I’m changing cambelt and water pump on my 1.6 Mk1. What’s best: the fibre gaskets or metal, should I use gasket sealant when assembling?
Any advise before I put it all back together would be much appreciated.
My water pump came with no new gaskets
Used Locktite 5699 and everything is water tight 9000 miles on. Do make sure you remove all the old gasket if you go this route as you propably know only too well. Good luck 
I’d use Mazda metal gaskets, ensuring all mating surfaces are clean. It’s easier to position a metal one behind the pump if you are not intending to remove the thermostat housing section. Corrossion can build up in the threads of the water pump inlet housing bolts which prevents them doing up fully (they go tight before they’ve clamped the housing) so ensure you clean those up well. I sometimes put a smear of silicone sealant on the inlet housing gasket.
Thanks for your input guys. I’ve got metal gaskets and will put a smear of gasket sealer on the mating surfaces just to be sure. One of the housing bolts has got corrosion on it, so I will clean them all and apply a little copper slip.
I am interested in this because in a previous enquiry Robbie said use the metal gaskets. I cannot disagree, it is stated in the manual. Why on earth then do MX5 parts state that the aftermarket pump is supplied with fibre gaskets, but the genuine article does not require them “As stated by Mazda” only liquid sealant! Surely this is a contradiction in terms. If I were to order a pump from a Mazda dealer, would it come with gaskets, or do they have to be ordered separately? In the “Good old days” when pumps were externally mounted, one might experiment, but now the replacement of a pump is much more involved so following the correct proceedue to the letter is paramount, in my opinion!
Regards Geoff Peace.
If you order a water pump from a Mazda dealer, (described as Pump Set, Water) it is supplied with both gaskets and the O ring for the heater pipe. I think nowadays the single part number taken from the parts catalogue “fan superseeds” to 4 part numbers, one for the pump, and one for each gasket and the O ring.
D-CODE 15-010 is Pump Set,Water