rallyboy

Hi Everyone,

I've been lurking around the boards for a while, and this is my first post.

Last weekend, after driving my FD around for a bit, I noticed that the idle was a little on the high side (~1.5k), and there was constant, light backfiring while the car was idling and decelerating. I did a search through the forum, and all indications pointed to the problem being the lower intake manifold gasket.

Well, I took the car over to a reputable rotary shop today, and they confirmed my suspicion.

For those who've had their LIM replaced, what's a reasonable price for this fix? The shop is quoting me at anywhere between $800 and $1000 for the parts and labor. Apparently, the gaskets run at $150, so that'd make it about 8 hours of labor. Does this sound right, or is the shop taking me for a ride?

Normally, I'd try to do this myself, but I understand that it's pretty time consuming since you have to pull the turbo. On top of that, my other car needs fixing, so I don't have the time to tackle it.

Thanks in advance,
Felix

pomanferrari

iTrader: (1)

The definitive test for a LIM leak is whether you smell gasoline under boost. Mazda changed the gasket from paper to metal sometimes in 95-96 (i had my engine changed in 96 but they put a paper one in).

As I'm doing my reman, I bought a gasket set from Ray ($100) and it has the LIM, UIM, exhaust and misc gaskets that are all metal.

Remove and reinstall turbos is 6 - 8 hours, I'd say 10 hours max. In SoCal, the labor is so cheap, I think you're being raped for $800 to $1000.

djantlive

$800 is about how much it costs in N Cal by a reputable shop.

While gettting the LIM fixed, get a DP since the pre cat comes off anyways. Be sure to inspect the turbos and spray some de carb cleaner down the UIM and LIM.

If you haven't inspected the car for a while, also inspect thermostat, water pump, fuel pulsation damper. Replace radiator hose since these things come off as part of the repair.

If you are not stalling and you don't need to smog yet, you are safe to put off the fix. Once it's fixed, you'll love how smooth the car is!

94rxrob

iTrader: (1)

I was told at KDR that it would have cost me about $600, with the gasket being only about $22.00. This was almost 2 years ago but I decided to wait and do a rebuild.

paw140

You are getting severely ripped off if you are paying $150 for the LIM gasket! If that shop is trying to pull that kind of ****, I'd go somewhere else. I paid around $20 for it (I think it was actually cheaper than that) from Mazdaformance.

93BlackFD

i'll sell you the gasket for $10

blackr17

I had mine done a couple of years ago it cost about $1100, at the mazda dealership. it was about $600 for the labor,and about $500 for parts when you include all of the turbo and exhaust gaskets. Also they made me buy all of the studs and nuts.

rallyboy

Ouch.

Now I'm considering doing this myself.
I've never had to make any repairs quite as extensive, so before I start, can anyone give me a really brief run-down as to what steps I need to take?

I obviously need to pull the turbos, but is there a lot of other things I need to take off just to get to them?
I've got the factory service manual, so I'll spend some time looking through that tonight.

Thanks for all the help guys.
Felix

BigIslandSevens

iTrader: (4)

you have to unplug a few vacc. hoses. If they are in questionable shape you may want to have the silicon hose job done at the same time. If you do it yourself give yourself time, time ,and more time.. I JUST finisged the exact repairs your talking about.!(20 mins. ago!!!) I am a mech. and do this all the time so it only took me about 6hrs. total. It took a day at the machinist for broken DP studs and 3 days for parts from Ray @ Malloy. 100 is the price for the needed gasketys. Might as well do all the turbo gaskets while your there. If the studs and nuts are rusty, Replace them!! They'll break either when you torque them,or take them off next time !! Also check your fuel pulsation damper(on primary fuel rail ) for leakage, The car I'm working on had a puddle of fuel about 1 inch deep under it!!!!(Holy crap!) A 90 dollar part that can cause 10k + in fire damage! Replace it if you smell fuel or are weary. Good luck! Also turbo coolant lines(2) Replace when removing turbos, And the oil return gaskets(5), y-pipe gaskets&intake elbow(4). ALOT of gaskets but they are pretty cheap and mine were all paper. Switched to metal.