new rebuild->waterleak
 

So I have rebuil my engine with all new parts. New rotor housings, new front/center/end plate, all new Mazda gaskets, seals etc.


Rebuild was done acc. DIY.com DVD's and went fine.

Engine is now back in the car and the other day I decided to put on oil and coolant.
After a couple of days I noticed some fluids under the car... Went on a search and ended up finding a 'leak' between the center plate and rotor housing. Dropping out little drops of coolant every couple of minutes.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...0120080072.jpg

The engine hasn't run yet, so there has not been any pressure on the system.
I did overfill the coolant circuit a little bit and I still need to let some of again.


I'm really worried right now because I took a lot of time to do this rebuild and to be sure it was done right. Finding this is really scary because I don't know how to fix it and could mean I need to tear down the engine AGAIN.

I'm 100% convinced that the water seals are in correctly. I pay extra extra attention to that..


Would an additive in the coolant to close radiator fits help me out?

see pic where the leak is

I'd put a pressure tester on the cooling system and confirm the location of the leak. If it is coming out the side of the block, you'll need to open the motor. Radiator sealing additives will only give a temporary fix at best.


Paul

As far as I can tell, the leak would be on the outher water seal

Yeah, when you're putting the center iron on, it's REAL easy for one of those water seals to pop out of the groove and get pinched. I bet you a nickel that's what happened.

If you want to be sure of it, Pineapple Racing sells a tool to pressurize the block with compressed air to check for leaks.

Regardless, don't try and do some hack to fix it. There is only one way to fix it - pull the motor, tear it down, and fix the problem. No, it's not fun, but if you spent a lot of time and effort putting the engine together, now's the time to stop, backtrack, fix the problem, and be confident that it's 100%.

Good thing is the coming apart/going together will be MUCH easier - no cleaning, side seals are already fit, oil seals are in place, etc. You might have to replace a water seal though if it was pinched and damaged.

Good luck,
Dale

Thanks Dale for your imput... Honestly I do know I need to do this but it's a lot work... again..

Good thing is I have an extra set of waterseals...

Thx for the support
Neal

What did you torque the tension bolts to? Also, what did you use to hold the coolant o-rings in place?

I torqued the bolts to factory spec (MAzda workshop manual) and rechecked itin the days after the rebuild.

I used vaseline to hold the o rings in place.