Seems that a lot is happening to the ride lately. My back brakes are metal to metal, and the rotors are on back-order till the middle of june. On top of that, I went for an oilchange yesterday, and fonud out that I probably had a little over a quart! When I got there, my engine was making a faint pinging sound. I go t the oil changed, and the pinging dampened a little. I drove to the shop that installed my engine, and had the Mazda tech listen. He said that it was hard to determine exactly what it is, but he said it could be one of the hydraulic lifters, or maybe something more serious. He took me back in the shop where he had a FS engine dismantled, and he showed me where the hydrolic lifters were. He also showed me my old engine block! It was still there! I drove it around after that all day, and the knocking sound was only present at about 3000-3500 RPM. I went to work last night, and on the way home just as I had entered Arlington going west on I-30, I noticed a sudden jolt, and a momntary Check Engine Light. I pulled over immediatly, and my car idled normally. I cut the car off and checked the oil. It was fine. I started it back up, and all was normal. I eased on to the highway, and when home. It made it with nothing else happening. I will have to wait till Tuesday to get it looked at!! Now I am stuck! What do you think it could be???

 

I just checked my plugs. They are all normal. I took it for a gentle ride, and after about 5 minutes the pinging came back. Definitely going to the shop tomorrow.

 

man do you have bad luck with engines...that sucks man

 

Well, I just dropped it off. We will see what is what.

 

hope it is not to much man....

 

Well, I got my car back, and have added some fuel additive to take care of carbon deposits on that may be on the pistons. Since I added it, it seem to be getting a little better. My brakes no longer rub either!

 

Oh, I almost forgot... I really need to get all the specs for that FS-ZE engine. I need the clearance info for the valves, shims and other internals.

 

My car is making more of a clattering sound. I also notice some power loss (knock sensor kicking in).

 

I thought the valve springs on the FS-ZE were stiffer than the FS-DE springs? Mazda Motorsport has them listed as a custom part on their website. With the higher compression ratio of the FS-ZE engine, You do need to use good quality, high octane gas. One of the professional strength decarbonizer kits couldn't hurt either.