MX5Ireland

Anyone tried the 'Italian tune up' on a mk1 before an oil change?

I'm due a service now and was thinking about giving this a go, my engine seems in good shape even though it got a fair few miles on it. I was going to try 15 mins in 3rd at 6000 rpm. I presume this will not put as much strain in the engine as a few laps of the track boosting 8psi.

What's the point Ger?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_tuneup

My car is a 90 with 280k km on it thought I might try and get rid of some possible carbon build.

Are you boosting 8 psi all the time? is it turbo or supercharger? would you be tempted to change the engine? i bought a second 1.6 engine with only 115 km on it and swapped it in for far more piece of mind. . my old engine had the same mileage as yours does now, but it didn't seem like there was carbon build up in the inlet or exhaust ports really. all i noticed was a lot of burnt oil on the cams and inside the rocker cover.

Its turbo @8psi been running this set up for about 5 years now, still pulls, doesn't burn or leak any oil, can run a little rich in boost though. Just curious about the tune up as I don't do much mileage in the winter. Thought as the engine is getting on the carbon build could cause hot spots. I was going to use some lucas injector cleaner at the same time.

I will be on the look out for a low mileage engine this year but in no rush till I find the right one.

i was very lucky with my engine. the car was fresh in from japan the oil was golden, and had never been driven in ireland

if the cars is ok and running the same as before i wouldnt worry. what are you're AFRs under boost? What ECU are you using?

"Don't Fix It If It's Not Broken"
If it's running fine, like it has been doing, then leave it alone until it's not.

Just switch over to fully synt engine oil like all the Turbo lads in the US, go to half-synt first for a few hundred miles and then go fully synt like I did. The engine warms up faster, is free'er running and uses less oil pressure - but you'll have to do oil changes more often (which is not a bad thing). And you'll get all of that 'mineral gunk' washed out of the block doing this

less oil pressure??? Thats bad. Why do you have to change more often? The whole idea was to cut down on oil changes.........

ger wrote:Its turbo @8psi been running this set up for about 5 years now, still pulls, doesn't burn or leak any oil, can run a little rich in boost though. Just curious about the tune up as I don't do much mileage in the winter. Thought as the engine is getting on the carbon build could cause hot spots. I was going to use some lucas injector cleaner at the same time.

I will be on the look out for a low mileage engine this year but in no rush till I find the right one.

with you having a turbo i would advise you to be cautious

unless you have a properly rolling road tuned tuned ecu , you might experience det / knock at the top end , so if you are running with a afpr or a diy tuned megasquirt i would not do the italian tune up.

a guy who laughed at me for telling him 2 yrs ago to get his greddy turdbowl properly tuned laughed at me , but now he is on the hunt for a new engine and still refuses to get proper management sorted out

Fergus wrote:"Don't Fix It If It's Not Broken"
If it's running fine, like it has been doing, then leave it alone until it's not.

Just switch over to fully synt engine oil like all the Turbo lads in the US, go to half-synt first for a few hundred miles and then go fully synt like I did. The engine warms up faster, is free'er running and uses less oil pressure - but you'll have to do oil changes more often (which is not a bad thing). And you'll get all of that 'mineral gunk' washed out of the block doing this

why fully synth ?

from experience , when you put fully synth into a high mileage engine you tend to get alot of oil leaks

10w40 semi synth and regular oil changes will keep it as mazda intended

I have to agree. I remember years back re-engineing an old Ford. Great engine till i put Shell Helix fully synth in it. Had to replace every gasket and seal on the unit after a month.

Semi-synth is good enough. Engine designers spend a lot of money to spec the right oils and sometimes older engines need older oils!

I will second that.Over the years I found older basic oil,s are better for older engines maybe because older engines run colder ie 82degrees instead of maybe 95 degree's for newer engines

Its also to do with modern designs. Modern units need to warm up much quicker to meet emission regs and so have smaller coolant capacities and better oil systems, much tighter tolerances and so need thinner oil. Older units need the oils they were designed for. If people are worried about protecting their engines, change the oil more often. It will cost the same .
Remember, the 5 engine was designed for turbos so check out what the 323 4x4 used.

I've already been through this stuff about 10 years ago concerning the engine oil.

If you move directly to fully synth your going to get a load of 'GUNK' washed out from your engine/block.

If your gaskets 'fail' it's because they were all already 'GUNKED UP' with all of the 'GUNK' from the old engine oil

All the '90/'91 etc Turbo cars in the USA are running full synth oil. It's what I switched to years ago and it's easier for the oil pump to pump it - slightly less oil pressure needed to supply the engine/block even when Turbo'd as the engine is not 'GUNKED UP' with all of that black stuff anymore

It washes out ALL of the old engine oil 'GUNK' when you switch over (therefore go to half-synth first or you'll find all of your bad gaskets all at the same time). The engine gets up to temp faster, it cools quicker, it runs free'er and it no longer has any of that old 'BLACK GUNK' in it.

What do you want ? A better performing engine/block or to just hold on to your bad gunk'ed up gaskets in a gunk'ed up engine/block ?

Yes, you will need to do more oil/filter changes at first because your washing all of that 'BLACK GUNK' out of it, but when it's done it's done.

Fergus wrote:I've already been through this stuff about 10 years ago concerning the engine oil.

If you move directly to fully synth your going to get a load of 'GUNK' washed out from your engine/block.

If your gaskets 'fail' it's because they were all already 'GUNKED UP' with all of the 'GUNK' from the old engine oil

All the '90/'91 etc Turbo cars in the USA are running full synth oil. It's what I switched to years ago and it's easier for the oil pump to pump it - slightly less oil pressure needed to supply the engine/block even when Turbo'd as the engine is not 'GUNKED UP' with all of that black stuff anymore

It washes out ALL of the old engine oil 'GUNK' when you switch over (therefore go to half-synth first or you'll find all of your bad gaskets all at the same time). The engine gets up to temp faster, it cools quicker, it runs free'er and it no longer has any of that old 'BLACK GUNK' in it.

What do you want ? A better performing engine/block or to just hold on to your bad gunk'ed up gaskets in a gunk'ed up engine/block ?

Yes, you will need to do more oil/filter changes at first because your washing all of that 'BLACK GUNK' out of it, but when it's done it's done.

sorry fergus ,i really dont like to disagree but with all due respect thats the biggest load of bollox i have read on this forum