Thursday, December 22, 2016

Miata NA (1991) Valve Gasket Replacement


Fairly straight forward procedure on my 91 Miata.

references

http://www.miata.net/garage/valvecover/index.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBisuD6HeFo

Couple of my observations

 I did not have to mess with any electrical connections. By removing the two 12mm bolts, one on either side of the spark plug wire bracket, I was able to slide the cover out.

Be careful tightening the 3 inside bolts along the center line. I snapped the center bolt. After removing the valve cover I was able to easily back out the bottom 1/3 of the bolt. Initially I thought I might have to use a bolt extractor. Bolt was available at home depot (flange bolt M6 x 1.0mm x 40mm.

Bought a Sears craftsman "clicker style" in-lb torque wrench (on sale for $50) to eliminate guess work for tightening bolts to 43 - 78 INCH-lbs the second time around. Unfortunately it did not "click" no matter what torque setting. Reading the reviews (after I bought it of course) appears I was not the only one.
Bought gasket from O'Reilly's auto store. Fit fine. Gasket sealant does not come with despite what the salesman told me so another trip back to the store. Only later to realize I already had some.





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