Hello All, I have enjoyed lurking for a few days and have definitely found this forum to be a place where folks try to help each other - despite differing opinions.

I recently purchased an 84 gsl-se for $900 that is going to be my therapy for the coming summer camp season. The car has had one previous owner (down in TX.) and came to me as a rust free, great interior, drivable vehicle with the moon roof installed and the steel panel wrapped in cloth and plastic like it has been since the car was delivered. I removed the AARP stickers from the rear quarter windows and figured the annual milage for the car's 144,xxx and don't feel too bad.

It has several minor things needing attention like any old car, but seems to have weathered the years very well.

The major items needing attention were:

Brake master cylinder - DONE

Oil cooler leak - The cursed 84 cooler bosses. I tried a fix on it and there was still a seep, so I installed a Setraub NASCAR type cooler out in front almost horizontal behind the grill for now. The car won't see much winter driving and I use AMSOIL, so I don't think having a full flow cooler will hurt. Opinions?????

Noise at the clutch - This turned out to be a trashed pilot bearing. All that is left is the outer race and a few needles. I will try to hydraulic it out today (I don't have this type of puller) but the parts book shows the bearing AND a spacer. Is the spacer needed? I've never used one on any other vehicle.

There is also an oil seep on the left side of the engine forward of the plugs where (with patience) you can watch a drip form. Is this something that will wait for an eventual rebuild or signs of coming trouble?

I would like to keep this car fairly stock, but will probably add a header and springs (keeping the originals for a return to stock if needed). Which header has proven to work best with the 6 port in an otherwise stock engine? 6port actuation needs to stay in the RPM range usable for street driving right? How is this best achieved when opening up the exhaust with a header?

What is the best spring set available for "spirited touring" and a comfortable long distance ride. I will change the springs because the left front appears sagged about an inch, so which type is best?

I am looking forward to hearing any comments or suggestions regarding this vehicle.

 

OIl drip is that coming from where it says mazda on the motor or below the oil filter?

If its below the oil filter its just 2 o rings, not really a big deal. Just 2 10mm nuts on the bottom remove them, clean it up really good, put 2 new o rings in there, hylomar selant the **** outta them and put it back together..

If its coming from where it says Mazda then the motor would have to be disassembled. Its the same O rings but there at the edge of the rotor housing...Inside the motor

Dunno about the spacer, but if the bearing is trashed, just replace it What I did was since my bearing was getting replaced. I just took a flat head screw driver and bent the race inward, being very careful not to screw up the inside of the e shaft. Once it was bent inward, just took a pair of needle noise pliers and pulled it out...

The header question could be addressed better by some of the other guys with experience with different ones

Good luck...

 

welcome,,i would stick to specs for all clutch and internals,,springs ?
any upgraded will be stiffer...any brand,,,headers are just headers.
no port mods,,right ? rb would be fine,,i would say,,,,,amazing engines
huh ,,,

 

Thanks for the replies. I was able to remove the old pilot bearing race with the help of a dremel tool. The spacer was removed intact - it appears to have a rubber insert - I assume it was to prevent debris and water from getting to the pilot bearing.

I have read some posts about having to actuate the secondary ports on a 6 port via some method other than back pressure once headers are installed. I see that mazdatrix and RB both offer a 6 port modified header set. That is why I wanted to find out anybody else's experience with putting headers on a 6 port 13b.

The oil leak is indeed out the side of the case at the seam of the front rotor housing. I guess it will wait for a rebuild.

Anybody else?

 

My suggestion would be do it now, if the motor is ok, it will be far cheaper to just do it now, instead of waiting till you drop an apex and then need a rotor and rotor housing. I mean when I first did mine, I stomped on that little SOB and hit it with a hammer, I had the same problem. Gave me a mild bit of gradification to beat its butt for all the trouble it had caused..

The seals are so easy to put in once its apart. Would have been nice if they could have done that oil line externally instead of internal through those dowells. Good luck...

 

Nobody else? Interesting. Maybe I should post the header and oil cooler questions to the performance forum.

Mike-P-28...I saw a page in Dave's rx site that described the dowell leak as more of a nuisance than a danger to the engine- as long as you kept after the oil. Did you have a failure because of this type of leak?

 

If I am not mistake Racing Beat sells a system for the SE with the tube that is used to actuate the 6 ports, so no worries there. What I want to know about that system is what affects removing the O2 sensor has on the engine...Does it run completely rich all the time aftert that?

As far as the oil cool a common and cheap fix is to take it off, take it to a good aluminum welder, and have him "weld the hell" out of the outlet and inlet tubes. those are cracked now, you should be able to see little hairling cracks on the face of the tube end. Have him add about a 1/4" of material and grind it flush (very important-bring the fittings in also so he can match the angle at which they come in to ensure a good seal.) Once you do that you should be good as new. Don't forget to replace the crush washers with New Mazda parts.

Enjoy the SE

Right on

 

If you use RB's header and presilencer, I believe your 6PI stays functional.

For the oil leak, I had a 81 S that did that. I just kept a quart of oil in the storage bin at all times.

For springs, I have Racing Beat springs and Tokico non adjusts. I like them very much, even though all I've been able to do with them so far is sit in the car and make engine sounds

 

Thanks for the information. I did try the alum welder fix and I'm sure it will work, but evidently he missed a crack right where the boss meets the cooler body because it still was seeping. The mounts were also shot and are not available for this year separately. Thats why I decided to go with the race cooler, but would it negatively affect anything - not having any thermo controls like the stock one has?

Sounds like RB has the edge on exhaust performance.

Thanks

 

Get Mazdatrix's version of the 6 port header. That spacer you mentioned is a grease seal for the pilot bearing. Just get a new one (don't bother reusing). I used a dremel to remove my pilot bearing too. That hardened metal lights up real good with a mini grinder bit

 

I don't think that oil cooler will affect anything, as long as its more efficent than stock. You want your oil temp to be pretty low, as it aids in cooling the rotors and eccentric shaft. I'm not aware of any thermo control on the stock cooler?

 

Couple things to add... Mazdatrix and RB headers and exhaust parts are exactly the same. Also, it sounds like you're describing this oil leak as coming from the front engine cover... if that's the case, fixing it is only a matter of replacing the front cover gasket. You dont even need to take the engine out to do that.

 

Thanks for taking the time to add to this thread.

Felix: On the drivers side of my stock 84 coolewr there is a large plug covering a plunger assembly. I assumed this was an internal thermostatic bypass, but I could be way wrong.

Brake: I always wanted to put urethane bushing on my off road trucks, but never did. Unfortunately I live back on 3+ miles of potholed rock road. Do you think the ride would vibrate everything loose in the car with the urethane bushings?

Thanks for the header info Jeff20B and RXcetera, I had read their online catalog and just wasn't sure if it was hype or would work.

The oil leak is between the case and rotor housing, looks very similar to the ones shown on dave's rx page.

I have another question about timing, but I think it needs a new thread.

Thanks

 

It may be. I've never loosened that plug before. There is a similar setup behind the big bolt in the main pulley, its a pressure bypass.

 

Getting back to what you ask me digger as I seem to have missed this post.

I never really had a problem directly with the dowell o rings, its just a big *** nuisance and a major embrassament, my was leaking so badly, actually was coming for 3 of the 4. It would leak so bad that it would blow back onto the exhaust and when sitting at a stop light smoke would come out from under the car. Thats no acceptable in my book LOL