I just got my car fixed for $300 when Mazda said it was leaking from the water pump. After sitting and waiting to replace the alternator that they screwed up while changing the water pump, I noticed that it's still leaking. They said it's leaking from the engine intake gasket now, but it wasn't before. Estimate was $562 before tax to fix it.
So do you guys think they could've fixed the wrong thing, they're running me around, or what? I have no idea what "engine intake gasket" they're even talking about.

 

well, unless you work on it and diagnose the car the car yourself, your going to have to listen the tech working on the car. The lower intake manifold has a coolant passage, over time the o-ring gets old and brittle and starts to leak. So its very possible you could have a coolant leak around the lower intake manifold. 500 bucks is about right, its a real fun job.

 

any chances that I can replace it myself? I've had the upper intake manifold off, but never been around the lower. would I need to lift the engine? I'm getting real tired of spending money on a time bomb of an engine just cause the jagoff before me didn't know what he was doing. I'm real close to going for an engine swap.

 

does anyone know how hard it is to get to this? I'd like to save myself a few hundred and do it myself if I can get to it, but I don't have a jack or anything to look under there right now. anyone?

 

If you have the stock turbo then you'll have to remove the turbo. To do that you'll need to drain the oil and coolant, remove the stock IC, precat, air control valve, and turbo inlet duct. Then you'll have the room to remove the turbo. Then after that is done you can remove the lower intake manifold. Don't forget to get 2 new o-rings if they're bad. Your leak could be from the hose that goes from the water pump to the turbo. When they put the water pump back on they may have messed it up.

 

you have to pull the turbo off to get the lower mani off. fun job... and the seal is hard to seat in. chances are it will just leak again if you don't do it right. but then again they might not be much better...

 

This site is good for telling you what kinds of things to look at when removing the turbo: http://www.teamfc3s.org/info/articles/t2turbo.html .

If you decide to do the work then after everything is installed and all of the fluids are replaced you should pull the EGI fuse and crank the car a few times to get oil through the turbo. http://www.fc3s.org/ has the factory manual for you to look at for guidance.

 

sounds like a pita, but I really want to do some of my own work and need to save some money REAL bad. Too bad this doesn't come at a time where I could afford to swap the turbo, TID, etc. I do, though, have to switch exhaust systems (damn emissions), so I'll be under there taking that off and about 1/1000 of the manifold gasket job would be done.... tough call, but thanks for the information this time. I was shocked to see that there were multiple responses for me. I'll probably be posting in mid December that I need major help getting my car running again. Thanks again

 

You could try to see if there's anyone on the forum in your area who could give you a hand.

 

You planning on being in PA anytime in December?

 

Where is Jeanette, PA?

 

I think it's right off Rt. 80, probably about 2 hours from the George Washington bridge. KDR would be about at the halfway mark.

 

That's kind of far.

 

Jeannette is about 45 min SE of Pittsburgh. I'm near Rt 30 and about three houses in from Rt 130. I don't really expect anyone to make any trips in to help me out with the car, and I'm pretty sure me and my bro can get the job done. But if you happen to be outside of Pittsburgh, you may stumble across my hometown

 

You may want to give that new Sevenspeed shop a try. They may be able to hele you out.

 

I tried emailing and got the email sent back to me cause it was undeliverable, but I'll try calling once I get home for break. Thanks for the help 13BAce

 

If you PM me I can give you an e-mail address that George from Sevenspeed uses. You can also check out their website: http://sevenspeed.com/ .