Torque Specs Water Outlet Housing

:
2012 Mazda 5 Grand Touring
100K miles...2012 Mazda 5 Grand Touring. Anybody know the torque specs for 4 bolts on black plastic water outlet housing on drivers side (not thermostat housing or water pump - opposite side of engine)? It connects to what I think is an aluminum head at the coolant exit point - right below what looks like a brass freeze plug.

A mazda mechanic recommended 15 to 20 ft lbs, but I just wanted to make sure.

The old housing was in bad shape - the plastic lip was clean melted off and the gasket that fit within the black lip was in bad shape split down the middle throughout the length of gasket. This seems like a design flaw to me. Definitely no fun to remove - took my whole Saturday, and that back right bolt made me cussing mad - felt like I was making love to my engine the way I was laying on top of it, on all fours, face smashed on battery, with my arm curled all the way around the back of the engine to g
 

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100K miles...2012 Mazda 5 Grand Touring. Anybody know the torque specs for 4 bolts on black plastic water outlet housing on drivers side (not thermostat housing or water pump - opposite side of engine)? It connects to what I think is an aluminum head at the coolant exit point - right below what looks like a brass freeze plug.

A mazda mechanic recommended 15 to 20 ft lbs, but I just wanted to make sure.

The old housing was in bad shape - the plastic lip was clean melted off and the gasket that fit within the black lip was in bad shape split down the middle throughout the length of gasket. This seems like a design flaw to me. Definitely no fun to remove - took my whole Saturday, and that back right bolt made me cussing mad - felt like I was making love to my engine the way I was laying on top of it, on all fours, face smashed on battery, with my arm curled all the way around the back of the engine to g
1st pic is of old housing - there is one with the new housing with the gasket pre inserted.
 
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Yeah, 15-20 should be ok. Those metal inserts in the plastic will prevent any damage as long as it's not super over torqued.

Spark Plugs are 17 lbs in my other car.
 
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@1mickey1 i was looking for the same exact torque specs, googled, came across your post. Then literally yesterday, whilst googling for other stuff, i came across a document called "NC2 Miata Engine Workshop Manual MX-5 LF-L3 2009~.pdf" which was a treasure trove!

And for sure, it had the torque specs for the water outlet; 8.0 - 11.5 Nm

 Cylinder Head Assembly (I).png
 
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