Metric Mechanic 2900 Sport

[jneumss]

I'd be checking this head for cracks as well. How sure are you that it was some kind of stop leak? Maybe oil sludge from leaking head gasket/cracked head? Do you know any history on this car? Did PO do MM kit himself? What exactly was he trying to fix with the stop leak crap?M20 oil pump looks like pretty basic design, hard to imagine it's just failed for no reason. Post some pics once you dig into it.

I am planning on having the head and the block cleaned and checked out, as well as the oil pump. The reason I think it was stop leak was the consistency of it, it was almost like silicone sealant that had cured and it was filled with metal flakes that looked just like stop leak does. However, I have never used it or seen what it looks like first-hand after it has been added to the coolant. Would oil sludge have a soft, rubber like consistency like that?

As for what he was trying to fix with it, I am not sure. There is some evidence on the oil pan and block that there may have been a few older coolant leaks around the thermostat housing, water pump, and at the port at the back of the engine, but nothing that I noticed actively leaking since I have owned it.

I have paperwork for this engine being sent to MM and built to their 2900 Sport specification in 2007. The owner of the shop who did the install was the original owner of this car, but the restored after he had sold it to the owner that I bought the car from. After owning the car for almost 2 years, it is very evident that it was not maintained very well since it was redone in 2007. I will definitely post some pictures and description as I get into it further.

[zaq123]

I'd be checking this head for cracks as well. How sure are you that it was some kind of stop leak? Maybe oil sludge from leaking head gasket/cracked head? Do you know any history on this car? Did PO do MM kit himself? What exactly was he trying to fix with the stop leak crap?M20 oil pump looks like pretty basic design, hard to imagine it's just failed for no reason. Post some pics once you dig into it.

[jneumss]

Well, I finally got to spend some quality time with the iX - pulled the engine and transmission yesterday. I haven't gotten into the bottom end or the head much, but I think that I may have found a potential cause for the loss in oil pressure and wandering temperature gauge.

When I bought the car, it had a blown head gasket and the cause was 3 head bolts had backed out and were totally loose. So after fixing that, I drove the car for about 7 months. Now, upon tear down of the coolant system I've found that the previous owner must have used some of that stop leak junk and several of the coolant hoses were almost completely blocked.

I'm wondering if the some of the stop leak got into the oil system and is blocking or partially blocking some oil supply to the head.

Additionally, I'm wondering if the blockages in the coolant system was what was causing my temperature to fluctuate.

More investigation to follow.

[digger]

i would think the bearings would go out well before the cam got ate away if the pump failed. the cam might have been wiped already if the oil was wrong or the hard weld cam was not done properly

[berlow94]

Well, I was on my home last Wednesday night and my oil pump decided to shut down on me. Unfortunately, I could not pull over or shut down the car as I was in the middle of a 4 lane highway and by the time I was able to stop, there was a bunch of racket coming from the head.

The intake rocker arms for 4, 5, and 6 were starved and ground down on the cam. I took a sample of the oil and the filter in to my local shop and we found that there was cam hard-surface particulate in the oil. No clogged supply ports in the head would lead me to believe the oil pump was beginning to fail, hence the intermittent/low pressure and lack of flow in the head.

So I'm going to do a full-rebuild myself. I'm going to replace the oil pump and overhaul the bottom end with fresh bearings and rings since I'll be in there. I'll reuse the MM 86mm pistons and the eta crank.

For the head, I think I am going to go with a different cam, I did not love the way the MM 286/276 needed to be revved above 5000 rpms to make any power. I may go back to a square cam (272), or else have my current cam ground down and re-hardened at (274). After all, this is my daily driver.

And this time, I am going to install a proper standalone to manage it. Leaning towards the MS3.

MS3 is not a proper standalone. It's a fancy version of a DIY project. Motec, Vipec/Link, Emtron, Haltech are proper engine management solutions...

I've never heard of an oil pump just shitting the bed out of nowhere like that?! On a DD nonetheless. Not even like it was a race car that lived at high rpms... Curious what you find upon teardown.

[digger]

In my experience MM cams needs a good set of decent length headers and exhaust setups they have little overlap, also get a adjustable cam gear to dial it in correctly. mine had no torque below 5000rpm also with their cam until i got an exhaust it improved dramtically. put a better cam and it was even better...

That was the MM rally cam though,it was all sorts of wrong with timing, i cant comment from personal experience about the MM sport cams though, however a forum member who measured his found it was more suitable. id be looking at a non back split cam my self or a much smaller split if you have their heads, they port intake side alot but minmal work on exhaust so the exh cam needs to be bigger than they use

the first part of the engine cycle is getting the old gases out and starting to get the fresh mixture in while the piston is going UP if you dont do that you wont make good VE ever

[jneumss]

Well, I was on my home last Wednesday night and my oil pump decided to shut down on me. Unfortunately, I could not pull over or shut down the car as I was in the middle of a 4 lane highway and by the time I was able to stop, there was a bunch of racket coming from the head.

The intake rocker arms for 4, 5, and 6 were starved and ground down on the cam. I took a sample of the oil and the filter in to my local shop and we found that there was cam hard-surface particulate in the oil. No clogged supply ports in the head would lead me to believe the oil pump was beginning to fail, hence the intermittent/low pressure and lack of flow in the head.

So I'm going to do a full-rebuild myself. I'm going to replace the oil pump and overhaul the bottom end with fresh bearings and rings since I'll be in there. I'll reuse the MM 86mm pistons and the eta crank.

For the head, I think I am going to go with a different cam, I did not love the way the MM 286/276 needed to be revved above 5000 rpms to make any power. I may go back to a square cam (272), or else have my current cam ground down and re-hardened at (274). After all, this is my daily driver.

And this time, I am going to install a proper standalone to manage it. Leaning towards the MS3.

[CamE30]

Check the coolant temp sensors just to rule them out, could have gotten a bad one or may have just been over looked. If they are ok then I would make sure the electric fan on the outside is turning on itf it is still installed. It should come on when you turn the AC on as well.

[ELVA164]

Those words will be inscribed on his headstone I think.

[Kershaw]

Reading jlevie's posts ending in advice to do a smoke test just warms my cockles, i tell ya.

[jlevie]

The hunting idle when the engine is at normal operating temperature could be a bad TPS, bad or sticky ICV, intake leaks, or a combination of those. The only reliable check for intake leaks isa properly executed smoke test.

[digger]

for the idle, the TPS needs to be set and working correctly with no bad wiring, faulty ICV and vacuum leaks are another cause of fast idle. the bentley tells you how to test TPS and set throttle body clearance correctly.

[jneumss]

Ok, so I went for a drive today, got the engine up to temp and then did the newspaper test. Everything checks out with the fan clutch.

On the ECU, I know that it was changed at some point, but I do not know which chip is installed, if any. The engine was redone back in 2007 by the previous owner. I will pull the cover off and take a look tomorrow.

As of now, the plan is to get a MS2 setup configured over the winter and installed by the spring.

digger, do you have any suggestions on what sensors could I start with?

[digger]

there is something wrong with a sensor or a leak etc, it isnt a fault with the capability of the stock ecu as all MM m20 engine use stock ECU with nothing more than a chip, even though stock is far from the best solution, it can perform quite flawlessly.

[mr2peak]

That is WAY to much engine for the DME, unless it's a custom chip.

Electric fan won't cool as well as the mechanical fan. The mechanical fan moves a lot more air than a 16" fan will ever move. Definitely try the newspaper test.

And get a proper stand-alone! Go get a whodwho or blueapplesoda PnP unit. You spent a bunch of money to get the engine, skimping on a way to control it is a really bad idea. A stand-alone is easily worth another 10-20hp on a highly modified M20, not to mention increased drivability as well.