Any thoughts on my plan to address 5th gear power loss / ticking / exhaust holes?

[twopass]

yes I use diesl to flush the gunk from the pan while it drains .

[RayRay]

yes I use diesl to flush the gunk from the pan while it drains .

Is that for removing varnish, or hardened chunks of oil gunk, or to help get metal bits out, or a lil of everything?

[w4rkry]

You may be right. Sadly, less than 4500 of those miles were under my command. I picked it up after it'd been put out to pasture for the second time in its life. I'm reeeally hoping I didn't put the final bullet in.

Will be searching the site for easiest motor swaps...whether from another Festiva or from a similar Mazda with *Very* *Little* *Modification* needed. I can't weld anymore, so my ridiculous ideas for Eldorado drivetrain swaps are flat out. :glasses2:

If you want to stay stock B3, you can use most of the parts from any other Festiva or Aspire.

There are tons of other Mazda B series motors that will bolt to the trans. They range in size and power and complexity. The Wikipedia page about Mazda B series Engines is a good read to learn more about the platform, and the forums have the information for almost every single one of them being put into a Festiva.

But above all that, hopefully you can fix the one you have!

Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk

[RayRay]

Didn't realize there was a Wiki page just for the B series motor(s)...man, it's like all the info is right out there waiting, not like the old days where we did a lot of "try it n see"...heh...
Thanks for the tip!

[Rick the Quick]

Ray Ray, the first thing I would have advised would be to check the compression. 350K miles while not unheard of is quite a few miles for any engine let alone a used car with god only knows what kind of abuse it has seen from previous owners. A 1300 cc engine will not have enough power to pull 5th gear with a weak cylinder or two. You mention ticking from the valve cover that eventually become clunking from the lower end, then you say you pulled over and killed it. I am assuming by "killed it" you turned it off, or did you mean it stopped on it's own? The ticking (are you sure it was not from the bottom end?) that morphed into a clunking from the lower end sounds like a rod or main bearing that is gone. If that is the case look for a used engine. A major overhaul on a B3 is not logical. A B6 will be easier to find then a B3 and you will see a noticeable difference in performance. They go in a Festiva the same as a B3. Depending on what year and variation they can be "plug and play" or may require minor modifications to wiring / plumbing etc. You can find help on here if you need it. Your two distinctive power modes sound like intermittent ignition problems. If you get her running again and the loud clunking from the bottom end has subsided I would check the oil and coolant level to make sure it is safe to run then I would check compression before going any further. At this point I would focus on ignition problems then go on to fuel system. As for ticking from the hydraulic lifters that will not keep the car from running and I would also stay away from the so called engine flushes. Why stir up 25 years worth of sludge at the bottom of your oil pan? You think you have problems now? If you get 'er back on the road and running right keep changing the oil and filter at short intervals, perhaps every 2,000 miles and the ticking (if it's a lifter) may clear up. Never over fill the crankcase by 2 quarts. That is an invitation for disaster. Hydraulic lifters are not expensive. If you get 'er figured out and the engine runs decently buy a lifter or two. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Rick the Quick]

Just saw your compression. It's excellent. It may not be as high as a new engine but you have plenty of it and it is all even. The engine should run fine with it. Stop talking about flushing the crankcase. All you are going to do is knock a bunch of crap loose that will plug the intake screen on the oil pump. Period! A ticking lifter is preferable to a clogged oil pump screen. Clean high quality oil and a good quality oil filter (Mazda or Wix) is what I would do. And yes I have used ATF before to free stuck rings but putting that stuff in a crankcase may cause more damage than good. Another possibility is to go ahead and flush the engine with kerosene or some other solvent run it at idle for a few minutes. Drain it and the pull the oil pan and clean out all the crap that will soon be clogging the oil pump screen.

[Rick the Quick]

If you need an engine look for a B6ME. It bolts right up and only a minimal amount of work. A B6ME is a single overhead cam 16 valve engine. It came in various Mazdas and Kias. I put one in my daily driver so I could get the B6T in my '93. Plenty of guys do a B6T swap over the weekend, I wanted the luxury of taking my time and doing it right and also restoring most anything else while it is apart. The '91 with the B6ME runs so much better then a stock Festiva that I have lost interest or at least slowed down on finishing the B6T swap. Having a bunch of other paying jobs doesn't help either......:woc:

[RayRay]

Man, I couldn't ask for better help. I hear what you're saying about the flushing, Rick. Makes me think if this block is gonna be salvageable, even temporarily, I oughtta pull the oil pan and check out that screen. Even if the pump is weak, it's obviously still functional, so cleaning the screen (and maybe cleaning any crap I can see with the pan off) can only be a good thing. Must fight temptation to install new oil pump...money is an issue...and when the time comes, now I know to look for a B6ME. THANKS RICK.

[ryanprins13]

This is a late reply, but wanted to respond to the posts which came in prior to the knock developing.



Yes, there is less power in lower gears, however it had two distinct modes. First one, the car was super sluggish but smooth (felt like maybe wasn't firing on all four cylinders?) until the RPMs got pretty high, like >2500 rpm, at which time it'd surge ahead as if the missing cylinder was suddenly found. Or, as if the parking brake was suddenly released. A significant change in power, and not always at exactly 2500 rpm, just around there, give or take, changing each time with no pattern.

The second mode was one which made me feel like I was in a rocking chair. The car would continue to accelerate, but then back off on power (causing me to rock forward), then after 1-2 seconds it'd have full power again (pushing me back), and repeat this every 1-2 seconds, rhythmically, very much like sitting in a rocking chair. Happened in every gear, every speed, save for 5th which never had enough power to stay at speed unless going downhill.

Brakes / wheel bearings / plugs and wires all checked or done recently, fuel filter is a maybe (recently replaced but there's sand in the tank) so I've ordered some from RockAuto.

Air filter / box all okay, idles reasonably well (doesn't feel like it's missing at idle), and hadn't even considered checking the tranny fluid level!! Good thinkin :-) Will check today as I'm removing the tow bar from the front...

Sent you a PM earlier...and upon re-re-re-reading everyone's posts and trying desperately to get all the info through my thick skull, I think your post here answers my questions from the PM.

Years ago someone brought me a vandalized vehicle with an unknown agent put in the motor. Not wanting to tear it down, we opted for changing the oil & filter, topped it off and lightly warmed up the engine, then opened the drain plug and added 3-4 add'l quarts of oven-warmed new cheap oil to help eeeverything flow out, change filter, wash rinse repeat. Sounds like this might be a good time to play that card.

I quickly replied to your pm's before i saw all these comments. I had forgotten about your other issues actually. Perhaps an engine swap would be the best way to fix everything at once.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[RayRay]

I quickly replied to your pm's before i saw all these comments. I had forgotten about your other issues actually. Perhaps an engine swap would be the best way to fix everything at once.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

I reckon under normal circumstances this really would be the most rational option...but between $ and health, it's overwhelmingly beneficial to squeeze aaaaany little bit of life possible out of this block. I'm following the "EFI distributor testor" thread, in hopes that tester's wiring diagram resurfaces, just in case. Am slowly but surely correcting the wrongs done to this car's wiring, body, etc. Got a really good deal a parts car, specifically for swapping things in hopes of diagnosing bad parts, and to help clean up the cosmetics on the daily driver. No title to the parts car, but it's clean enough that...dare I say...it might run with some TLC...but even if it does run, I haven't the air/power tools to make an engine swap go faster, and haven't the physical ability to do it with just hand tools & cheater bars. It's a pickle...but hey, I'M PICKLE RAAAAAY!!! (Rick & Morty reference) ;-)

I'll keep this thread updated with basic updates, won't bore you with the incidentals. Hopefully I'll get it back on the road and have the ticking addressed & find the power loss (which was the initial purpose of this thread...and thanks to Ryan, who confirmed his opened exhaust didn't cause any power loss). So much good info in this thread...can't thank all of yall enough! :notworthy:

[RayRay]

***SOLVED***

5th gear power loss?

Ticking?

Turned into Every Gear power loss?

Ticking turned to knocking?

Who guessed stripped crank keyway? Anyone? I bet a coupla yall guessed it!

That lower end knock I was hearing was actually the lower pulley clunking around as it randomly made contact with the crank in juuust the right spot. The pulley's sitting at a crooked angle, wobbling horribly, mostly just sitting there but randomly kicking out at a different angle.

SO. Who said motor swap? I bet *everybody* says motor swap.

Thanks again for EVERYBODY'S help. :-)

[william]

Jb weld ... lol put it at tdc and glue it back on.

[Studebaker]

I say parts car. get the parts and fix it

[RayRay]

Jb weld ... lol put it at tdc and glue it back on.

Don't think for a second that I haven't considered it! I've read a lot of folks talk about welding it back together, and generally that's not met with a lot of praise/enthusiasm from others...and I can't imagine JB Weld would do any better than welding (recognizing that it's not a proper weld job in the first place). Main thing keeping me from doing this is the lack of a cherry picker. I'm woefully ill-equipped for driving an old car.

I say parts car. get the parts and fix it

That's actually becoming a proper idea. I first need to find out if the parts car can acquire a proper title. If so, there's a very real chance I'll end up driving the parts car. And if there's not a title to be had, well, away back in the day there was a certain amount of VIN swapping going on when a daily became the parts car and the parts car became the daily driver...I don't think that's really a thing anymore though ;-)

Nonetheless, I have my sights on a running motor, am hoping to swap for it, but in the meantime I'm putting Marvel Mystery Oil down the spark plug holes of the parts car. Let's just see what happens next...

[ricko1966]

A real world old school fix for this problem is drill and tap three holes at say 12-4and 8 1/2 way intersecting the crank and the pulley loctite and thread allen set screws into the holes and your pulley will be more secure than it was when it was new.

***SOLVED***

5th gear power loss?

Ticking?

Turned into Every Gear power loss?

Ticking turned to knocking?

Who guessed stripped crank keyway? Anyone? I bet a coupla yall guessed it!

That lower end knock I was hearing was actually the lower pulley clunking around as it randomly made contact with the crank in juuust the right spot. The pulley's sitting at a crooked angle, wobbling horribly, mostly just sitting there but randomly kicking out at a different angle.

SO. Who said motor swap? I bet *everybody* says motor swap.

Thanks again for EVERYBODY'S help. :-)