One of my recently acquired GSL-SEs was being put into a 'race' configuration by a prior owner. Apparently, as part of this, they removed the auxiliary port actuators.



Today, I found some in a salvage yard and bought them. Although I stupidly did not bother to take the intake further apart and get the auxiliary port valves (I haven't checked whether they were removed - probably not), I have some questions about what I am about to do.



In talking to a tech at Mazdatrix briefly about another matter, he implied they might have removed them mistakenly thinking they were part of the emissions control and/or thought removing them would increase HP



I assume the idea is that ports 5 & 6 provide additional air into the engine at high load/revs, thereby improving upper band performance (letting it breathe more). Is that correct? The FSM does not explain the operation of the actuators - are they controlled via vacuum? Does the ECU cause the vacuum to be routed to the actuator?



If so, I have some additional questions:



1) why would somebody remove the actuators?



2) Wouldn't simply removing them have caused a leak in either the vacuum system or the intake system?



3) since they provide a known state (open or closed), wouldn't removing them lead to the possibility they were in different or wrong position (closed at high speed or open at low speed)?



4) I intend to put them back on, is this a good idea, or should I do something else? Is there something I can do here to improve performance beyond stock, or should I just replace them?



5) They had gaskets, where can I get them, or would it be alright to use Permatex Ultra Blue or a similar silicon based gasket caulk?



Thanks,

Brian

1) cause they really didnt like all that low rpm power and wanted to get rid of it



2)it could be an exhaust leak



3)yes, if the guys who had your car before you were as smart as they sound i would bet they have it in the wrong place



4)yes put em back on



5)either buy em from mazda or goop em, but make sure not to fill the holes





mike

If you dont care about low end, then you don't need them. You can wire the ports open if you don't want to bother with the actuators. Or you can completely remove the sleeves, which will give you less low end, but gain you a few HP in the top end.

Short of removing the piece the actuators connect to, is there anyway I can tell if the sleeves are still in there?



I intend to put the actuators back on, but I want to make sure they didn't remove the sleeves. If they did, I need to drive 4 hours back to the salvage yard with the SE to recover the rest of it.



Thanks,

BTC

you might be able to feel the resistance when you move the actuator rods, but you may not



mike

hi I've been reading this post and wanted to tack on a related question, has anyone explain the method of running the actuators off the air pump? I am missing the split air pipe and everything that goes with it. My actuators work by applying compressed air, so hopefully i can get things hooked up and working again.

you just need to somehow tee the air comong out of the air pump into the actuators, and you're prolly gonna need a bleeder valve so they dont open too soon



mike

so if i just cut into the air supply tube and spliced in a metal pipe with a nipple welded to it and had maybe a on/off valve partially opened to regulate pressure, this would work? Sounds easy enuf, if I can just find a valve...

yup, its not hard.



mike

Why would the air pump be better than the split air off the backpressure pipe? Just because it is cleaner? Does the increase in air pressure from the air pump match the air pressure curve from the exhaust?



My understanding was that it needs to be around 6 psi at full open, but that you start opening below that around 3800 rpm.



I am actually working on all that tonight (replacing cat, backpressure tube, etc.)...we'll see if it works when I am done. I also have to remount the actuators.



Thanks,

BTC