I got my engine back from Dave Atkins yesterday and it looks great! It appears that he put in two “new” (to me) rotor housings and replaced the bearings in the front and center housing. He said it was all covered by warranty so “no charge”.  He really turned that around fast and I sure appreciate that.

 

This evening I may have made a discovery that might explain the low oil pressure. I took the oil cooler off the plane with the intent to flush it out really well in case there were any metal particles in there. And, this is a stock Mazda cooler by the way. I don’t know why, but I got out my Haynes manual to confirm the input and output holes in the cooler. When I picked up the engine originally I had asked which was “in” and which was “out” and then we marked the “out” with felt tip pen right then and there (and it’s still there today).  But lo and behold – according to the Haynes manual my “out” is really the “in”!! So, can someone confirm for me the in’s and the out’s!  According to Haynes the “In” is on the end next to the bypass plug/valve and the “out” is on the narrow side next to the bar that is welded to the reservoir.

 

If hooked up backwards could that be a problem? Could the opening of the bypass thermostat somehow block oil flow from the oil pump??  

 

Back to the garage…