Winndixie, I apologize for Gumby13B's innapropriate posts. He has been reported to the Admins.

For the rest of you guys, thanks for continuing to provide Winndixie with useful information despite Gumby's posts.

Winndixie, if I were you, I'd replace the beehive and associated O-rings, your oil and your coolant and see what happens from there. Just replace the beehive with another known-working one. If you can't find one in a local pick-a-part yard, I'm sure someone on here has one in okay condition they can part with.

If replacing the beehive doesn't solve the problem, then come back to us and we'll see where to go from there. There are very few places where oil and coolant come close together, and the beehive is the most likely culprit. Worst case scenario, you *might* need another engine, but I wouldn't jump to that conclusion yet.

Jon

 

Thank you so much for the pics!!! I was having a hard time finding pics of a removed unit. I found one at rx7 heaven for 100 and the lines at atkins rotary so I think that I have everything that I need now. Thank you to everyone who has contributed, i'll keep you posted on my progress.

 

Make sure to get the o-rings for it as well. You should be able to get them at Atkins. You should also check the for sale section on here if you haven't already bought the oil cooler. I am sure that you could find people practically giving them away. Hope this cures your problem.

Kent

 

Yeah, $100 is practically robbery... considering that I'm sure many people have switched to air/oil coolers and have spare beehives lying around. Although I guess it goes by rarity and demand.. they sure are rare, like most parts on our cars. I wonder how many hundreds a mazda dealer would try to make on it.

Jon

 

Just for the record, the haynes manual does show the beehive cooler, but it is back in chapter 13, and has almost nothing written about it.
$100 sounds wickedly high for a replacement beehive, however, if that is for an under radiator style, it's a bargain.

BTW, if this post shows up multiple times, I am getting the "Bad Gateway" error

 

That's the cheapest that i can find it for.... except for one entry on ebay for 19 dollars. If you guys can find any others (cause the auction ended) a thank you will go to you.

 

As many people that post about removing the beehive, and replacing it with a FMOC, you'd think there would be hundreds of offers for an unused beehive. I bet there are even a few that would just give it to you, in order to get it outta their way.
However, if time is a factor, and you NEED it right away, just make sure they will warrent the unit to not have any leaks. Of course, replace the o-rings regardless of how long it has been sitting, cheap insurance against leaks.