1993 GS issues. HELP!

[Work-N-Progress]

Im brand new to this forum, and MX-3's actually. This is my first post so im open to forum etiquette suggestions. I will be living on this forum for the duration of owning this car. I bought a 1993 GS 25th Anniversary, 5 speed tonight. I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada incase any kind souls would like to lend a helping hand. The problem goes like this :

The car was not running as of 3 hours ago, the guy im buying it off's dad said the distributor was shot. It would turn over endlessly but never fire, so I brought a new disty, switched it out, purchased my first Eliminator big battery charger ( Great investment ) and after some coaxing, the beast came alive... sort of. It smoothed out after running for about 10-15 mins ( Hadnt ran in 2 months ) and ran half assed for the first 60 seconds of driving it around the block. Then the trouble began... it idle'd fairly okay, then when you would try to accelerate, its like it was flooding the engine and would practically kill the car, but kept idling fine if you didnt touch the gas whatsoever.

If anyone has more specific questions that would be great, my only car experiance was my last project which was a 1994 Eagle Talon TSi AWD, which I learned indepth after ripping the engine apart twice. Hopefully I dont have to do that quite yet. If anyone can lend a hand or give some qualified advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

Outside of that, I would like to introduce myself, learn as much as I can, and in good time help people in my situation

[solo_ryder]

Well first off welcome to the forum Wes! and second off, congrats on owning a SE, not many of those around these days. Take good care of it.

You say you come from DSM's, well thankfully the MX3 should be abit easier on you. The motor is non interference so it doesn't matter if the car is outta time etc. It wont really die.

As for your issue, well the disty is the most likely part on the v6 motor to fail, so it was good that you changed that. It sounds most likely like a spark/timing issue. I would start by checking the basics:

- Check to see if the spark plugs wires are in the correct order! Here is a map of the cylinder numbers (6 being closest to the disty):

1-3-5
2-4-6

- Check to make sure the wires are not in bad shape, ie no cracks, cuts etc.
- Check spark plugs, make sure they are not crappy, also check em after the car runs and see if they smell like gas, see if its flooding
- If you have a timing gun go ahead and check the timing

If it still does not work after this, let us know. Take a video of the sound of the car if you can, it could help us diagnose it abit better.

[Dali]

hey, welcome to the site. there are some good guys in alberta there that should be able to help. my brain is pretty much shot right now but check the rubber hose that goes from the throttle body to the air box, its the black ribbed tube. bend it around and see if there are any cracks in it, if there are wrap the crap out of it with some electrical tape for now. i have seen this problem way too many times, what happens is when you rev the motor it rocks back and forth which pulls the tear's apart letting unmetered air into the intake which confuses the crap out of the car and it bogs down and almost stalls. like i said my brain is shot from the day, it could be multiple things but check that over. good luck.

[Work-N-Progress]

The uncounted air would essentially lead to it running.. I believe rich, could be wrong. Thats a possibility. That was a massive issue on DSM's lol. The MAF's on those cars are posessed by demons.. im sure of it. My guess is wires and plugs, I have yet to actually pull the plugs OR wires to be honest. The car/engine.. everything actually needs a SERIOUS bath. I dont think uncounted air would lead to an issue quite this bad. As for timing, I dont have a timing gun or even know what one is for that fact. Any other method of checking?

I wanna snap some photo's of the car, post them and show the changes along the way. My daily driver is a BMW 330i, this is my winter car. I have a nagging feeling though, that ill have enough fun in fixing this thing ect that it will be a summer car too!

[Work-N-Progress]

Sorry to reply to my own reply, and ask multiple questions at once. But can someone let me know what wires are the best for our cars, and what spark plug type/brand and possibly even serial number I should be buying?

[solo_ryder]

Regular NGK blue wires

NGK V Power BKR5E-11 plugs

Yea. I forgot to mention, check the accordion hose as Dali said, and for vac leaks.

[Work-N-Progress]

Tips on checking timing?

[solo_ryder]

Well I would leave that for now, I doubt the car is out of time. Even if you changed the disty it should not go out of time as the ecu will compensate and remember where timing was before.

Do what Dali and I said first and post when you have the results.

[umcamara]

I dont think uncounted air would lead to an issue quite this bad.

WRONG... when I first bought my car it would stall out as soon as i stepped on the gas. Idled fine, and even drove okay if I coaxed the throttle very slowly, preventing any engine torque from ripping existing cracks in the intake tube from opening up.

As soon as I figured out what was going on and replaced the rubber intake tube, ran great. Don't be so sure about what you may not be sure about!

[wytbishop]

Hey Wes,

I have a very nice almost new set of NDK wires for you. I live over in the Hamptons on 199st. If you want we can get together this weekend and have a look at it together and replace those wires.

Charlie

[Work-N-Progress]

I actually JUST ordered NGK Iridiums and some "nice" wires from my parts department, theyre being driven over from Napa as im writing this. Wytbishop, I would hugely appreciate if you came and saw the car, I would be more than happy to take you out for beer or something after for the time. Ill be changing the plugs/wires and checking for vacuum leaks later tonight. I will definitely be posting results, I will also try to get a camera dropped off so I can take pics for you all.

[wytbishop]

No beer is necessary. I would love to see your Black SE. I would kill to have a Black SE.

[Work-N-Progress]

Beer IS necessary lol, it would be unfortunate for you to be standing there watching me sipping a cold one. I hope Coor's lite works for you

[wytbishop]

Yeah...I don't drink much so don't worry about it. I'll call you.

[Work-N-Progress]

Switched 5/6 Spark plugs with new Iridiums, gonna change the wires and the 6th spark plug tonight. I fired it up for a couple minutes and WOW what a difference. With the 6th plug changed, and new NGK wires, it should be top notch. Please post on my wanting to buy ad if you have anytype of OEM replacement muffler for a 1993 V6 PLEASE.