BrianHeston

A buddy of mine may soon be delivering to me a free Mazdatrix 12A.

Here are my questions:

On the Mazdatrix website the list an 81-82 12A, and an 83-85 12A. What's the difference?

I didn't know there we different ones until I looked at their site just now, so I didn't think to ask him what year it is coming out of. If it's an 83-85 should there be any reason I'd have a problem putting it in my 82?

Would Mazdatrix have records of what type of work they did to it if I call them up with the number? There is a VIN on one of the housings that they shold be able to look up right?

Does Mazdatrix mark their engines in such a way that I wouldn't have to call them, I could just tell by looking?

Is there anything else I should be aware of to look for, check out, before deciding to swap it into my car?

Thanks,
Brian

snakes99

there are a couple of things to look for, one is the flywheels are different, you will need the 83-85 clutch if the motor is from that year, and the way you can tell is if there is oil cooler below the oil filter then its an 83-85 motor, other wise you need the ratiator mount oil cooler. i put an 82 motor in my 85 and the only things i needed was the 82 clutch, and 82 rad with the bottom mount oil cooler. but other than that, there really isnt much of a problem, i dont know if an 82 wireing harness will work on an 83-85 motor tho. that is the only thing im not sure about, i used the 85 wiring harness on mine. there are a lot of things that arnt pluged in but it hasnt seemed to affect the motor at all, it is basicly all emissions **** anyways. but look for the oil cooler, that is a pretty dead give away. good luck, hopfully someone else can give you some more info on it.

BrianHeston

Thanks snakes, I should have thought of the oil cooler thing. Well, I'll just have to see when it gets here. If nothing else maybe I'll just throw it up on ebay...

Rx7carl

Other than the Flywheel differences (which means you need to use the correct clutch) they are interchangeable. No biggie.

BrianHeston

That's what I thought, just wanted to make sure there wasn't something I was not aware of. Thanks for the reassurances guys.

I have all the different parts I'd need if it is an 83-85, so it's no big deal.

Anyone have any clue on my other questions?

Thanks,
Brian

BrianHeston

Come on, someone here must have dealt with Mazdatrix enough to know what kinds of records they keep, or how they mark their work.

Pleeeeze,
Brian

Aviator 902S

Not sure about Mazdatrix's records system or if they have one in place, but you definitely would want to keep the under-rad oil cooler from the '82. It's a much more efficient unit. The '83 to '85 oil cooler on top under the oil filter was an experiment by Mazda that didn't work out very well. The engine ran hotter and didn't last quite as long, especially if driven hard.

Just swap the oil filter pedestal from your '82 engine onto the '85 after removing the '85 cooler. Then keep both the rad and lower oil cooler, complete with oil lines installed in the '82.

BrianHeston

I wasn't sure, but I thought it would be pretty easy to keep the 82 cooler. I definately like that idea much better. I don't really like the looks or efficency of the "beehive" coolers.