Day 6
The strip down continues with loom disconnection and labelling in the engine bay – getting a little tedious tbh (the Mazda fixings and the tape used to secure the looms are many in number and tiresome to separate).
Removed the coolant header tank and radiator – MX5 coolant capacity in 6 litres and so far 5 litres collected. The rest will be in the lower part of the engine and the heater matrix, which I’ve yet to remove.
Removed the charcoal cannister since the Mazda EVAP system is ‘deleted’ on the RX-5 (a fuel tank breather is used instead). The rest of the EVAP system will come out once I’ve drawn a ‘back of an envelope’ diagram so I know what to block off later. Same goes for the PCV system which I’ve also already removed part of when taking out the air filter box and air mass sensor / ducting. Still need to understand the EGR system but that can wait.
Removed the boost sensor, relays and engine bay fuse box (to be taped to the engine for the time being). Boost sensor will be retained as I plan to use the existing ECU.
ECU and alarm system also removed, both are located behind the passenger footwell footrest. There were a couple of tamper proof nuts to overcome, simply by removing the other ‘normal’ nuts & bolts and then bending the footrest out of the way. A couple of other fixings are then revealed and the whole ECU and footrest assembly comes out as one.
Finally I pushed the N/S front loom back through into the passenger area.
As usual, here are a few pics….
