I pulled my engine/tranny to replace the clutch, but to also disassemble down to the block (not breaking open engine) to replace all of the gaskets, belts, and hoses. When I got to the 6PI actuators, I found that both were frozen... one open (rear) and one closed (front)! After removing the LIM, I found the sleeves to be free, but the actuator rods were the parts that were frozen. I removed them (the rear came out after a soak with WD-40; the front needed to be driven out) and cleaned them up.

I put them back in to test their motion, and I wondered if there are supposed to be gaskets between the actuator rod attachment/stop plate and the manifold (there wasn't any when I removed them). I see that Mazdatrix sells a "6-port actuator to manifold gasket" for 84-92 6-port engines (http://www.mazdatrix.com/c-2.htm at the very bottom). Assuming that the picture of the gasket on Mazdatrix's website is correct, I just don't see how it would fit. I searched the forums and found S4 owners talking about a gasket, but never any S5 owners.

Does the S5 use a gasket? Is this gasket for the actuator rods, or for the actuators themselves? Either way, I don't see how the gasket fits. Thanks!

 

No, the s5 actuators get their air pressure from separate lines. There's no routing through the LIM like on S4s, hence no gaskets.

 

Good to know! I'll cross them off my parts to order list, and maybe I'll e-mail Mazdatrix to ask them to correct their website. Thanks!