Help With My Mirage

[The Don]

Hi Guys,

I guess fuzzo and skakster would remember that I got myself an oxygen sensor for my car, but I tried fitting it in and found out my car has a 2 wire oxygen sensor, and the one that I got off a proton is a 4 wire !!! yikes,

thus I need to find myself a after cat oxygen sensor, any ideas where I can start looking ?

Also the noisy tappet problem I've had seems to have returned !!! I sorted it about a year back by replacing the tappets with some used ones, which my mechanic thought would do the trick, but after a year (I wasn't in the country all this time) I find that it has come back,

Its running Caltex fully synthetic which i wonder is a good idea in such an old engine and milleage (and its run less than 5000KM on that oil), and some have suggested the problem is with my oil pump and not the tappets. I would like some suggestions on that too, for I am weary of relying on mechs advise alone, cos I have been taken on a few rides of late, and plus the car gets so little use maybe that has contributed to the problem too ?

Thanks a lot in advance,

Regards,

The Don

[sharkster]

hey bro

is there any way u can dig that O2 sensor part no. up for us?

i'll respond to ur other questions frm wrk tomorrw...goin to hit d sack now machan

regards

shak

[The Don]

hey bro

is there any way u can dig that O2 sensor part no. up for us?

i'll respond to ur other questions frm wrk tomorrw...goin to hit d sack now machan

regards

shak

Thanks macho,

But how do I find the part number, even the agents have problems finding part numbers for my car cos its a domestic

I thought oxygen sensors were standard equipment cos on ebay you can see sensors for sale which they say will fit any car of a certain generation,

thanks again for help,

Regards,

The don

[sharkster]

ok first of all which frame is ur mirage?plus i need to knw the trim...is it a VIE or an Asti V?n uve got the 4G15 correct?

i'll fire a few calls over the weeknd to try n source an oxygen sensor

on the tappet matter...is the car idling a lot lower than usual?a lot of shuddering?excessive white smoke? if it is the case ur tappets might hav broken...if the above seem normal let me knw

hmm ive heard cases of the synthetic oil being a bit damagin to engines wit not-so-tough internals...but for this case how long hav u been runnin on synthetic n how often do u flush?debris from engine wear n other dirt n sludge build up that line ur engine walls will be removed by the detergents in the synthetic oil...these bits may go onto clog oil ports so sum of ur internals may be starvd of oil...this is y ur engine needs to be flushd wen switchin frm normal oils to synthetic...

the problem cud also b wit ur oil pump...similar scenario

i cant think of anythng else yet but if i do i'll let u knw...

hope it helps bro

[Memphis]

Guys, what are the prices like for an O2 sensor, if i were to source one from here ?

[The Don]

ok first of all which frame is ur mirage?plus i need to knw the trim...is it a VIE or an Asti V?n uve got the 4G15 correct?

i'll fire a few calls over the weeknd to try n source an oxygen sensor

on the tappet matter...is the car idling a lot lower than usual?a lot of shuddering?excessive white smoke? if it is the case ur tappets might hav broken...if the above seem normal let me knw

hmm ive heard cases of the synthetic oil being a bit damagin to engines wit not-so-tough internals...but for this case how long hav u been runnin on synthetic n how often do u flush?debris from engine wear n other dirt n sludge build up that line ur engine walls will be removed by the detergents in the synthetic oil...these bits may go onto clog oil ports so sum of ur internals may be starvd of oil...this is y ur engine needs to be flushd wen switchin frm normal oils to synthetic...

the problem cud also b wit ur oil pump...similar scenario

i cant think of anythng else yet but if i do i'll let u knw...

hope it helps bro

Hi,

My Chassy is a CA3A the engine is a 4G91, the grading is ASTI Z

Hmm ....... yesh what you say about the tappets does sound familiar, I fear the tappets may have broken, atleast a few of them ....... I wonder where these can be sourced, last time i had to buy them used.

Well the car was on Mobil 1 when I got it so already on synthetic, but I changed over to Caltex on a reccomendaion, don't know if this was a good idea though, and for the record I did flush before changing oils. But I have heard mineral oils are a bit better for older engines,

Thanks for all the help again bro,

Regards,

The Don

[xXx]

Guys, what are the prices like for an O2 sensor, if i were to source one from here ?

prices vary a lot according to the model of the vehicle. imperial motors gave a quote of 40,000 odd amount for a suzuki XL7 couple of months ago

[sharkster]

Hi,

My Chassy is a CA3A the engine is a 4G91, the grading is ASTI Z

Hmm ....... yesh what you say about the tappets does sound familiar, I fear the tappets may have broken, atleast a few of them ....... I wonder where these can be sourced, last time i had to buy them used.

Well the car was on Mobil 1 when I got it so already on synthetic, but I changed over to Caltex on a reccomendaion, don't know if this was a good idea though, and for the record I did flush before changing oils. But I have heard mineral oils are a bit better for older engines,

Thanks for all the help again bro,

Regards,

The Don

sourcing the tappets will be tricky...especially for ur engine but im assuming they can be made...strong assumption there...btw did u replace the entire rocker arm or jus the tappet?

out of curiosity how much does ur car hav on the clock?n is it not used at all wen u'r away?mineral oils probably r d best bet

[The Don]

sourcing the tappets will be tricky...especially for ur engine but im assuming they can be made...strong assumption there...btw did u replace the entire rocker arm or jus the tappet?

out of curiosity how much does ur car hav on the clock?n is it not used at all wen u'r away?mineral oils probably r d best bet

Yeah I know, even last time I had to get a set used, and I think it was only the tappets not the rocker arms though not sure, cos my mech did that all for me, good bugger but he has not started work yet !!! I have gone to see him 3 times over the last few days,

The car has 173K KM's on it which is quite high but genuine milleage (i mean my old mazda said 132K but no way in the planet was that possible )

So If I am to switch to mineral oil what do you suggest ? and should I flush it using engine flush and then change to mineral oils ?

I think if its the tappets again, I am going to buy a new engine and replace this one cos it might be cheaper cos last time i paid 750 per tappet and there are 16 of them !!!.

Regards,

Abeetha

P.S. needless to say I really appriciate your advise etc. and you taking time out to write stuff.

[sharkster]

Yeah I know, even last time I had to get a set used, and I think it was only the tappets not the rocker arms though not sure, cos my mech did that all for me, good bugger but he has not started work yet !!! I have gone to see him 3 times over the last few days,

The car has 173K KM's on it which is quite high but genuine milleage (i mean my old mazda said 132K but no way in the planet was that possible )

So If I am to switch to mineral oil what do you suggest ? and should I flush it using engine flush and then change to mineral oils ?

I think if its the tappets again, I am going to buy a new engine and replace this one cos it might be cheaper cos last time i paid 750 per tappet and there are 16 of them !!!.

Regards,

Abeetha

P.S. needless to say I really appriciate your advise etc. and you taking time out to write stuff.

i didnt realise u were back in SL...thot a family membr was reportin back on the car's status

ive been using Mobil Super XHP on my cefiro for years n hav no problems...never saw the need for synthetic...i dnt wait for the service interval they recommend...as soon as i notice the oil goin brownish instead of black, the car is off to the service depot...im not happy wit even a slight loss of power so everything's changd at each session...oil, filter n air cleaner element...expensiv affair but if u can afford to do it u'll b easily adding 10's of 1000's of miles to ur engine without havin to ring up the garage day-in day-out...problem is most ppl in SL only change the oil at each service n seem to change the oil filter at every other service i.e. 6000km for the latter! n using local oils!

im not sure how effectiv these specific engine flush products are...i dont really trust them but thats my personal judgement...how i do it is drain the existing oil but dont remove the old oil filter...close sump...fill the engine up with 0W-40 synthetic oil if u can or jus use fresh mineral oil and run the engine at a bit of a high idle for around 20mins...drain this oil...change oil filter n fill wit fresh mineral oil n u shud b gud to go!

but here's the catch...in old engines sum debris n deposits may go on to help seal wasted oil rings (yes dirt is of sum gud sumtimes)...if all this is washd away in a flush u mite hav leaks...in addition as i said before these bits may clog oil ports n voila ur engine components r starvd of oil...

if u'r not goin to swap engines it is advisable to take ur motor apart n change all oil seals IF it is within budget constraint but im a skeptical of normal garages if u dnt hav much experience wit dem...the kind folk at A*W did this for me last yr n it cost me 50k but it included the water pump n thermostat...n u might want to check ur oil pump too...

anyways i think ive blabberd too much but the above is wat i feel is best for ur engine cos i knw u luv ur car...it sounds like an infinite hole in the pocket but im sure it'll b worth it if done properly...

n about me givin advice...well if u cudnt b helpd the purpose of havin an automotive forum is lost its my pleasure

regards

shak

p.s. the cost per tappet is mad...especially for lil bits of metal!

[The Don]

Hi Shaks,

Yeps has been in SL for about a week now, being avurudu season it has not been that much of a holiday, delivering parcels I was given to bring home, visiting people and trying to sort out car issues and to add to that trying to sort out a short holiday for my parents and going to see my sis who is studying somewhere else has been quite hetic !

Would have loved to have met everybody here too, sob sob unfortunately that might have to wait for another time

I talked to my mech who originally sorted the tappet problem out, I think my problem is two fold, first, I think I used oil which was too thick compared to the reccomended (though this has always been the oil used on the car). Mitsubishi reccomends 30 I used 50 so that might have contributed to the problem, so I would probably go down to 40 cos I think 30 is too thin for such an old engine. It sounds like one of the tappets is sticking or so it seems. Anyways I am handing the car over tomorrow for him to sort it out.

There is engine flush available at laughs quick lube and places, though I do not know if thats a good idea, whether it would do more harm than good.

he he and don't worry about your comments, they have always been most helpful, and the dude who gets your car is a lucky guy I would have bought it myself, but my dad scratches the corners of my small thing so I have nightmares what he might do to a Cefiro

I will report back arround next week and let you know what the diagnosis was and the solution,

Regards,

The Don

[The Don]

Hi Shaks,

As promissed I am reporting back on the progress, sorry for the delay but I have been all over the place.

The oxygen sensor from what I have read I could replace with a standard 2 wire sensor which can be obtained via ebay or something (made to fit american emission control standards but I asume it would work. My mechs will try removing the sensor and searching for a replacement in Panchikawatte, but nobody seems to be too eager to do it, I asume a lot of people feel its unnecessary. Unfortunately haven't had the time to oversee it myself, so I dunno whether it will get done (back at work now)

About the tappets, well they tried replacing the noisy ones only this time but though the noise is less it has not gone down completely. The problem seems to be that the chambers in the engine head in which the tappets sit in are a bit worn as well thus not providing a tight enough fit. The obvious solution for this problem is to have the chambered re sleeved and bored, but quite by chance we stumbled upon a new engine for the car in pretty good condition, does not seem to have had very many miles put on it at all and looks all but new, so we've decided to do an engine swap and keep the old engine for spares, I mean it runs perfectly well apart from the tappet problem and pulls like a dream, but its obviously suffered a bit from a less than attentive first owner so this way I get to maintain it the way I want to, and plus Its a simpler repair, and plus I end up with a lot of spares which is always nice when you run a rare engine, and good for whoever who owns it after me as well as he or she will get it with a lot of spares (I have quite a collection of switches and stuff which I have just purchased just in case, cos it is an old car, and some parts are not that easy to find being a coupe), not that I would be selling anytime soon , cos I have done a lot of work on the car, sorting out the transmission, and some other problems, as well as the air con system and the car is as original as it can get cos I have spent hours hunting for the exact parts to replace the faulty ones, and slowly but surely it is coming back to its former glory. The only thing I think I would replace now would be the automatic climate control system (the same one as that comes on the evo's 1-3) because some of the switches aren't as smooth as they used to be, and after that me thinks I would be satisfied with its operational condition, have been an expensive labour of love

I have also decided to opt for mineral oil instead of synthetic since the car sits dormant a lot. If it goes into regular running I might go back to synthetic, maybe 40 instead of the reccomended 30.

thanks once again for all your suggestions, they have been very helpful

Regards,

The Don.

[sharkster]

Hi Shaks,

As promissed I am reporting back on the progress, sorry for the delay but I have been all over the place.

The oxygen sensor from what I have read I could replace with a standard 2 wire sensor which can be obtained via ebay or something (made to fit american emission control standards but I asume it would work. My mechs will try removing the sensor and searching for a replacement in Panchikawatte, but nobody seems to be too eager to do it, I asume a lot of people feel its unnecessary. Unfortunately haven't had the time to oversee it myself, so I dunno whether it will get done (back at work now)

About the tappets, well they tried replacing the noisy ones only this time but though the noise is less it has not gone down completely. The problem seems to be that the chambers in the engine head in which the tappets sit in are a bit worn as well thus not providing a tight enough fit. The obvious solution for this problem is to have the chambered re sleeved and bored, but quite by chance we stumbled upon a new engine for the car in pretty good condition, does not seem to have had very many miles put on it at all and looks all but new, so we've decided to do an engine swap and keep the old engine for spares, I mean it runs perfectly well apart from the tappet problem and pulls like a dream, but its obviously suffered a bit from a less than attentive first owner so this way I get to maintain it the way I want to, and plus Its a simpler repair, and plus I end up with a lot of spares which is always nice when you run a rare engine, and good for whoever who owns it after me as well as he or she will get it with a lot of spares (I have quite a collection of switches and stuff which I have just purchased just in case, cos it is an old car, and some parts are not that easy to find being a coupe), not that I would be selling anytime soon , cos I have done a lot of work on the car, sorting out the transmission, and some other problems, as well as the air con system and the car is as original as it can get cos I have spent hours hunting for the exact parts to replace the faulty ones, and slowly but surely it is coming back to its former glory. The only thing I think I would replace now would be the automatic climate control system (the same one as that comes on the evo's 1-3) because some of the switches aren't as smooth as they used to be, and after that me thinks I would be satisfied with its operational condition, have been an expensive labour of love

I have also decided to opt for mineral oil instead of synthetic since the car sits dormant a lot. If it goes into regular running I might go back to synthetic, maybe 40 instead of the reccomended 30.

thanks once again for all your suggestions, they have been very helpful

Regards,

The Don.

Hi Don

I appologise I havent been able to source an oxygen sensor for you cos my weekends have been absolutely hectic since i never get a chance to do miscellaneous work on weekdays...

It's good to hear you've finally sourced an identical engine. It's something you've been hunting for for a while now am I right? And yes it would be a smart move to keep the car now that you won't have far to look for spares.

Anyways I wish you many more miles on ur mirage and drop a line the next time you're in SL. If there's anything else I can help you with (or at least try) let me know.

Take it easy mate

Shakir

[The Don]

Hi Just for an update,

The engine sawp was done a few weeks back, according to my dad now its purring like a baby, and fuel efficiency has also increased, though it doesnt seem to have a lot of miles in it, I still changed all the belts and the plugs etc etc, and decided to go back to using mineral oil (on your advice),

Hopefully this will keep the car going until its time for me to get another one, and that won't be until I settle down in SL for good

The Don

[sharkster]

Hi Just for an update,

The engine sawp was done a few weeks back, according to my dad now its purring like a baby, and fuel efficiency has also increased, though it doesnt seem to have a lot of miles in it, I still changed all the belts and the plugs etc etc, and decided to go back to using mineral oil (on your advice),

Hopefully this will keep the car going until its time for me to get another one, and that won't be until I settle down in SL for good

The Don

that's great news don...u won't regret the swap to mineral oil...i wish u over 100k's of trouble free runnin