Block to Head Dowels

I know in a lot of motors there are supposed to be dowels that hold the head gasket in place. When I pulled the head there were no dowels and my head gasket was mis-shaped. I just checked out a parts fiche and I do not see any dowels in the diagram. Can anyone confirm if I am supposed to have them. Also, how would I go about ordering them from Mazda if there is no part number. The engine I have is a 91 EFI with timing belt.

Thank you.

Yes, you should have two of them. If your head was machined in the past they may have been machined (cut off) or not replaced which is wrong. May also have been left in the old head if it was replaced. You may find the remnants of them in the top of the block or head too A small fraction of what they should be.

Ha! Thanks man! They were crammed into the head. Didn't even notice.

Should have mentioned that too, sometimes they are "hammered" into the block to get them out of the way but then forgotten. Which is funny because I forgot to mention it.

My engine had one; at least that's what's in there now since my 2011 rebuild.

Are those dowels needed?? I only have one.

I've got 3.25 years and 21K miles on my B2200 engine using just one dowel. And I have no idea if it had two dowels during its first 183K miles.

If your engine is "open" anyway, why not just get a second dowel if the thought of one bothers you? There are 10 torqued head bolts holding everything in place too.

They help you make sure the head is aligned correctly while installing it. You could get away with only one but I'd suggest getting the other one to ensure you get it right.

Dan

Who has the part number for such dowel, or at least the size?