GavinJuice

Going to be taking off my upper and lower intake to be cleaned, and get my actuators working properly. (Been reading here and broundmound write up) Wondering if you have any tricks i should know when replacing gaskets, as in can this seal be saved, a little dap of gasket seal here and so on. I figure i just might as well replace all 3 gaskets, Manifold to Engine - Between Upper and Lower Manifolds - and Upper Manifold to Plenum. Also do they sell gaskets for the actuators to the manifold? I pulled mine off and they came off in peices. Thanks ~Gavin

Max7

replace with new gaskets, they are cheap, I could not find ones for the actuators and made my own from blank sheets of gaskets material.

LongDuck

Same here for the gaskets for the '6'-port actuators. I've never been able to find them in any catalogs or Mazdatrix, though there's got to be a part out there somewhere. You WILL need to have some type of gasket in there, also since you're only dealing with 4-6psi to operate your '6'-ports, so any leak at all is going to significantly impact the rpm range at which they open - if at all.

The upper intake manifold removal is straight forward. Get in the habit of taking off the vacuum hoses from the DEI chamber and letting them sit about where they belong. If you take them off at the hose connections on the rats nest, you're going to have fun trying to get them all back on there once the DEI is in place. You can leave the connections for the BACV in place, too, if you only plan on placing the upper intake intact on the other side while you work on the lower intake manifold.

A word of advice is to avoid the inclination to scrape any of the gasket material or play with the carbon buildup that's sure to be there until you get the lower manifold off of the engine. Anything that goes down the intake system has a chance to get into your rotor housings, and that could spell carbon lock later on when you least expect it - like your first startup after your cleaning job. Also, once the lower manifold is off, use care when removing any carbon around the intake ports, and be extra careful when you take out the '6'-port sleeves that you try to capture as much gunk as you can when you pull it out. I had to use some brake cleaner and pliers to pull the sleeves out, and they didn't want to budge. This is due to the ring of carbon that forms along the backside of the sleeves and once that gets broken, they come right out.

Clean thoroughly using a toothbrush and a lot of brake cleaner, and you should be fine. My brother swears by Stove Cleaner, but that stuff is caustic and eats away aluminum - not my recommendation. He dilutes it by a lot, but that's still a risk on an older intake system.

Be sure that you reinstall the '6'-port sleeves in the correct housing - they can only go in one way, or you'll have a hard time lining up the actuator arms on reinstallation. Be sure that your torque each of the intake manifolds, also, to be sure that the gaskets are sealing correctly or you'll be chasing down vacuum leaks from the manifold gasket. Luckily on the SE manifolds you don't have to worry about water O-rings and passages, but you can see on the housings where the water WOULD pass as in a standard carb engine.

All in all, this is a pretty straightforward job. Good luck,

bizarro

iTrader: (1)

i did mine as well...i took lots of pix too...http://hroman.slac.com/rx7/project-clean/

the old gasket must be removed entirely...what i did was get metal sandpaper and a block and sanded down the area nice and flat...then used gasket sealant on each gasket and applied it...results were no leaks

while i was there i replaced the vacuum lines and had my injectors cleaned...

I also have a colored diagram that helped in putting the vacuum lines back in the right spots...take your time...take lots of pix for referrence and good luck! hope that helps

Rx7carl

I like the spray on gasket stuff. It helps hold it in place during assembly and makes the gaskets more reuseable along with helping it seal better.

GavinJuice

As long as i've got everything off i spose i should send my injectors to get cleaned too. Anyone remember what their turnaround time was when they sent their injectors off? Assuming most of you sent yours to RC Engineering? Thanks ~Gavin

nevarmore

Industry standard seems to be about a week and half by mail and not more than a week if you find someplace local.

bizarro

iTrader: (1)

you could also replace the hoses...i used http://www.hightempsilicone.com

jim was really good with customer service and filling my order and a really good price.

don't forget to post some before, during and after pix!

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

The 6 port actuator gaskets are available thru your mazda dealership. I think the part # is n225-13-171 and sell for about $1.46 ea. I usually order extra's just to
have on hand. Some where is the past post's there is a article about where to
get your actuators updated for better air-flow. They either send you the modified
installation piece or you can send them yours and they will install them for free.
I looked at this before i went on vacation but cannot find my notes. If anyone reads this post and remembers, could you refresh our memories. If you want to
get create and don't care about fuel mileage and want to play abit with alittle more
hp, i will tell you how to switch your manifold over to a 2nd gen, only if you are a
glutten for punishment!!!!!!!!