cwh
SuperDork
9/6/10 12:24 p.m.
Ran across an ad in SoFla CL for a '90 Miata. Looks kinda ratty, but not too bad. Doesn't run because of a broken timing belt. Are they interference engines? Just fix the belt and go, or replace the engine? Just curious, can't get into anything right now.
Once you get a new timing bet on there, it will run fine no problem.
Non-interference motor.
-meaty
Be sure to check and see if the crank nose is ok.
It can be a huge pain in the ass (that I am going through right now on a 95, while slightly different then the early ones still sucks to deal with)
http://www.miata.net/garage/crankshaft.html
If you get it, go ahead and change the water pump while you're at it. It's a cheap part (<$50), and the t-belt needs to come off to get to it. Consider it cheap insurance - if the t-belt was old enough to break you can be nearly certain that the WP has never been replaced.
Also, when doing the T belt remember the crank bolt needs to be TIGHT. I made a tool for the last one I worked on that bolts to the crank pulley and has a place I can slide a 1 3/4" ID pipe onto. That and a 3 foot breaker bar make DAMN sure it won't allow the crank pulleys to 'walk'.
Flyin' Miata crank bolt tool
![](/media/img/icons/smilies/laugh-18.png)
Definitely make sure you're torquing to the correct amount and use some blue loctite. I wouldn't recommend just overtorquing the bolt by as much as you can manage, it's an excellent opportunity to use a torque wrench.