hey guys..so the story continues for me..I am finishing up the school year and have ordered some new parts for my car, but the forerunner at this point is replacing my coolant seals..heres the deal.

I bought a shortblock with about 20k miles, which I installed in my car and drove for about 2 miles..It ran very strong, but unfortunately needs coolant seals..my question is this, am I able to just replace the gaskets etc (I bought a overhaul gasket kit from atkins) and put it back together and have it be fine, or will I run into the problems i read about as far as seals not seating right, lower compression, etc..I really don't want to buy all the seals etc, mainly thanks to finances, not to mention the engine ran very strong like i said..so what I am I getting myself into? thanks for the help!

 

how do you know it needs new coolant seals? if you're leaking coolant into the engine there could be damage in there if it has sat at all without running. one of your irons could have lost the inner edge of the seal channel too depending on how bad the leak is.

i'd pull it apart asap and see what i needed if you think it needs an overhaul. just don't let it sit if there is water getting in there. you're going to have to put all hard seals back in their exact original places too or they'll seat badly or break.

 

if you have to ask
dont replace them by yourself.... really

 

if you need to learn and want to ... do it. just be advised that you're bound to make a mistake or two... my first engine wasn't so hot heh but i did some really dumb things. oh... and you're gonna end up spending more than you set out to unless you've done it before.

experience aside i can't see how the engine would be any worse off if you do everything right. use the right techniques and you won't pinch or roll a seal and the hardware will seat well if you put it back in the same place. you should check the clearances on everything while u have it apart tho.

 

If it's not obvious, the entire motor needs to be torn down and rebuilt.
You're looking at a $1,000+ job just in labor.
If you're lucky, you can get away with like $500 in Mazda OEM parts.
It sounds like you're in over your head.


-Ted