I hate to post a link to another thread, but the "General Rotary Tech Support" forum is not exactly a popular spot.

I was reading this thread related to the cooling system, and had a thought. I searched the whole forum but it turns out that this is only thread I could find about retorquing the tension bolts to protect the coolant seals, so I went ahead and made a post: It reads:
"Does anybody suppose that the notoriously short-lived coolant seals of turbo rotaries could be longer-lived by regularly retorquing the tension bolts? If so, how often? Perhaps every 15kmi - 20kmi assuming no over-heating?"


What does every one else think?

 

sounds logical

 

I'm not so sure. I'd think the eventual failure of the coolant seals is far more related to heat-induced aging than the varying expansion rates of the aluminum and steel engine core plates. The seals should have far more compensation in expansion tolerances than the core plates could achieve (overheating excepted), and torquing/retorquing the tension bolts might only result in (premature) leakage caused by movement of an already brittle coolant seal. Unless there is a specific problem with the tension bolts excessively loosening over time, I can't see retorquing them having any benefits unless the plates are actually disassembled.

Only my opinion, however.

 

those who know what to do will retorque the bolts when they put in a clutch. Back off a bolt then retorque, use the proper pattern .

 

I dont know if that would help or not.
But when i took my engine apart that suffered oring failure, the tension bolts were not all torqued the same.
Some came loose very easily and others were tight.
Food for thought..

 

Good thinking, but........I kinda' doubt it. You might actually INCREASE the leakage!

 

Like duboisr said, I know for many it is common to retorque the bolts whenever the flywheel is off. I don't thing Mazda has a mileage window for this but I have heard of it many times.

 

I've been hanging out in this forum for only the past 6 months since I got my FD, so I may be off-base on this, but I have to ask...

Are you sure most of these coolant seal failures are really failed coolant seals and not warped housings? Most of the time when I read about "coolant seal failure", the guy (or gal) goes out and gets a reman. How many people have torn down their motor and verified with a good straight edge that a housing hasn't warped and that caused the coolant seal failure?

As for a lack of torque in the tension bolts... I guess if you had access to several motors with blown seals one could check the torque on them. Otherwise, It would be rather hard to prove/disprove your theory.

 

There are many pics around. Typically the seal fails because it appears to almost erode away until letting coolant past. Warped housings come from terrible overheating and the difference is readily discernable IF the motor is opened up.

Actually the reason is academic. If the housing is warped you are looking at a new housing. If it's merely failure of the seal the engine can be rebuilt with the same housings (assuming wear is within spec). Either way you are going to have to open the motor or install a reman. Many people install remans for the simplicity and quick turn around. You're not waiting for a rebuilt engine to get done, you just plug and play