Planning to change the CAS O-ring on my 1.8, and rather than faff around trying to manouvre the CAS in a very tight spot, I’m going to remove the “Cam cap”, ie
http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread.php?8964-CAS-Removal-on-1-8-NA
Mazda calls this the Distributor Cap on the 323
What’s the torque setting? 14Nm, same as the camshaft caps?
19 to 26NM from one reference, now checked here so good to go.
Page 32 of 37 of the engine manual here.
Ok, this is confusing, because someone else has told me, quoting from a Mazda manual, that I should be treating this as the camshaft cap bolt, which has a significantly lower torque. Obviously the MX5 doesn’t have a distributor, but the CAS takes its place. Mistake in the manual, or just a legacy term? To tighten these bolts up a bit, I have to loosen one of the cas bolts a bit, so a bracket can be moved out of the way. So need to be certain before I venture outside again.
Upon examination, it becomes obvious that the higher torque should be used. The cap by the CAS is not the same as the camshaft caps. Little wonder people were complaining of leaks here, they are not torqueing correctly. I had already put a smear of sealant between the faces; most of it seems to have squeezed out, but I don’t think the excess is going to do any harm, as I applie it to the “outside” of the bolts, so all it does is squeeze outwards, and not inwards.
Done now. Engine running fine, so not going to worry about it.
My other contact is adamant; the distributor bolt is the one securing the CAS to the head. I’ve just torqued to your settings, but worried now I have over torqued. Big difference from 14Nm to 20Nm.
Have I just gone and crushed the O-ring, and if I backed off the torque, I’m going to get worse oil leaks that before, or worse, damaged the CAS?
Need a diagram showing this “distributor bolt”
This I am told is the “distributor bolt”.
But based on advice given, I have torgued to 20Nm. Now loosened to 14Nm. Probably buggered up the new o-ring. Ah well, at least the CAS isn’t trashed.
The torque setting is for the journal cap bolts and no sealant required except in the four corners and two at the front when refitting the cam cover and seating the gasket.
If you removed the cap you will find that all sealant has been forced out by the polished flush fit of these parts.
I just hand tighten the cam securing bolt. You have over tightened it but unlikely to have done any harm.
The journal cap and CAS securing bolts will have no impact on the ‘O’ ring. There will be no additional force exerted on it as all three bolts tightened are metal to metal and have no impact on the ‘O’ ring.
If you loosen the CAS securing bolt you will find that the CAS will rotate in its housing albeit reassuringly stiffly.
As Rhino has said above you won’t have damaged the o-ring.
Looking in the Mazda manual I have for 1997 Miata it says 11.3 to 14.2 Nm for the camshaft caps and 19 to 25 Nm for the CAS adjustment bolt with a 12mm head.
O Rings seal in a bore. You could tighten these till you stripped them, it is not going to affect the bore diameter. Putting sealant between the faces is more likely to cause a leak as you prevent the faces coming together, although the size of O ring should easily accommodate this.
Sorry SAZ but we can only advise on what you identified.
You asked about the torque for the “distributor”. I found it mentioned on a Madza manual and reported the source to you and you are now not sure if that is the correct description.
I have looked at a more detailed Mazda supplied workshop manual for an early MX5 and there is no advice anywhere about that cover or bolt.It is shown but not specifically mentioned.
I have come across this before with Mazda and that suggests the part comes from the factory ready assembled to a mother assembly, that is the cylinder head and workshop manual technical author assumes it will not be dismantled during the life of the car.
If the bolt did not stretch on assembly by becoming loose, and I assume that is the case, I would not worry about the tightness and I can advise that this specific bolt would not be specifically torqued in a Mazda dealers just “nipped up”.
I went on to both the UK parts system and also checked a US parts manual that I have and again that cover is not shown as a seperate part.
The UK Madza 323 parts diagrams were no more helpful.
Therefore I suggest that any torque from 16NM to 25NM should be OK but if you can advise the bolt diamter, I will find a similar bolt on a MK1 engine and get a recommended torque from a variety of bolts in that diameter.
Thank you for your consideration, but this no longer matters anymore, and so no one need to make further contribution to the thread. I’m moving on.
I agree with you Eddie - no information on the distributor cap/journal cap that I could find either. The quoted figure is for the 10mm bearing caps that are torqued wet apparently.
I seem to remember that the distributor cap bolts are 12mm so would be inclined torward the 25NM figure.
Having a torque figure for the CAS tightening bolt is absurd as reaching this is a difficult enough task with a spanner let alone a torque wrench. The figure quoted also seems too high for simply securing the CAS in position.
Ideally the CAP should be left in place as it is possible to refit the CAS without disturbing it. The first time I refitted a CAS to my MK1 1.6 it took me an hour to locate - having done it several times since, much quicker nowadays:-)