Cam cover gasket

[astinasp]

Do the BP twin cams have a gasket or just use sealant on the cam cover? The reason i ask is that mine has a permanent weep of oil and was supposedly replaced (a gasket) around 2k kays ago when i bought the car. The oil loss is frustrating as it has leaked over the manifold and a burnt oil smell is always around when the car is hot. Thanks in advance.

[Tony]

Sounds all too familiar Dude. They have a gasket but it depends how they fitted the last one. Did Mazda do it or a garage? The reason I ask is that when I had a 92 Astina they (Ultratune) totally buggered it up and I had to take it back a coupla times & even then they couldn't completely fix it.

My advice? Take it to Mazda for all servicing. May cost a little more (but not that much more I found out!) but it's worth knowing that the job's gonna be done properly.

[Toyboy]

Mazda will be no better,they are just as dodgey :roll:
Just fix it yourself dude,pull the cam cover off and put a thin layer of "Ultra Blue" sealant on the face of the gasket that will be facing the head,then tighten down the bolts,but dont do them to tight :)
Leave it for about 10-15minutes and then start it up and let it warm up a little which sould cure the sealant better, hopefully it will be problem fixed :P

[Cosmo Dude]

I'm not a big fan of using selastic. The rubber seal was good for over 100,000 km and makes servicing much easier than glueing every thing down. An easy job to replace the seal after the difficult job of parting with the cash. Astina and Laser twincams use the same seal.
Only cautions are;
1 As previously mentoined, don't tighten it too much.
2 Tighten the bolts evenly.
3 Clean the surface before assembling everything.

Rod

[JynX]

I guess it depends how often you take your cam cover off. Rubber seal + sealent is better then just the rubber or vice versa.

[astinasp]

Thanks for the replies guys. I replaced the gasket and have used some selastic. The leak has been slowed but there is still some evidence of leaking, especially around the 'half circles'. I had the car serviced on Friday and they said they could put in a gen Maz gasket (at gen Maz price!). Toyboy; is that ultra blue stuff made by Loctite? If so i've heard its very good and if this doesn't fix the problem i may use some of it. Cheers.

[Toyboy]

Yeah its made by Loctite or permatex or something like that :wink: Ive used it before on previous cars and its worked great :D
Its about $15 tube :wink:
BTW the u shaped bit over the dizzy is a very common spot for the leaking,just put a little extra around that spot :P

[BigMal]

I must admit I am not a big one on Silastic either. I use Gasket Goo to stick the gasket to
the underside of the rocker cover and leave for a while to stick which stops the gasket moving
around when you install it. If its a old gasket that has become leaky Silastic on the outside
would be fine but the thought of little bits of Silastic getting into the inside of the motor and
components scares me a bit.

Regards

Mal

[93SP]

Find a new workshop...that's ****.

Alternativley do it yourself, worked for me.

[Cosmo Dude]

BTW the u shaped bit over the dizzy is a very common spot for the leaking,just put a little extra around that spot :P

The 'O' ring on the Dizzy is a known leak waiting to happen, and only about $6 from Mazda.
A few things to remember;
Before you take out the dizzy you should scribe a mark so you get the timing right on re-assembly.
I pulled the sparkplug leads from the sparkplugs and not from the dizzy, this also helped keep everything eazy.
If you have a digital camera take some pictures as you work. You may need them later.

Rod

[submersiblepotato]

new rocker cover gasket is about $51...

got one last week........ no more weeps :lol: