Engine maintenance

Devondre808

Waiting on a new intake and going to remove my valve cover for a polish. Just wondering if there is any maintenance i should do while these are off. Planning on adjusting valve lash. Anything else i should be looking for while these are off? Tips and help are appreciated thanks

MazdaMitch

How's the valve cover gasket look? May be time to replace that.

You could also replace the valve cover PCV valve grommet.

Devondre808

MazdaMitch replaced it not too long ago, id think that its still good.
And just put a new grommet and pcv valve

Axel-Breaker-Earl

Yes! You should check the tightness of your head bolts while you have the VC off. Set your torque wrench to 65 ft. lbs. and tighten all 10 of the head bolts to that setting.......in the required torque sequence (starting at the two center bolts, and working outward in a circular fashion). DO NOT LOOSEN any of the head bolts! ONLY TIGHTEN. You will probably find that on the Exhaust side of the head, the bolts will tighten some.......the intake side may not tighten at all......and that is fine! You are simply making sure that the head bolts are at least tightened to specification.
These Mazda head bolts are very stout.....so I always tighten them to the upper end of the torque value spectrum that the factory service manual lists......59 to 64 ft. lbs. I believe......I just round it out to 65 ft. lbs. The bolts and the block can handle it, believe me.

Devondre808

Axel-Breaker-Earl
Thanks for the information, i wasnt aware of that

Cusser

Yes, the torque of these is quite straightforward to check/tighten once your valve cover is off. There are 10 of these, I believe. I would check/tighten in the order shown in the workshop manual posted on this site.
https://mazdaminitruckin.com/service-manual/

Johnnyrooster1

My cylinder head is cracked and I'm swaping it out with a new one.
Mitch I watched your videos on swapping the head gasket and rebuilding the cylinder head. Great videos!! They helped and inspired me to do it myself.
One thing that I'm not sure of is when installing the new head. Do I have to prime the cylinder head? and how do I do it?

MazdaMitch

Johnnyrooster1 prime the cylinder head? No...
If you replaced the hydraulic lifters you'll want to prime them, but the head just make sure all is in time.

Johnnyrooster1

Yes maybe this is for other vehicles or I'm miss reading. In your videos you only speak of priming the hydrolic lifter and with what you are saying it will be fine. I'm just worried about damaging my new head running it without oil in the head yet. I'm not sure how many rotations it would take to fill the shafts that feeds the oil to the head.
I've never worked on a motor where I had to change such a vital part that can do damage if done wrong. So my ignorance is fueling these this question. Thanks for the time and help.

MazdaMitch

Johnnyrooster1 It should be fine. If you want a little more piece of mind, just pour oil over all the moving parts before putting the valve cover on.

Johnnyrooster1

Sounds good and thank you

Cusser

You could disconnect the coil main wire to distributor, and crank the engine until the oil pressure light goes out, then re-connect and start the engine.