The Red Green Machine

[Nevyn72]

While you're in there replacing the heater core, change out the air diverter seals.
The foam should be of an age where it's starting to disintegrate and leak which results in warm air all the time...

[PaulF]

Only other thing is the heater core. I have a new one on the way, and last night I watched a couple of YT videos to refresh my memory, having pulled a couple of NB dashes out of cars I dismantled. In both cases I wasn't concerned with putting things back, and used shortcuts involving wire cutters etc, but this time I really would like everything work as before .

Been there recently in my NA. A couple of things that helped:
- When removing the dash I followed the Haynes manual, but also scribbled a few notes in with extra things that I did - in particular, electrical plugs that weren't mentioned in the manual. When I put the dash back in, I just followed the reverse procedure but those extra notes helped me to remember all the connections at the right times.
- The firewall grommets where the heater pipes run through were buggered on mine, and the best time to replace them is when those pipes are out of the way. New OEM ones are cheap.

[greenMachine]

Thanks Paul, I will check that out. When I did the one in the original GM, many, many moons back, I put an NA one in it (an NB8A) because I though the copper would last better than aluminium, and I recall juggling to get the pipes in place. I don't anticipate problems with the NB core, with its detachable pipes and O-ring connectors and I have a complete heater setup from the black 2003 that I dismantled as a template and source of spares if needed. My grommets look ok, but I'll have a closer look at them when the system is apart.

I thought about using that core, but it has more or less the same kms and age and preferred to invest in a new one - I only ever want to pull this dash once! Seems like that is a common stance, because despite listing it in the part-out, I never got even a nibble on it!!

Nevyn, I haven't felt the leakage of hot air, but prevention is always better than cure so replacing that seems like a good idea - thanks for the heads-up!

[greenMachine]

Bloody Toll!

Heater core accepted 3 September, expected delivery 6 September ... so where is it?!? Currently waiting on a call as a result of my query yesterday.

My coffee delivery went from Canberra to Sydney before coming back to Canberra, one day short of three weeks in transit. This one might do better, but it will be touch and go.

[Roadrunner]

Couriers are getting smashed at the moment. WIne delivery took near 6 weeks

[bruce]

Yup. Dateline featured the poor ol' couriers and staff in South Korea were dying from overwork (bit like the Amazon centres in the US).

[greenMachine]

It took a while, but eventually ...


Getting the old core out was a chore . It just did not want to budge, and eventually I had to lever it out, without breaking the plastic case.

The new one is a very sloppy fit, lacking the formfitting foam of the original. To seal the core and ensure all the air went through the core, I used a strip of foam at the bottom (ie the side away from the inlets), some vinyl cut into a strip to loop around the bottom, and a thick web of RTV on the top and bottom (sides) to pack the vinyl against the plastic mounting. I meant to get a photo, but was a little busy and now it is all hidden - and hopefully a looong time before it sees the light of day again!

Tomorrow the pipes get attached, and re-assembly commences. I can report that the grommets are fine, but I am a bit worried about electrical connections - I plan on some exhaustive photography to enable quick pairing, and a count of each area's plugs to try and avoid missing any.

[greenMachine]

Well that was a bust! What I thought was a sloppy fit was in fact the core not being pressed firmly into its recess, so all the sealing only made it even more difficult to get into position.

Cue reversal of all that I did yesterday in fitting the core. Turns out that the clearances are super tight in there, and so all the sealing ended up being taken out. The main issue is getting the core as far into the housing that the pipes can line up with the saddles. Add to this the pipes are secured into their housing using 'O' rings and really small V-band clamps. This is trickier than it sounds, and I will post some more photos to illustrate the issues. It is also possible that the replacement core is subtly different to the original, and may not be fitting into those recesses as neatly.

Basically, I am not confident I have the V-bands properly located, so the risk is that the joins will leak. Also, the pipes are not sitting neatly in the saddle closest to the joins, which I interpret as a warning sign that the alignment is out of whack. Compounding the problem is the difficulty of getting the heater back in position with the pipes perhaps not quite reaching as deeply into the grommets/firewall holes due to the poor alignment/fit.

I will make a phone call tomorrow, and hopefully I will be able to get a Mazda specialist to have a look, and if it looks ok to pressure test the core to confirm the integrity of the joints. Only then will I progress to installing the heater.

[greenMachine]

Taking the heater assembly in to the place where I got the core, they will look at it.

Decided to change the front pads while waiting for that. The XP12s are very dusty, unlike the rear XP10s. The dust is quite sticky, also unlike the rears where the dust comes off quickly and easily, so I laid in a set of XP10s for the fronts a while ago. With the front of the car in the air, it seemed like a good opportunity to crack on with it, so ...

Only done one side so far, in fact only got the pads off, because there is always something lurking to bit you on the bum. When the pads came out, it was obvious they were wearing unevenly - VERY unevenly. Obviously the slider pins were playing up, and a closer look showed one of them was the culprit, ther lower was working just fine.

It took the application of a hammer, and much banging, before this emerged:



Fortunately I have a pair to cannablise, so the brakes should be finished tomorrow. The spares are in good nick, so should be no surprises replacing the frame with a spare, likewise the other side if it is suffering from the same malaise!

[greenMachine]

Brakes are finished. Ended up replacing just the rusty pin, though it cleaned up well the one in the spare set was in better shape. Brakes done, on to next job. One thing that I will have to keep an eye on is disk wear, a ridge is becoming noticeable, I think I will get set of new rotors in readiness.

Well, they say troubles come in threes ... First the heater core, then the stuck slider pin, finally (I hope), the leaky shock absorber. The LR PSS9 is belching oil out the top. That has brought the ride height adjustment to a sudden and unplanned halt. Both rears are out, the drivers side looks ok, probably. Sigh .... at least the front end can be buttoned up now.

[greenMachine]

Been a bit distracted lately, but I promised photos of the heater installation.

This shows the positioning of the v-band clamps. If you are using sealant as a 'belt and braces' solution, my advice would be to seat the 'O' ring dry, then use a very small smear around the 'O' ring. I think part of my problem was the 'O' ring was not seating properly beacuse of the RTV between it and the seat. The core was pressure tested, so all good for re-installing.



These show the pipes sitting snugly in their housing.



PSS9 issue - I have given up counting how many rear seals I have put in, without replacing any of the front seals - go figure! This will be another visit to Heasmans ...

[ManiacLachy]

You should get some shock covers for your shocks! I got them for my xidas, they keep all the crap out so you don't push dirt in and tear the seals.


https://tarmac88.com/products/inertia-lab-shock-covers

[greenMachine]

Thanks for that suggestion ML, they look interesting.

I can't afford to be doing this all the time (all right, frequently). Apart from taking the car off the road, the $$ make it an unsustainable proposition. I don't know the size of my springs, but in any event I think I will experiment with some sleeves along those lines.

On your car, was there any issue with the clearance of the sleeves as the body travels through the hole in the upper arm?

[ManiacLachy]

Yeah, best check the spring diameter. I'm sure there's other makers with different circumferences of the sleeves though.

I haven't had any issues with contact. I though there might have been a little against the drive shafts in the rear where the sleeve balloons a little as it scrunches, but so far no signs of wear at all.

Even if a bit of self clearancing did occur, I figure a small gap is far better than no barrier at all.

[ManiacLachy]

I see MCA have released their own shock covers now, if you'd prefer a local option.
https://mcasuspension.com/product/mca-suspension-covers/



I don't love the design though, I like the elastic at the top and bottom like the Inertia Labs version I have.