So as part of my 30k tune up. im doing the cooling sys drain and refill. including the draining from the center plate. Thing is i went to my dealership yesterday and i got to order all the washers i needed to replace EXCEPT for the one that goes with the bolt to drain coolant from the center plate. He also wen to one of the techs in the garage and the tech said that they usually just drain from the radiator and be done with it. and they werent too farmiliar with draining from the center plate. so my assumption is that it would in fact be okay to just drain from the radiator only instead of a full drain.

 

Just reuse the washer. Won't hurt to do that one time.

 

AE92, I would not recommend reusing the washer.

Mine was a bit rusty and not as pristine as the oil pan drain gaskets usually look.

I had my front wheels on ramps. After I drained the radiator, more came out (don't recall how much - several quarts) when I removed the engine block drain.

I could only get 8 quarts total into the system after all this draining - so be prepared to stop there on your final fill. I forgot to turn on the heater before draining - not sure how much difference that makes in terms of drained amount.

 

yah i really dont want to be dealing with a melted washer later on. but hey the reccomended interval is first at 60k. so maybe ill just do the rad drain and do that evry year and itll be enuf. and RX8cited, why do you run 87 Shell? is there a benefit over 92 Shell?

 

Owner's Manual states :
"Your Mazda will perform best with fuel listed in the table. Table: Premium unleaded fuel 91 [ (R+M)/2 method] or above (96 RON or above)"

Then below that:
"You may use a regular unleaded fuel with Octane Rating from 87 to 90 (91 to 95 RON) but
this will slightly reduce performance."

For my driving style, (I'm not a red line shifter, I get enough torque by 6k), I did not feel or hear any difference between premium and regular. I've used Shell 87 for almost all my entire 57k miles/5 years+ and I still have the original engine.

So, for my driving style I felt like I was wasting money paying for premium since I could not feel any performance difference.

 

9956-41-000 Washer
9951-01-000 Plug/Bolt