Cody Helton

I was doing some poking around in the forums yesterday trying to determine what a noise in my engine bay was. It was a small knock, barely noticeable when cold, but gets fairly loud once the engine is warm. I noticed some people say its the SSV. While I had no check engine light, I decided to check anyway. Sure enough, whenever I push on the actuator plate on the SSV, the noise immediately goes away, and immediately comes back when I let go. The car idles with a little shimmy when the A/C comes on, but other than that goes good up to any RPM. From more searching i've done, I noticed Mazda now makes a new SSV with a stronger actuator and a longer bolt to prevent this wearing out (im presuming from carbon buildup). My question is, since it is knocking, but I dont have a DTC for the valve being stuck, should I replace it? Furthermore, am I just able to tighten something, or replace just the actuator and stop the noise? Or does the whole assembly with the metal piece on the end have to be replaced because the bushing is wore out in it?

Cody Helton

Also ive seen some people have had success with just replacing the actuator because the spring gets weak overtime in the original one, but I cant find just the actuator to buy.