CrankyCase Pulley Saga

Just returned from a junk yard where they have a 92 1.6l engine in
running condition. Stay tuned....

Crank(y) Shaft Pulley Part III

Well the weather has turned and the sun is out so the Mazda should be coming out of its winter hibernation, but alas, the Crank shaft pulley problem has kiboshed those plans. You may recall that last fall my other twenty year old car, the 300E had some transmission problems, which meant that I had to use the Miata later into the season than intended. You may also recall that due to time constraints, when the front of the engine was apart I did not actually replace the wobbling pulley, figuring the Miata would be on the road for such a short time it wouldn't matter and it could be done this year. The Mazda was not on the road a short time and it did matter, a few days before the Benz returned from the transmission shop, the pulley and key started their wobbling thing and the whole thing went crappo; no power, horrible banging noise, etc. At the time my fragile nerves couldn't handle two major breakdowns so I parked the Miata, went on holiday, forgot about it, picked up my Benz and motored happily for the winter and spring. But now it's summer and I want some top down enthusiastic shifting for myself driving. The plan right now is to see if the shaft and pulley can be jerry fixed again, or if more dra$tic measures will have to be taken. New engine anyone? Regardless something will have to be done because right now it's sunny outside and the Miata is sitting under a tarp in the garage like some forgotten junk. No one said owning twenty old cars on a budget would be easy.

Crank(y) Case Pulley

Tim in NC left me a comment regarding the Miata's wobbly crank case pulley. He said "Don't ignore it" so I looked into the matter and it appears the Miata needs a new engine. I kinda wish I didn't kn0w that. According to the Miata specialist mechanic here in Vancouver the only way to fix the problem is to either rebuild the engine or swap in a new one. Since spending $2000 on a new engine is not an option for an out of work actor I have to try something else. I could sell the car but I don't want to saddle someone else with this problem and if I did declare it I wouldn't be able to sell it for as much as I bought it for so I'd be loosing as much as a new engine and the whole Miata itself. For now the Miata runs and it will continue running until the worn out crankcase pulley messes up the timing so bad that it can't pull away from an intersection or the pulley comes off and it's end of story. The only option I'm left with is to attempt the Loctite fix. This basically involves gluing the pulley into the right position. Hopefully it works. Stay tuned.

How many cars out there have an internet community like this one? Or specialist mechanic shops? Not many. The Miata is special.