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Long Time No See Or How My Xedos Is About To Die?


cuto
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Hey....Hey!!! i'm still alive but i bring some bad news.

 

After 4 good years and some major money thrown at the car, i think she is starting a slow death.

 

And im not a happy camper. Not after having all 4 struts rebuilt a month ago and having bought 4 new tyres.

 

My car has started to smoke at startup. It smokes for 6 or 7 seconds and stops. No smoke after that. Came to the obvious conclusions. Either piston rings, head gasket, leakage from stem valves or....THAT supercharger failing.

 

I can rule out the head gasket as the car does not lose any coolant at all. Coolant looks clear as crystal water also. Car is burning over a quart of oil every 1.000 Km. regular like a clock.

 

Gonna get the front IC out and check for oil in it.

 

One thing puzzles me: everyone states that smoke at startup = bad supercharcger. Well, if the supercharger is sucking up oil, shouldn't the car smoke ALWAYS?

 

To wrap it up: if it's the SC, i will part the car or ride it till it dies on me. Not gonna spend money on ebay for used ones. Unless some trustee soul gives me a pointer on a good one!

 

That said: life sux!

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One thing puzzles me: everyone states that smoke at startup = bad supercharcger. Well, if the supercharger is sucking up oil, shouldn't the car smoke ALWAYS?

 

 

Exactly! I am burning oil and it is the leak from valve seals. Piston rings are not perfect either. Keep the car sitting for a week and it smokes like crazy. The oil slowly leaks from the valve seals down to the cylinder. you can see this happening with the evident oil burning at some cylinders when doing a spark plug change. If it was S/C all cylinders should have burned oil on the plug.

 

There is no easy way, changing the valve seals is expensive labor. And changing the rings is impossible. (Better buy a new engine).

 

I couldnt pass smog check here and couldnt register the car. All because of the oil burning IMO. If I pass this year with some magic trick I am gonna drive it 2 more years till the next smog and then sell to junk yard.

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One thing puzzles me: everyone states that smoke at startup = bad supercharcger. Well, if the supercharger is sucking up oil, shouldn't the car smoke ALWAYS?

 

 

Exactly! I am burning oil and it is the leak from valve seals. Piston rings are not perfect either. Keep the car sitting for a week and it smokes like crazy. The oil slowly leaks from the valve seals down to the cylinder. you can see this happening with the evident oil burning at some cylinders when doing a spark plug change. If it was S/C all cylinders should have burned oil on the plug.

 

There is no easy way, changing the valve seals is expensive labor. And changing the rings is impossible. (Better buy a new engine).

 

I couldnt pass smog check here and couldnt register the car. All because of the oil burning IMO. If I pass this year with some magic trick I am gonna drive it 2 more years till the next smog and then sell to junk yard.

 

Hi Saint. I know all about your problems. Been reading on them! I bet the issue are the damned valve seals. I hope so anyway! Thats a minor problem to me. Car passes smog check here as long as the engine is warmed up to normal temperature.

 

In my quest i tried some Liqi Moly additives (the only ones in the whole world i can trust).

 

For leaking valve seals i used this (still waiting on results, BUT the car stops smoking a lot faster now)

http://www.liqui-moly.de/liquimoly/produkt...voiladb=web.nsf

 

For cylinder and rings i'm gonna use this one next:

http://www.liqui-moly.de/liquimoly/produkt...voiladb=web.nsf

 

And as a final cut:

http://www.liqui-moly.de/liquimoly/produkt...voiladb=web.nsf

 

This last one performs miracles on some engines. I saw it with my own eyes. In fact i have seen au Audi 1.8 somking like a train. Engine was a used one as the owner just blew the original. After pouring that Ceratec , and letting the engine idle for about an hour the smoke just stopped.

 

I bought all those and i'm dumping the Ceratec in next month. Just gonna put 300 miles on the car for the other additives to take effect.

 

But i will rest only when i check that IC.

 

Also: im gonna change from 5w30 to this one:

http://www.liqui-moly.de/liquimoly/produkt...ent&land=DE

 

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rebuilt superchargers aren't that badly priced if you can do the work yourself

 

I can change the PCV valve. Thats how qualified i am!

 

I will simply ride it till it dies on me. After that it will serve me as a rebate on a new car. I'm not gonna throw 1800 dollars on a PSE SC and have a tranny fail on me after. Anything can go wrong after a guy starts putting money on a car that simply has no value here.

 

Edit: gonna try and buy a Subaru Legacy with 165 HP, LPG converted (factory fitted). Car has 40 K miles and is imacculate.

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The tranny in the S is very strong, only know of 2 failures in the whole history of MW. 1 of which was a freak thing.

 

It's not HARD to change out the supercharger, but it does take alot of time and labeling where everything goes.

 

Question - Is yours a 4WS model?

 

My TCC solenoid failed at round 130k miles. It was age related and was a hassle to find parts and change.

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The tranny in the S is very strong, only know of 2 failures in the whole history of MW. 1 of which was a freak thing.

 

It's not HARD to change out the supercharger, but it does take alot of time and labeling where everything goes.

 

Question - Is yours a 4WS model?

 

Nope. As for the SC, i've read so many things about it. Including that PSE only cleans the gunk out and they are good to go. Also read somewhere that a guy solved his problem by packing heavy duty grease on the SC bearings. The car just stopped smoking. My engine is running fine and i'm only putting 5.000 miles a year on the car. With luck the cats and the SC will last a couple of years more. Sure its burning a quart of oil every 600 miles, but 1800 dollars can buy a whole lot of oil.

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Haven't heard about the heavy duty grease, but PSE when doing the 1200-1800 dollar rebuild (depending if you supply the core) should clen it out, inspect fins, replace all seals and change out/service bearings

 

Here's the quick fix:

 

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread....arger-quick-fix

 

It's a drastic measure as oil feeds were blocked and SC lube relies only on the heavy duty grease. But...its worth a shot on a dying SC.

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Hmm... Hopefully your additive package will keep the addictive engine running a good while longer :)

 

I use Omega 917 to keep the valveseals soft in my 2,5. I'm at 220k km and have a minor startup smoke, hardly visible in the mirror, rather when watching someone drive off.

 

As years go by, most of us will accept some minor flaws I guess. I'm experiencing a slight knock in my front left lateral link now, changed the right one a couple of years ago. Part from the knock sensor, discs and pads and a new battery, just about the only issue so far :)

 

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My understanding was that oil somehow leaks through the supercharger when the engine is off, which is then burned upon startup. My Eunie died over this issue so I hope you have better luck.

 

I don't see how the leak could occur with the engine off. Seals on the SC are located at the bearings, which means that leakage should only occur under pressure. There is no gravity pulling the oil down like with bad valve seals.

 

IPB Image

 

Seals prevent horizontal leakage. But maybe i'm dead wrong.

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My understanding was that oil somehow leaks through the supercharger when the engine is off, which is then burned upon startup. My Eunie died over this issue so I hope you have better luck.

 

I don't see how the leak could occur with the engine off. Seals on the SC are located at the bearings, which means that leakage should only occur under pressure. There is no gravity pulling the oil down like with bad valve seals.

 

 

 

Seals prevent horizontal leakage. But maybe i'm dead wrong.

 

If they leak while sitting we would be left without any oil in 10 minutes when its running. I am still arguing most of the startup smoke comes from the valve seals. I dont think there is much difference between 2.3 and 2.5 in terms of this issue.

 

So 2 questions:

 

1. Anybody attempted to change them?

2. Is it worth when the time comes (mine are well due now)? IIRC it is listed as a 20+ hours job.

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Valve covers are common to leak, but the valve seals themselfs? I would just keep an eye on the oil level, that way you can see how much oil your actually losing.

 

Yes valve seal leakage is a very common problem. And NO i dont think it's worth it in my case. Too many labor. It's a PITA of a job on the miller. The downsides are oil consumption (not very costly) and maybe getting your cats ruined.

 

 

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I think they dont have cams in that engine in the vid.

 

24 valves, working in the rear bank for hours, lots of special tools, air tools, and who knows what will go wrong. And once you get there you would also wanna do the valve adjustment. Besides the piston rings are also not good on mine. This is definitely not a DIY job.

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I think they dont have cams in that engine in the vid.

 

24 valves, working in the rear bank for hours, lots of special tools, air tools, and who knows what will go wrong. And once you get there you would also wanna do the valve adjustment. Besides the piston rings are also not good on mine. This is definitely not a DIY job.

 

Agreed. Its time to ride till the milly dies. And feed him oil!

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