Another rebuild thread from the uk
 

Ok, ive had the fd for 3.5 years now and i knew i would have to do this sooner or later. Unfortunatley it has came sooner rarther than later due to coolant seal failurer @ 50,000miles. It seems as though quite a few mrc members have had this same problem at the same time as mine failed ( martiny, johnF and more than likely others as well)

Anyway after a good long think on wether to get it done by a specialist or diy it, i decided to bite the bullet and do it myself. Me and a few mates started to take the engine out on wednesday. I did do a few things that wern't neccessary such as removing the power steering pump, ac pump It didn't go too bad. I used the remove pressure plate from the flywheel method and the engine came out pretty easy.. I found that getting the ecu plugs through the firewall a bit tricky because all the abs system is in the way. I also forgot to undo the electrical plugs on the gearbox and i strained the wiring loom when lifting the engine out.

Once the engine was out, me and my mate andy started stripping it today. All went quite well except when we came to undoing the 54mm flywheel nut. I got the front pulley nut off easily but the flywheel nut ended up breaking my 1/2" breaker bar, time to get a 3/4" bar me thinks!

So right now, the engine is on the stand outside. Just gotta get a suitable breaker bar and then the dismantling of the block continues. Im gonna do a mini guide on how to reattach the wiring loom and hoses because taking it all off is easy but putting it all back together is the hard part. watch this space!

Been cleaning the engine internals with some good ol petrol. The irons and rotor housings look in excellent shape, no signs of coolant seal groove failure and the coolant passages have no rust which is a sign it has had the correct amount of antifreeze in.

Ive been checking tolerances with the dial test indicator, straight edge and feeler gauges. All plates are within the max figures according to the factory service manual. Ive been having a think on wether to reuse the rotor housings or get new ones. The service manual states you can reuse as long as they are within spec, but im stuck on what to do. How many people usually reuse the rotor housings?

Just need to get the parts ordered from malloy mazda, get the new stationary earings pressed in, then it's time to rebuild. Cant wait because it's been nearly 3 weeks since i took it out!

Well today..ain't done much really. Mainly cleaning the carbon off the rotors. If anybody is considering building their own engine i highly recommend you get some gasket remover. I bought some loctite 7200 stuff and it just blasts the carbon deposits right off. I used a green scouring pad to get the carbon off and a wall paper scraper to get the old paper gaskets off the lim ports. This stuff soaks into the gasket and softens it ready for scraping.

I've also spoke to ray crowe at malloy mazda and ordered most of the rebuild kit minus the apex seals and water seals. Whilst on the phone i also ordered a new thermostat kit, oil metering pipes and spark plug wires. Only trouble is that ray later contacted me and said my card had been refused. Bugger! Hopefully the kit will arrive from the usa by the weekend!!

If the rotor housing all spec out and theres no scoring or uneven wear theres no reason why you can use them again (50.000 miles aint that bad on rotor housings unless you blew an apex or run with the coolant leak for a while). I had 50,000 miles on my rotor housings they all checked out ok and im upto 20,000 miles nowon rebuild still good compression and runs like a dream :-)
LOL i also snapped my 1/2 inch breaker bar with that 54mm nut LOL