CAS Seal Replace?

Everyone:

After reading this thread, I went down and put my hands behind the CAS on each of my Miatas. Oil everywhere.

They've both ('93/'96) been leaking like mad for months, driving me absolutely crazy. The '93 has always leaked as someone who owned it before me stripped the drain plug and helicoiled it, but even after I managed to stop that with an oversized washer and sone sealant, it still leaked. The '96 started just recently. This is killing me.

Here's the deal: I have a great place to work, tools, etc., but I'm scared to death to mess with the timing. I just haven't had much experience working on the engine. (I've done suspension, steering, brakes, etc., but my engine experience stops with changing spark plugs.)

Would any of you guys with some experience be willing to hold my hand (metaphorically speaking) through changing the seals on each of these? I'd be happy to reciprocate in whatever way I can -- just let me know! Maybe bring something you need to do, too, and make a day of it in my shop? Or maybe some GT or a movie in the theater afterwards?

I'm in Frisco (Grayhawk), or "North O-------" as I see it here. What think y'all?

Chuck

I'd be happy to come over & help one evening. Thursday is bad for me though. I have a demand generation event for work that I'm speaking at. At least it's at a good restaurant ;)

You can get the O-Rings at NAPA.

DO THE 96 QUICKLY... There are heater hoses back there that the oil will soften. When they rupture you will be left stranded.

RJ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

I'd be happy to come over & help one evening. Thursday is bad for me though. I have a demand generation event for work that I'm speaking at. At least it's at a good restaurant ;)

You can get the O-Rings at NAPA.

DO THE 96 QUICKLY... There are heater hoses back there that the oil will soften. When they rupture you will be left stranded.

RJ

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Thanks, man! I can do any night but Tuesday. I'm heading out this afternoon to pick up the seals. How's Wed evening sound?

Chuck

Off to pick up the seals....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ccage

Thanks, man! I can do any night but Tuesday. I'm heading out this afternoon to pick up the seals. How's Wed evening sound?

Chuck

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Wed evening sounds good.

I have to go to Tyler to present some security solutions to a customer but should be back in plenty of time to do that.

I'll PM you my cell phone #.

After getting the O-rings done you'll want to wash the back of the engine and those heater hoses to get the oil off. Once the oil is off the hoses they can be checked for sponginess. If they have been weakened they will need to be replaced ASAP - even if only slightly weakened. You don't want one of them to blow in the middle of summer driving.

RJ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

DO THE 96 QUICKLY... There are heater hoses back there that the oil will soften. When they rupture you will be left stranded.

RJ

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Having had this happen to me... it's not fun! If you need a hand closer to the weekend let me know!

Got the seals. Picked them up from the Mazda dealer in McKinney. Man, I got robbed. $19 for the two of them. Guess I'll do Napa next time.

Thanks again everyone. We're on for Wednesday night. If anyone else wants to drop by, PM me for my address, phone, and directions.

Chuck

OK!

Seals are in...

The 93 went just fine. A little tricky to get lined back up but it finally went in.

The 96... well... let's just say that if you want to tackle this one yourself DO NOT USE A SOCKET... The ratchet we used had the clicker on the BACK of it and we discovered that we couldn't reach the adjuster to turn it back to tighten it up and remove the socket. After much cursing and twisting/turning/pulling we finally got it out. The bolt now needed replacing.

Next stop... AutoZone. We hit it at 9pm. They were closed. They were NICE though and let us in. A couple of bolts nabbed (just in case!) and we were on our way. I need to write a nice email to their corporate office to let them know how helpful their The Colony store was. It saved us a trip into Lewisville to the 24hr one.

Put it all back together and fired it right up.

The only downside is that even though it had a leak at the CAS, it was very very small. The real culprit on this car is the oil dipstick o-ring. We jacked up the car, crawled under it, and verified that it needs to be replaced too, but that will be done another day.

It was nice to meet ccage tonight - and YES :shock: The garage is spotless ;) hehehee Whoooooo... Mine is SO cluttered. I see what I want to do though... that epoxy floor is NICE! You guys should also see the new racing seat frame he's building - It's VERY cool!

Back to the car... I seem to recall that someone on this board has replaced the dipstick o-ring before. If you could post up some hints/tips/instructions it would be very helpful!

RJ

Indeed. Sorry to take so long to post this -- today was a real hell day.

Special thanks to Channelmaniac who was nice enough to visit me and help me through this. It was great to meet him, and we had a great time shooting the bull even though the job took longer than expected!

Ditto on the advice to anyone doing this. DEFINITELY DON'T USE A SOCKET ON IT. It'll be fun touching up the scratches, but we got in over our heads with the socket so quick there wasn't much to do about it.

FWIW, it looks like this may have stopped the leak completely on the '93. I've got some time set aside this weekend to clean the engines thoroughly, which will really tell.

Does anyone out there have experience/advice to pass along on dipstick seal replacement?

Chuck