As a part of my list of things to do on my holidays this year I chose to repair the VVT. I opted to purchase the OEM upgraded kit from CW Turbochargers. Then I added ARP cam & crank bolts and a Cometic timing cover gasket.
Generally speaking everything went as planned. I assembled the parts using "ARP Ultra-torq" where required but was concerned I had contaminated the cam friction washers. When I pulled the sprockets off I could see a small film of Ultra-torq and decided to purchase replacement washers and adjust my process. I applied the Ultra-torq to the face of the bolt washer but didnt apply any to the bolt threads until after the bolt was through the sprocket and the friction washer had been "threaded down" the bolt.
When I installed the timing cover, The Cometic gasket was missing a hole for the #1 bolt. But it appears the hole is not there in pictures on the web either. I had to punch a hole there and applied some RTV to that area. Mildly annoying.
I purchased replacement cam cover bolts (LFBL-10-237) ahead of the job however I feel they were not required. I did not want to have the engine partially assembled waiting on these bolts. The contention here was the price quoted by my local dealer who is setting their own list prices. Parts guy quoted me $19.99/bolt, Mazda's MSRP is $13.57. I ended up purchasing them from another dealer 4 hours away for $10.06 each, still cheaper after paying shipping.
I also replaced the oil pump chain guide, despite everything else looking fine it looked a bit knarly to me...
When I called my local dealer to purchase the extra friction washers and a replacement oil chain guide he quoted the inflated prices. I informed him what Mazda's MSRP prices were for those parts and he quickly capitulated, seemed almost like I had uncovered his scam. Needless to say, I will be looking elsewhere for my parts.
In wrapping up the job I replaced the PMM with an aftermarket...it was time for a new one.
After everything was buttoned up, I primed the fuel pump a few key cycles and primed the engine a few times by jumping the starter relay.
The car fired up without a single hiccup and ran perfectly. After a bit of a warm up, I drove it around the property about 6 times to get everything cycling again. I need to reinstall the hood and apply the road coverages before I can road test.
I was happy to see the inside of the engine really clean, especially the sump area and around the top end. Inspecting the parts that came out, there was chain stretch and the VVT actuator was off home position slightly, but nothing much out of the ordinary.
Early on, I had issues trying to get the timing plate into the cam slots. Between rocking the cams and considering the slop in the chain, it appeared to me that the engine was possibly not 100% in time. I cant confirm for sure that anything had slipped slightly but it didnt appear the engine had been previously been cracked open. Also there is no record of Mazda doing a related repair.
However in the end I figured if the whole engine is properly timed going forward all will be copacetic. I purchased the tool to hold the crank pulley static during the ARP torquing process, so I covered all the bases and in the end the CKPS is not in the same place as originally...things that make you go Hmmm!
