b6ze oil pan - whats the deal?

[joeboomer999]

I keep reading that the b6ze oil pan "will fit" but should not be used, but have yet to find anyone actually stating why it should be avoided. what are the problems that occur?
thanks

[dliverance]

I don't have a b6ze oil pan but my block is a b6ze. The oil pickup is different on the b6ze from the b6d. The baffling is also different. The bd6 also has two holes in a different place. In order to use the b6d pan with my b6ze, I have to drill two holes and take the pickup from my b6d.

Hope that helps.

[dliverance]

I can take pictures in about 6 hours when I get home from work if you need.

[joeboomer999]

That's interesting about the drilling, I was under the impression all parts were swappable. Iirc Charlie mentioned in a thread the ze baffling is superior?

[Advancedynamix]

The b6ze pan is shaped differently and will interfere with the exhaust routing of the b6d. All parts are interchangeable, but the rear seal carrier plate must be the right one for the pan being used. There are 2 styles. 1 style is for the steel pans and one is for the aluminum pans. Since the b6ze has an aluminum pan, it's also got the rear seal carrier for the aluminum pan. This was mentioned in my earlier write up.
The Festiva rear seal carrier can be used on the b6ze to be able to use the steel b3 or b6d oil pan without any drilling. These blocks are all similar, the holes all line up and the parts all line up. The difference is in the parts that bolt to them. If you have a b6t or Rio pan, you can use the b6ze rear seal carrier, since those pans are aluminum.
The pickup tube, dip stick tube and dip stick need to all match the pan being used. The dip sticks and tubes are all different lengths. You can use a Capri b6t tube with a b6d pan, but you'll need the b6d dip stick. If you use a b3 pan, you'll want the b3 tube and b3 dip stick, as they are different from the b6d.
The b6ze does have a scraper plate, which is the best design, but that won't work with the other pans. You could possibly machine a b6t or Rio oil pan to fit the b6ze scraper, but I have not personally done this.
I can tell you that Miatas seem to have more frequent oiling issues on a race track than the FWD cars and this may be due to the fact that these engines were originally designed to be mounted transverse. The B series engine in a Miata is an afterthought, and it's easy to see that it could have been better planned. Miatas have cooling and oiling issues that aren't as common on the transverse chassis.

[joeboomer999]

Ah so the exhaust is the trouble area. Thanks

[Advancedynamix]

Ah so the exhaust is the trouble area. Thanks

Yes, and that pan was designed for longitudinally mounted drive line, so it's probably not optimal for a transverse application.

[dliverance]

Lol. I made the mistake of using the b6ze rear main carrier. I'm okay with drilling the 2 holes in my pan though.

[Advancedynamix]

You'll need to drill the holes in those support strips to I think. Or you can get a b6t pan and have a nice drain pipe for the air oil separator.