local PH'er!

Thanks again,
Dan

[Odie]

After 150k its probably just getting nicely run in.

[TwistingMyMelon]

dan_swin said:

Thanks for all the advice guys, it's been a great help!

Munter said:

To the OP I don't know what your plans are for the car. But if you're thinking about bolting on lots of upgrades you might like to know that the later cars had a different size CAT. Which really limits the number of off the shelf exhausts you can buy without playing around.

Edit: Ah it's a 1.6. So if it's a UK 1.6 it'll be a bit gutless. 88BHP over the 130 in the 1.8.

Edited by Munter on Saturday 27th February 18:52

The car is for my girlfriend so the power disadvantage wasn't really an issue and meant insurance was possible! After some searching howerver, I found insurance on a 1.8 was cheaper and today we bought a nice example of a 1.8 from another local PH'er!

Thanks again,
Dan

Small world!! hope you enjoy the car Dan, I did, miss it already!!! Let me know when you want the spare wheel!