Hey guys, I just removed the "exten manifold" per the instructions in the FSM. When I pulled the throttle body off the manifold, in the lower of the three air ports a quantity of motor oil came out (about 2-3 tablespoons). The funny thing is, it doesn't appear to be pooled in the upper intake manifold, it just seemed to be "there" behind that lower throttle plate. It hadn't run down the air intake pipe. Is this "bad", "unusual", "normal"... what? I don't think this is expected, but perhaps somebody can tell me otherwise...

I will be glad to provide more specific information as requested. I'll be browsing the forum periodically here, since I'm doing the work as I write this.

Oh, my coolant looks for the most part very clear, but its slightly dullish. The motor has ~100,100 miles on it (100.1k).

Thanks a bunch guys!

 

Addition: on a closer look there appears to have been some oil in the upper two air ports as well.

*EDIT* : And how do I get the blasted top manifold (the part that says 13B on it) off the manifold part with the injectors? It won't budge, and I've taken all 6 screws off!!

A little assistance here is MUCH appreciated...

 

If you are sure you've taken all the bolts out, just pry it off. I dont remember how many are on there, sorry.

 

The oil is normal. Turbo models will collect some oil as all turbos will bypass a little out of the compressor.

NA cars will collect oil due to intake reversion. A small amount of the intake charge is forced back into the intake. Since the secondary intake ports have oil injectors, some oil will be blown back.

 

Ahh, okay that makes sense now. Thanks!

Update: I finally got the Air "Tank" (that's apparently what Mazda calls that top part with "13B" on it) and the Exten manifold (the part with the VDI system in it) off... still trying to get the lower intake manifold part off though. I broke (accidentally) the oil metering hoses though, the tubing was SUPER brittle and just snapped right off when I tried to remove the oil injectors. Guess I'll have to run by Mazda tomorrow and pick some up.

The troublesome gasket between the Air Tank and the Exten Manifold was also partially broken (it was stuck with something ... should I use a gasket sealer on it???)... I assume I should replace it, but is that necessary?

 

Replace the gasket.