it's a 30lb chunk of metal, a sledge hammer isn't going to hurt it any...

 

I'm not going to argue over it. I know, its just a cheap piece of metal, but I don't resort to that kind of force unless necessary. Don't get me wrong, I've done it before, but all it takes is one wrong hit, and anything goes. Like Martin said, I always have something stupid to say.

PEACE THE DOG

 

We got it off with a pipe and a 5-pound hammer... just had to hit it from behind to disloge it.

 

BAM!

That was a 2 lb dead blow mallet.
The lever had maybe 20 lb of force on it. The mallet does the work.

 

Give it hell mannnn! That flywheel will wish it never heard of the likes of you! Smack it! Way to go SureShot... now we know how you got your name... haha!

 

I've only pulled two flywheels off a 13b, but found that the hammer method works great.

What I do is break the flywheel nut loose, leave it thread on loosly, and give the flywheel a few good whacks around the edges on the thicker parts in a criss-cross pattern with a 8lb dead-blow hammer.

After a few repetitions it should pop right off and the nut will stop it from flying off.

 

hey valkyrie are u sure that the motor has been rebuilt before? because the factory torque spec is like 280 ft/lbs, meaning most mere mortals better find a whole lot of help in removing. i have never had one come off with an impact driver. i stick a hunk of of 2 gauge power wire (old stuff spare parts bin) in the exhaust port of the bad rotor and use a 1 in driver wrench with a six foot poll and two or three buddies to hold the damn motor in place!!! good luck on the rebuild and tell the local dealership you can spend your money elsewhere. ha mazda certified rotary technician my left nut. 80-95% of "mechanics" dont actually fix anything they replace it! i know first hand i work at a ford dealership. dont get me wrong there are some intellegent and skilled mechanics out there but most dealership replace parts and engines they dont put them back together. warranties would rather pay him 4 hours to replace your transmission then 12 to pull it, find whats wrong, rebuild it, reinstall it and then test it. so your old broken stuff just gets sent back to them and they sell it off either fixed or not as reman or to reman companys. besides most "mazda cert techs" arent there because they're rotor heads like us, to them its just the poor bastard tech that drew the short straw and had to get rotary trained, like 1 day for 8 hrs.

 

Actually, I had read that the factory torque spec was over 300 lbs. Also, most people that rebuild it, at least at shops, re-torque it to those specs. I know I will. That said, most impact wrenchs cant achieve those kinds of numbers, although i've heard of people taking them to truck shops to use the industrial-strength torque wrenchs they have there. I believe the previous owner of my car took it to a shop of some sort to get it off.

 

i think the diesel mechanic at my shop has one that just hits 300. i believe it is 3/4 driver. he was laughing when i asked to borrow a torque wrench for some lug nuts on a stupid set of chrome aftermarket wheels that my torque sticks didnt clear.