I have been inspecting and re-inspecting the plates
(front, center and rear) and the housing over the last few days...over and over
with trusted second set of eyes helping with the process. I have taken a
straight edge to the plates and with a .0015 feeler gage (the smallest I
could find...the spec is 0016 IIRC ) could not get it to even think
about going under the straight edge. The plates seem solid, straight and
in damn good shape.
I have taken a dental pick and "ticked" it around
the oil seal grooves and it seems solid all around. However, after
viewing the Mazdatrix website, it shows where the side of the O-ring groves may
give way. They state it is hard to diagnose but can be a way coolant gets
into the combustion chamber (http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/sidehsgs.htm photo's
4 and 5). They had to use very high pressure over an extended period to make the
bad area actually VISIBLY fail. IS THERE A WAY to determine if these
groove side walls are solid without the high pressure, long term pressure
test process....which is beyond my ability? I hate the idea of
putting these back together and continue to have a problem......I also hate the
idea of the about $400.00 ish each for new plates :-( I really thing
the side plates are ok IF these grooves are good. Any ideas?
Next, when we have meticulously inspected the
housings, we seem to see a couple of EXTREMELY slight irregularities around the
edge where the water seal would lay between it and the side seals. My
buddy...a VERY trusted resource, feels this could be enough to cause a problem.
Also, when I broke out the digital calipers I measured several places around the
housings and it seems the thickness around the diameter I am getting is reading
slightly out of spec for differences in thickness around the
housings.
Is it proper or even possible to take these to a
machine shop and have them machined smooth and flat? Or is it better to
just suck it up and buy new housings? I am about a "wild hair" away from
just giving in and buying two new housing just to get going again and end all
question of them being a future problem....at least for the current
reasons. I hate the idea of throwing money at something that may be
perfectly fine (after all I am not the government) What are y'all's
thoughts?
As to the O-rings that came out of the engine for
the inner rings there does seem to be some roughness along a couple of areas on
the O-rings. The areas are about 1.5 inches long, give are take, and seem
to be on a couple of the rings and in about the same area on the various
plates. This would seem to be indicative to over heating......Yes,
No....?????
Also, the price for new housings from
Pineapple Racing (558.00) does not seem too bad (Mazdatrix are 571.78 w/
cash discount). One of the "features" Pineapple Racing promotes
on their site is that they have "machined spark plug holes" so as to accept
alternative plugs. What the heck is this? I hope to get a chance to
call them on the morrow but what say Ye?
I tend to kick around the various ideas before I
decide, but as a rule do not knee jerk react to things even though it may seem
this way. I do not want to drop a grand+ for new housings, but that may be
inevitable. More so, I don't want to toss an additional $1400 on new side
plates......however, I also want some piece of mind that at least these issues
are addressed.
Will love to get your opinions.
TIA.
All the best,
Chris
Velocity SE
Houston