Having lately developed a oil pressure problem, Im 99% sure that it is because the front cover o-ring has been moved/blown. So off to mazdatrix I go to order a new ring, gaskets, some misc crap Ive needed, etc. Anyway, I know there is a difference in the castings for the o-ring between years, and I was under the assumption that the 86-88 may be either one, but all the S5 were the kind that used the teflon ring. Am I wrong in that, and some S5s use the older style casting and dont use the teflon ring? Only reason I ask is because I just got a call from someone at Mazdatrix confirming my order, and told me that there is no way to tell for sure without looking at it, reguardless of year. ( Kind of gave me an attitude also, but thats beside the point..). Im just wanting to clear this up for me. Here is the FAQ at mazdatrix about it, and just from re-reading that, it seems they imply all S5s use the newer style with the teflon ring:

http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/oring.htm

 

EDIT: Haha, I misread and thought you said S4s... so nm, yeah you've got it.

Nope, S5s are the ones you DON'T have to worry about... which is probably why the guy gave you attitude when you tried to fight him on it...

S4s had the old (smaller) style ring, but there is a CHANCE that for some reason you have a newer casting... because no one knows exactly when Mazda changed it (that's my impression). So if you have an S4, you need to take it apart and check... if you have an S5, it will be the later version with the teflon... someone would have to FIND and REPLACE your original S5 one with an old style casting one in order for an S5 to have one.

--Gary

 

Thats what I thought, which is why I am a bit pissed that he gave me a hard time about it, and I ended up having to order 2 gaskets, 1 of each style. He got an attitude with me when I said it was a 89+, so it used the teflon ring. He was like " Uhm, no thats the whole point of the FAQ we have, so people need to look". I dont mind being wrong, but I felt that guy was being a real ***. Everytime I order from there I easly drop $100, this time it was about $200. Bad way to keep paying customers...

 

Don't use a gasket at all. Just use a very thin layer of RTV.

There is no need for the use of a gasket. None of the engines I have ever built have ever leaked, and I have never used a gasket.

Using a gasket also increase the risk of your o-ring blowing out again.

Mazdatrix is notorious for having little patience over the phone... in the futue, if you'd like, shoot me a PM, I'll tell you exactly what you need, and you can just order the parts and forget about dealing with them.

 

S4 = rubber o-ring + RTV; NO NEED FOR WHITE PLASTIC RING OR GASKET

S5 = rubber o-ring, white plastic ring, gasket


-Ted