NC 1.8 question

Morning all,
Following our recent 2007 NC 1.8 purchase, I’ve read several posts about the 1.8 engine’s fragility. Given that these cars can require using all the revs for spirited driving I’m a little concerned.
I’m aware of keeping the oil on the upper mark of the dipstick, but are there any other things I need to keep on top of? And is this the prime reason for the engine issues or is it something else?
Photo included for no other reason than I like it :slight_smile:
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Regularly checking the oil level is the single best thing you can do. So many of the engine failure reports imply that these engines can go for years without using much oil and then burn a significant amount leading to low level and failure. Good oil, and regular oil and filter changes will help keep the rings and bores happy. Don’t drive the car hard until the oil is warm which can be several minutes after the coolant is up to temperature. The early dipstick can be difficult to read and is not too expensive to replace with the later item. The oil pressure gauge may as well be used to indicate the stock markets as it has no connection with reality.

Nice color! My 1.8 blew on me and after that I found out more than what you know now. First of all do NOT rely on the oil pressure gauge. It’s fake. Second, check oil every 300 miles.

The problems lies in a few weak points in the engine that can cause excessive/extreme oil usage, combined with being above average sensitive to oil starvation. This will cause the bearings in the block to be destroyed and directly or slightly later other internals being damaged. You will probably extend the life of your engine by being very carefull with the engine, not revving it untill you know for sure it’s warm and keeping the oil fully topped op. Reports of engines failing with the dipstick showing oil level to be half way or anywhere in between the lines are not unheard of. But eventually the weak points will arise and your engine will start using oil. Mine went at 110k miles when I went WOT through a corner.

Some people say it’s BS and the NC doesn’t have a flawed engine. But I always like to tell Paul Roddison confirms that the engine is flawed on miata.net. If I search for NC’s on the net I find a lot with swapped engines. That isn’t without it’s reasons.

By the way I took the opportunity to swap to a 2.0 as it’s pretty much the same price bar a different ECU :smiley: I am also interested in wether the 2.5’s and 2.3’s that are used for swaps have the same weak points as the stock engines. If not, that might also be an interesting option.

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The NC engine is a joint Ford / Mazda unit used in vast numbers of Ford Focus etc models and I’ve never heard anything about it being weak or flawed in the Ford application. Many of those will be hard used company cars and not pampered, privately owned vehicles that have regular oil level checks. The main difference is, of course, that the Ford engines are front wheel drive installations. Given the usual advice about keeping oil level in the Mazda at full, is it perhaps an oil surge problem in the longitudinal Mazda installation?
JS

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with the n/c engines IF they are looked after correctly.

If you think it’s a mondeo engine my question to you when have you seen a mondeo with VVT?

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One of the best comments to date.
You talk to the trade and public about Mazda (and other Japanese companies) and they nearly always talk about bullet proof engines.
Japanese engineering is and always has been top notch.
Mike Hailwood’s RC 166 springs to mind. Honda yes, but what a magnificent machine that was!
It’s the same old story, some don’t care and wing it.
Some just don’t know or fully understand.
Some pass on the neglect to others.
Some therefore unfortunately catch a cold.
If you look after your pride and joy it will look after you. :+1:
Like many others who wanted a “good “ sports car we all had the common short lists and opted for the MX5. Not many regrets I suspect :slightly_smiling_face:

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Ian, I’m unsure if that was aimed at me? If so, sorry. Like I said I’d read a few things (not on here). I’m just a new owner and member looking for specific advice. So far the forum’s been superb.

Not aimed at you, your thread got a bit derailed by others, I’m going to clean up the off topic stuff to allow people to contribute to a reasonable discussion related to your questions.

So the Forum Admin has just removed his comment about Forum Rules.
He has just removed my comment about what he has said previously, i.e when HE was not conforming to the rules which in itself is a form of bullying which is against Forum rules!
Which in my opinion is abusing ones’s position!
Correct me if I am wrong.

Couldn’t agree more about maintenance and reliability. As for VVT I’ve not seen a 1.8 NC with it either???

JS