Well im gonna get started on tearing down the manifold again friday morning to try and find this leak. Its gotten worse and the cars really having trouble holding an idle. Does anyone have an idea where I can get the main gaskets for the manifold from (Mazda and........) and how much they are? Anything I may have overlooked? Any hints you guys have for finding this leak? I need to order the gasket tomorrow morning so I can have them by friday. I wanna finish this week because im leaving next week and dont wanna leave it as a loose thread. Thanks for the help.

 

Mazdatrix and Mazdaformance.com both have them. You can point & click order them from Mazdatrix.

Mazdaformance is a little bit cheaper, but it's best to call as they don't have the part #'s listed. Go to the contact screen and get the non-800 number. Their 800 line is down due to Worldcom problems. I ordered mine from them last week.

Resealable LIM to engine gasket is around $25.00. The others are 2-3 dollars each. Order the BAC and ACV gaskets also.

 

If I remember correctly, intake gaskets are a couple bucks a piece. Something to help track vac leaks is to use a piece of tubing(like the clear kind you would use to bleed brake lines) maybe a few (2.5 - 3) feet long. Stick one end in your ear and point the other end around at different areas while the engine is running. You could use a stethescope but the funky little end piece might not reach around as well as the end of a hose will. Good luck tracking it down. Last time I had my intake apart I had a vac leak, that took about 5min. to find that way(just a disconnected vac line I missed).

 

Yea the car idles bad and I have a big loss in power. I guess I might now get to it on fridayif I order the parts online. Hopefully I'll get it over with soon and enjoy a perfect running S4

 

$25.00? Whoever would pay that is getting bent over. I spent a total of about $8 on both intake gaskets. One was $5, one was $3.

 

Yea I checked out their site too and one was 5 one was 3 but then a third one was 25.

 

You mustve been looking at an exhaust gasket.

 

Nevermind I see it. Holy **** thats nuts.

 

It's a 3-layer metal gasket with a pair of metal (copper?) grommets holding the layers together. Has some type of coating (plastic?), and preformed raised surfaces around all of the port openings.

Mazda part # N326-13-111A

 

I used stock gaskets. They were all $2 or $3 and were not metal.

Todd

 

The metal ones are sooo much nicer. Never have to worry about scraping them off or anything

 

Have you taken the upper IM off?? If so you have to make sure EVERY little but of old gasket is off, or it will have a HUGE leak. This was my problem when I took mine off. Also make sure the UIM is seated properly on the lower one, it can be tricky, and look like it is down all the way, but it really wont be. When I was doing my maniflod porting I took it on and off probably like 10 times trying to fix the leak, it was terrible. I can now disassemble and reassemble everything down to the lower intake in a total of like 25 minutes now though

 

A good, not necessarily smart, way to find a leak is as follows: Start the car and let it idle - even though it`s lumpy. Then take a propane torch and open it a bit so you can hear the gas coming out. Then - WITHOUT LIGHTING IT - wave the nozzle slowly arount the gaskets of the IM. When you come to where the leak is, the idle will increase, because it is sucking in the propane. I`ve heard that it works with brake cleaner as well, but I`ve seen it done like this. Just be careful and pay attention, and you`ll be able to pinpoit the leak. Remember though, you might have more than one leak, so don`t stop when you find just one.
Nick

 

another way is to spray carb cleaner around your intake and vac lines. when you hit the leak, your idle will raise. Simple fix.


caution: flammable!

 

go to napa auto parts i bought them from there and they cost about $12 and it has the metal one to and they are mazda ones

 

I guess im gonna take everything down on friday and order the gaskets so I can receive them the next day. RX7mfn7, thanks for the pointer, I'll keep an eye out for that one. We were so caught up in just removing the acv, tb mod, airpump, etc. I guess we overlooked making sure theres a tight seal between each section of the manifold. Ive heard of the carb/brake cleaner method but it got me a litttle worried considering how flammable some of that stuff is and how hot my stock exh. manifold gets. Well this time through im gonna label every vacuum line I take off and fix the leak hopefully. Thanks for all the help guys

 

if you go to napa auto part you don't have to order the part or you don't have one close to you

 

I dont think theres one around here. Im in South CA (Orange County)

 

Oh get real. Get some starter fluid and spray the intake and all joints. Your not going to set the world on fire and you'll find the leak in ten minutes or less.

Also check the inlet duct right at the turbo. It likes to crack under the clamp.

 

lol ok I'll give it a shot. Im gonna be changing out all the vacuum lines this morning and get the new gaskets in tomorrow morning.

 

I'm interested inchanging all the vacuum lines in my car, but how do you know what width each hose is?

 

Most of the hoses seem the same size. Im going to take one off and measure it soon. I'll post when I find out

 

ok well I bought 5 ft of vacuum line (forgot to check the size but dont worry im going back cause I might need more) ONe thing thats got me really worried abotu this whole thing is, will not changing my spider lines make this whole effort a waste? Anyone have any ideas??

 

ok well I found my ratchet again (been lost for the past 3 and a half hours) and im down to just the lower manifold. Noticed two things though. 1st- there seems to be a small puddle of oil in the middle of the lower manifold. 2nd - one of the secondary injectors seem a little loose on the fuel rail. Anyone know why?

BTW - I was using 7/32ths of an inch for most of the vacuum piping.

 

^^^