my '85 sounds like an airplane! haha, according to my mom, but it is pretty loud!

i keep having a problem with the exhaust manifold gasket, it keeps breaking cuz one of the bolts that connects the exhaust to the manifold keeps falling off! so all the exhaust is coming out of that little hole... anybody know where i can get those bolts?! i've tried autozone with no luck...

 

All the exhaust manifold gaskets I've dealt with could never break like that...pressed composite and steel breaking? Do you actually mean the intake manifold gasket by chance?

Nonetheless, maybe there's other folk out there who have had the same problem, so let's see what they have to say.

Mario III

 

there it is!

 

Is that an aftermarket "header" gasket? When I get home, I'll post what you're supposed to be using.

Crickets, folks? Has anyone had this problem before?

 

That is the result of an exhaust leak caused by a loose or warped flange.

 

if by aftermarket you mean not from mazda, i guess it is... i got from autozone, its a "fel-pro" gasket... idk, but this the second time i've had to replace that thing this year!

 

Ooof...not good. I looked in the Mazdatrix catalog since I couldn't find my exhaust gasket I'm saving for the '83 and it looks nothing like what you have. The Mazdatrix catalog had something similar to what you had but it was for the 93/95 FD engines. The piece for the 84/85's was one piece that covered both exhaust outlets and had a lot more material where yours "died."




edit: I found the gasket in my garage. I knew Fall cleanup days was going to be fruitful!

THIS is what your exhaust gasket should look like. You can see that the material is more than twice as wide at the point where yours is broken and it also has the advantage of a lot more mass which means the ability to absorb more heat as a unit before failing. Get the right part and the problem may be solved though I highly recommend sinking a Helicoil into the block so you can put a bolt in there again and have it stay.

Mario III

 

i don't think the pic OP posted is the engine gasket. looks like one of those connection pipe flange gaskets. maybe the one where the pipe bolts to the reactor? just going by the spread between the bolt holes compared to the one u posed mar3.

 

i guess its the exhaust pipe flange ring, thanks guys! its all good now, but how, i thought i lost her thursday night when my engine failed somehow! i thought the alternator had had enough of my need for speed but i checked it out after the smoke cleared and it was the water pump that need attention