Hi guys, my girlfriend has had an MX5 mark 1 for a few years now nice car but a little basic so we thought we’d upgrade. So we now have a 2002 phoenix in metallic grey 1.6(is this a mark 2.5, how do you tell?), very nice car, more gown up I guess and certianly better for the M6 blasts up here in cheshire.
Anyway I digress, the car has one or two accessories that I want to get rid of. These being broken steering rack, broken radiator, and hole in the front of the sump the size of my fist (amazingly the car is still holding oil) so it’s not drivable in any shape or form.
The rad and the rack are of no real bother and I can do reasonably easily.
However the sump is a problem, I bought the car thinking it would be simple. Having now looked, it seems to be shall we say slightly more challenging. So looking for some advice. Has anyone tried to drop the subframe and change the sump like this, I can see the sump bolts to the gearbox so will it clear the pick up if i don’t unbolt the box? Should i forget about this approach and just pull the engine out leaving the gearbox in situ?
Finally someone said today, when i was enquiring at garages, that the oil pump needs to be removed, are we talking cam belt here, what have i got myself into. I thought a simple weekend would have this out the way.
Any help or humourous responses welcome.
G’day mate, Welcome to the Forum
The answer that you probably don’t want to hear is, ring the local scrappy and start again.
However as you say the steering rack is easy, as is the radiator. The sump can be removed by dropping the front subframe, and you don’t need to touch the gearbox. Not sure about removing the oil pump but I don’t think it’s necessary. What caused the big hole? was the car driven like that at all?
A simpler answer may be a replacement engine. You sound like pulling one out isn’t a problem, so why not drop in a second hand unit, there are plenty available, though you do have to be careful to choose the right supplier. I shall follow this one with a lot of interest
Thaanks for the welcome Geoff
The engine seems pretty sound, most of the oil is still in it, the deep part of the sump at the back is still holding oil so when i use the dip stick it’s on minimum.
This being the case I’ve started it and the oil light goes out straight away. [:D]
The price of the parts off a used car is £250 inc delivery for the lot, rack, sump, radiator. The sump from mazda is £320 plus vat. if they fit the sump it’s £400 labour which i dont think is too bad, will still mean it’s less than £3000 for this very nice car. However i would prefer to spend less so if it can be done without splitting the engine and boc then thats good news.
Can anyone confirm if the phoenix special edition is a mark 2.5 as i want to be sure these used bits will be the right ones.
Thanks for the help guys
Hi
The Phoenix is a Mk2.5. I mus admit that on first reading I thought that you were refering to the Mk1, hence the scrappy comment. It must have hit something very hard to destroy the rack, radiator and punch a hole in the sump, have you checked all the suspension components?
Not sure what the car hit as I bought it like that, thinking it would be an easy repair.
The body work is perfert, save for a little bit of cosmetic damage to the lower bumper.It looks like something relatively thin and just high enough to catch the subframe has hit the bumper, right in the middle, then the rad and then to the sump and finally the rack and power steering pipes.
The subframe and mountings are OK, the rack is broken as the mount point and the sump has a hole in it.
Other than that I can see no damage, the engine hasn’t moved back, the box is in the right position so all seems initially good.
I’ve now found a garage that will replace the sump and other components for £450 if I supply the bits, which will cost me £250.
This means I’ll hopefully have a low mileage, near immaculate Phoenix for £2700. Things never go to plan though so will be expecting another £300 to go on that for the unexpected, still cheap though I think.
I’ll keep you guys posted as to how it works out.