Should I keep my rotor and housings or just buy new?
 

No flaking but I'm not sure if the streak marks are okay. I checked the tolerances of the rotor housings and they fall between the specs Mazda has.

If you look at the rear rotor, you can see some of the material that has been eaten away.

Thanks for any advice.

Here's the rear rotor housing

Here's the rear rotor

Here's the front rotor housing

I'm certainly no expert, but I'd say steak marks are not o.k. If I were you I'd get new housings.

its really hard to give an opinion on the net.

if you can catch your fingernail in any groove...get new ones.

Most times rotors are re-usable as long as the apex seal slot isn't compromised. If there are gouges in the face from a broken apex seal, filing them down flat will typically do the trick. Not necessarily the optimal way to go, but it works if you're on a budget - been there, done that.

It's hard to say on the rotor housings - they don't look that good, but they almost look like the surface is still dirty. Any small groove will put more wear on the apex seal and make less compression - it needs to be smooth and flat for optimum performance.

Dale

I guess it all depends on how much I can afford. The housings don't have too much grooving. I checked the specs on the widths of the housings and they fall between what the service manuals states.

As far as rotors I'll most likely replace them. I don't like the idea of hardened rotor faces with gouges in them...

Thanks!

the rotors look like they got scraped during cleaning. not realy a big deal just smooth them over so there are no pointy spots to get hot. pic are not the best way to decide as has been said

Should I send my patrs to a engine builder and have them check it out?

getting expert advise when you dont have the experience or tools to check things is never a bad idea.

I agree....that's why I bought telescoping guages, dial indicator with magnetic base, 0-4" micrometers with .0001" accuracy, etc...

I hope you're not looking down on me...I was only asking 'cause this is my first time doing this kind of thing and what better way to know more about what's going on with my engine than the people on this forum who actually know what they're doing.

BTW, have you ever done one? Is this your only comment? Can you give any other technical advice than what you've stated?

If you are going to reuse those rotors, you'll have to replace the rotor bearings.

Man, your rear housing seems to have really bad side seal wear. You blew a apex seal or coolant?

Don't know. I'm going to have Atkins take a look at it tomorrow.

www.jhbperformance.com

They'll refinish your housings with cermet. There are two types to choose from. The Cermet B is less expensive than getting new rotor housings and Cermet A is more expensive but the same material used in the 787B 4-rotor that won LeMans. Send them images of the housings first.

Why, just check them for wear, if their good then why replace right?

The part of the housings where the side seals run, dont look to hot, their known to wear faster than the inside. No idea why. Try to cemenet , look for some good T2 housings or just get new housings. If you get new housings or change housing new seals plus proper break in!

The rotor bearings like the spex seals are recommended replacement items at rebuild. They are not expensive, and even if they are within spec (like the apex seals) why would you risk it?

Maybe your 5,000 mile motor overheated? I had 10,000 on my motor and had all but one good seal, atkins btw. Pretty interesting.

The boys over at Mazda Motor Sports seem to think otherwise....

http://www.mazdamotorsports.com/weba...t=rotorbearing

And their advice is all that I have heard.....

Where are you getting your info?

Rotor bearings are such low wear items...

It seems like if you use new bearings it will extend the breakin time...?

James

Those rotorhousings look like they;d be fine, but they look a bit dirty still, hard to tell exactly. IF flaking is to a minimum, you'll still make very good compression with them. Housings are almost always reuseable unless apex seals or some other foreign object went bouncing around inside and did some scratching up.

Those rotors would be fine as well. The important part about a rotor is the seal grooves. IF everything fits inside there properly with neither binding or excess play, then the faces really do not matter. After all the rotor "floats" and the faces do not touch anything...so long as there are no DEEP pits or gouges that might compromise the strength or balance of the rotor, it's fine. Those little pits look like they're from sitting around with rust on them for a few months...no big deal so long as all the seals came out and the grooves are okay.

As for bearings, there is very little stress on rotary bearings. Unless oil maintenance was poorly performed, they won't have any wear on them. Even if copper is showing, <25% is generally regarded as acceptable by most builders in the industry. Anytime you press a bearing in or out, you actually remove a little material from the soft rotor...which increases the chance that the rotorbearing could spin later on. Don't fool with bearings unless you have to. IT's easy for a first timer to screw up, or to cause more harm than good.

the rotors are not to be scraped on during cleaning... it will scratch away at the coating that is on the rotor faces.

Thanks for all of your inputs!!! I've decided to get a newer housing, Master Rebuild Kit, new oil pump chain, all related seals for the engine, Sonny's check valves, silicone kit from hosetechniques.com, and various nuts and bolts. I think that's it for now. I'm hoping this rebuild will last for 60-90,000 miles and when it craps out I'll buy everything new and ceramic coat everything.

Again, thanks for the input guys! :)