Kenteth

So I decided I would go through the system and tighten up bolts that have worked a tad loose in the two weeks since the autp/5spd swap.

I tightened up the rear trany bracket bolts (4) were all loose. Tightented 3/4 up as tight as I could, but the one is obviosuly stripped and won't tighten.

Rear-tranny crossmember was pretty tight, but torqued just a tad more, its not coming lose now.

Rear driveshaft bolts: Got 3 tightented, fourth one snapped soon as i put pressure on it. Ok to run three bolts/nuts, or add the fourth?

Halfshafts: All torqued ok.

Rear Differential drain: leaking a tiny bit of fluid only when the rear end is jacked up higher than the front... I couldn't budge that thing any tighter for the life of me. I replaced the fluid during the swap btw.

Engine/Tranny bolts: The first one i touched knocked loose when i barely tapped it with the socket wrench. Very clearly it was the wrong thread pitch and had some lovely engine block metal in the threads of the screw when i took it out. The screw was a replacement for a misplaced bolt btw (as are the other engine/tranny bolts), and though did have trouble taking seat, did draw in tightly originaly. I didn't touch any of the others for ovbvious reasons. I'm 95% sure the others (couple also replacements) are good thread pitch though.

SS brake line/Caliper: Leaking fluid. I noticed the master clinder was a tad lower a couple days ago. Inside of the tire is wet looking. Paint on the caliper rubs right off. Took the tire off and went to tighten the ss line. Tapped it, and it knocked itself loose. Tightened as best I could, but couldn't find my 14mm wrench, ended up using an adjustable until it ate a corner of the bolt.

Heres where it gets interesting:

Speedo cable: I noticed the bolt that holds the speedo cable mount had gear lube on it. I decided I better investigate. Bolt (small 10 mm head i think) turned very easily for the small stubby wrench i was using. Turned about a full turn and the head popped off. Realised then that he leak was from the speedo cable being loose. I tightened the speedo cable and realised that nothing was holding the mount anymore. So... I JB-welded the mount to the transmission. I really don't know if it will hold or not, I have my doubts, but i have a feeling it will be draining gear lube if its not mounting? Letting the JB sit for about 5 hours now. That scares me Anyhow, I figure I won't change the rearend (and speedoworm gear) until I do a full TII driveline swap.. so I didn't have any reservations to JB'ing the mount (and speedoworm) onto the tranny.

Shifter bushing/holder: The thing that bolts the shifter to the tranny. Three bolts. I was torquing one down to FSM spec and it snapped righ off. realised aftewards I was reading the SAE said of the torque meter (DOH!). Two good bolts are holding the shifter down though. There aren't any bushings in it though... never had any with the swap.

So heres the question. I've two bolts in the trany with broken heads. Both are tiny bolts. Whats the options? Tranny is aluminum right?

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

3 will hold just fine. IN reality, 2 would.

You will have vibration over 40mph or so with only 3 DS bolts...I have seen this before. This is a MUST. Fix this or don't go.

Worry about it when you get back.

See, somebody at mazda needs to wear an *** whipping over this. WHy they did this, is beyond me. Every bolt on that car is a 12x1.25 (14mm head), except for the LOWER starter bolt, which is like 12x1.5 or something (also a 14mm head). So when doing a clutch, trans swap, etc. it is damn easy to confuse that single odd bolt with the other 5 or so bellhousing bolts. Then you have at least 2 screwed up bolt holes. Why that one single bolt needed to be a coarse thread, I will never know. BUt that is what you did, no doubt. As for fixing it, well, 4 bolts will hold the bellhousing no problem, so if you have those don't sweat it. The starter does need both bolts to hold it, so if the afflicted hole is the lower starter one, it needs to be fixed. Perhaps not NOW, but soon.

Doesnt sound like something I'd screw around with. YOu sorta need brakes, you know. OF that sucker strips or breaks or whatever and comes out on the fly, you're in for a world of hurt...you'd have no pressure in the system.

That thing is about 1" thick, and seats inside the trans pretty well. IT probably won;t come out on it's own, unless you jarred it loose from the trans already. With the bolt out, you usually have to take something and tap/wiggle it around a whole lot to get it to come out. IF you are worried, take a long piece of wire and wrap around the whole trans case repeatedly, to hold it on. I dont think your jb weld will be a problem, but I don't think it'd be the ultimate solution either.

IT isn't going anywhere.

Drill and tap for bigger bolts, or heli coils. I wouldnt fool with heli coils for these problems.

No, plutonium.

opelbits

iTrader: (5)

Definitely install a fourth driveshaft bolt/nut.

Shifter might be ok.

Speedo? Let us know.....?

The broken bolts can be removed with the trans in place if you have straight clear access to them. They can be drilled out (center punch them then start with a small drill bit and gradually work up till the remains of the bolt can be loosened with an 'easy out' or drill them out completely and put in a threadsert or helicoil) or drill them out far enough to tap them for a lefthand thread bolt (tighten by turning counterclockwise, reverse of normal), install left hand thread bolt, when bolt bottoms out it will loosen remains of old bolt.

Kenteth

They are pretty small bolts.. wouldn't be using many bits to match its size.

Thanks Kevin, that helped alot. And it was that starter bolt. I never would have guessed that it was a different pitch. I was mainly concerned about the speedo thing popping out and dumping gear lube on he interstate. I'm going to go buy (another.. dang it) 14mm wrench tomorrow and tighten that caliper back up. It was actual SS line that was leaking. I'm not sure how it came loose, but I would have had no brakes had I left tonight with it like it was. Need to take it through the car was tomorrow and then drive around for an hour or so and see if any of the inside tires are wet looking. At least this is an easy way to check for brake fluid loss.

BTW: never did get that front pulley to stop leaking. Its not leaking nearly as much now, but still some. I noticed the pulley moves a bit... like maybe its warped or somethign to that affect. Anyhow... I still plan on leaving morrow at midnight for the 560 mile drive, and 560 back.

Hopefuly won't pend any major issues, my main concern was that speedoworm tough. Brakes too obviously, but it looks like it just jarred loose-- I never double checked everything when me and my buddies were installing them.


EDIT:

I just realised that the rear-tranny mount/crossmember bolts are not a set of 4, but a set of 8. I have 7/8 alright, and one won't tighten.

Kenteth

WOW!!! 80mph and not one vibration. Amazing, almost like a totaly different car! Didn't think it would make that much difference!! thanks guys.