Another Rebuild thread!

RobbieRX-7 · May 05, 2007, 07:07:51 PM

Ok, ive had the fd for 3.5 years now and i knew i would have to do this sooner or later. Unfortunatley it has came sooner rarther than later due to coolant seal failurer @ 50,000miles. It seems as though quite a few mrc members have had this same problem at the same time as mine failed ( martiny, johnF and more than likely others as well)

Anyway after a good long think on wether to get it done by a specialist or diy it, i decided to bite the bullet and do it myself. Me and a few mates started to take the engine out on wednesday. I did do a few things that wern\'t neccessary such as removing the power steering pump, ac pump It didn\'t go too bad. I used the remove pressure plate from the flywheel method and the engine came out pretty easy.. I found that getting the ecu plugs through the firewall a bit tricky because all the abs system is in the way. I also forgot to undo the electrical plugs on the gearbox and i strained the wiring loom when lifting the engine out.

Once the engine was out, me and my mate andy started stripping it today. All went quite well except when we came to undoing the 54mm flywheel nut. I got the front pulley nut off easily but the flywheel nut ended up breaking my 1/2" breaker bar, time to get a 3/4" bar me thinks!

So right now, the engine is on the stand outside. Just gotta get a suitable breaker bar and then the dismantling of the block continues. Im gonna do a mini guide on how to reattach the wiring loom and hoses because taking it all off is easy but putting it all back together is the hard part. watch this space!

shaunwil · May 06, 2007, 10:15:29 AM

I tried forever to try and get the thing off a 12a which isn\'t torqued up as much. If you can get a new nut you can use a chisel to turn it off, it needs to be shock loaded off. Im surprised the 54mm flynut wasn\'t a 1in square !

Looking good though.

Shaun

Ricco_04 · May 06, 2007, 12:13:30 PM

All the best with the rebuild fella and keep the pictures coming! :cheers

RobbieRX-7 · May 06, 2007, 01:23:59 PM

Quote from: shaunwilIm surprised the 54mm flynut wasn\'t a 1in square !

Looking good though.

Shaun

Well the 54mm socket is a 3/4" drive. That is then on a 3/4" male - 1/2" female reducer adaptor so it fitted onto my 1/2" breaker bar. I\'ve just got me a 1meter 3/4" bar so hopefully i can start stripping it again when it arrives. :mmmm

Quote from: Ricco_04All the best with the rebuild fella and keep the pictures coming! :cheers

Will do mate!

shaunwil · May 06, 2007, 01:53:53 PM

Nothing would budge mine on the 12a. A chisel and hammer took alot less but a new nut was needed.

You might end up with a pipe on the end of that bar !

Shaun

Bobfish · May 07, 2007, 07:06:02 PM

How are you locking the flywheel?

I used a peice of angle iron with holes drilled in bolted to the flywheel to lock it, put the engine on the floor and tried undoig it with a 6 foot breaker so the angle iron jammed against the ground, i got a mate to stand on the block and i bounced up and down on the breaker slowly (putting loads and loads of pressure on it, jus rocking backwards and forth) and eventually it popped. Its not actually as hard as the front 19mm. My setup was a 1/2 inch drive bar with a 1/2 inch to 1 inch converter and a transit hub nut socket (think its actually 56mm but it worked)

Good luck getting it off dude, feel free to give me a shout if you need any help. Not a good thing to happen this close to the ring eh? my friend bought an escort cossie friday night, blew it up on the way home and we\'ve spent this whole weekend getting the engine out and stripping that down. 4wd sucks! Makes it so hard to get anything out!!!

Anyways, looking good mate. IF you need any bits gimme a shout, ive got plenty lying around.

RobbieRX-7 · May 07, 2007, 11:17:14 PM

Quote from: BobfishHow are you locking the flywheel?

If you look in the second pic carl, you can see a steel bar bolted onto the flywheel. Because the engine is on the stand, im using the brick wall to hold the bar so i can snap the 54mm nut loose. It was working really well untill the square drive snapped clean off the breaker bar:Grrr i was using a 6ft scaffold bar over the breaker bar, so there was some bloody tremendous pressure on that 1/2" drive lol. The only thing thats any good for now is turning the engine around on our half homemade engine stand.

Quote from: BobfishGood luck getting it off dude, feel free to give me a shout if you need any help. Not a good thing to happen this close to the ring eh?

Anyways, looking good mate. IF you need any bits gimme a shout, ive got plenty lying around.

Cheers mate:cheers It is bad luck letting go so soon to the ring trip, but im actually glad it went now and not half way through germany. The final nail in the coffin was when i went to toys r us, came back out and it misfired on startup and loadsa white smoke out the exhaust.

Ive spent the last 2 days cleaning all the engine bits, ac compressor, ps pump, lim, uim, oil sump, timing cover plate, oil pump, turbo\'s, wastegate actuator, engine mounts.

While it\'s all in bits i\'ve removed the secondary butterflies in the uim and removed the acv on the lim. I managed to snap the 2 bolts that hold the wastegate actuator, so they need extracting, and i snapped all 3 bolts that hold the acv on. Im in 2 minds on wether to go non sequential. Must admit that i never had any problems with the sequential setup but would like to see what all the fuss is about.:mmmm

RobbieRX-7 · May 13, 2007, 11:08:43 PM

Been cleaning the engine internals with some good ol petrol. The irons and rotor housings look in excellent shape, no signs of coolant seal groove failure and the coolant passages have no rust which is a sign it has had the correct amount of antifreeze in.

Ive been checking tolerances with the dial test indicator, straight edge and feeler gauges. All plates are within the max figures according to the factory service manual. Ive been having a think on wether to reuse the rotor housings or get new ones. The service manual states you can reuse as long as they are within spec, but im stuck on what to do. How many people usually reuse the rotor housings?

Just need to get the parts ordered from malloy mazda in arizona, get the new stationary earings pressed in by carl, then it\'s time to rebuild. Cant wait because it\'s been nearly 3 weeks since i took it out!

Jit · May 13, 2007, 11:37:15 PM

do the housings have the chrome peeling off the edges? also check for cracks round the spark plug holes...
plenty of people reuse ali housings

RobbieRX-7 · May 14, 2007, 12:21:57 AM

There is a very small crack around the spark plugholes and scraping around the edge of the housings. If less than 2mm it can be reused.

interloper393 · May 14, 2007, 01:00:46 AM

did you get the o ring ok ok bud?

RobbieRX-7 · May 14, 2007, 01:03:04 AM

oops\' forgot about that mate. Yes i got it ok mate. Cheers! I\'ll leave feedback in your feedback thread

Ricco_04 · May 14, 2007, 10:21:57 PM

Good stuff fella! :yes Could do with speaking to you about the part\'s your getting - you on MSN dude?

If they are in spec then it\'s your call - but remember they already have x miles on them.......

interloper393 · May 14, 2007, 10:23:16 PM

Cheers bud

good luck with the build :Thumbs-up

RobbieRX-7 · May 14, 2007, 11:44:52 PM

Well today..ain\'t done much really. Mainly cleaning the carbon off the rotors. If anybody is considering building their own engine i highly recommend you get some gasket remover. I bought some loctite 7200 stuff and it just blasts the carbon deposits right off. I used a green scouring pad to get the carbon off and a wall paper scraper to get the old paper gaskets off the lim ports. This stuff soaks into the gasket and softens it ready for scraping.

I\'ve also spoke to ray crowe at malloy mazda and ordered most of the rebuild kit minus the apex seals and water seals. Whilst on the phone i also ordered a new thermostat kit, oil metering pipes and spark plug wires. Only trouble is that ray later contacted me and said my card had been refused. Bugger! Hopefully the kit will arrive from the usa by the weekend!!

Quote from: Ricco_04Good stuff fella! :yes Could do with speaking to you about the part\'s your getting - you on MSN dude?

Im not on msn mate. Just give us a bell 2moz anytime