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ok its not a catalytic converter.... a took off the exhaust and run it ... same thing.... it shuts down.... it might be throttle sensor bc when i disconnected it while engine running there was no difference.... even when i put more gas ... i will update soon on that... i will try to check it....

I passed the cumulative list on to my buddy and before he even got around to checking anything he remembered that when he owned the car he ran the timing advanced a few degrees or at times it'd spit and sputter. He advanced the timing and drove it a while and never had any trouble. I haven't had time to go pick it up yet and try it out but hopefully it's good now. Thanks for all the help, guys. If this doesn't hold out I'm sure I'll be back on this thread .

Just wanted to come back with an update while I was thinking about it. My buddy advanced the timing and drove it a few different times and said he never had a problem. I picked the car up Saturday since my daily driver is on it's last leg so to speak. Saturday it drove great. Sunday we got some rain late and on my last little run of the day it semi-stalled at one point but was fine after that.

At a stoplight the other day the idle was jumping up and down, but it hasn't done that since. Later that day I ran to McDs for lunch (didn't McDs start this mess?! ) and while I was sitting in the drive-through line the idle kept dropping a bit low and running rough but never died.

Other than an occasional hiccup like a miss the low, rough idle seems to be the only persistent problem. I'm going to start cleaning some things and looking for vacuum leaks again. But as for the original and most detrimental problem it seems the distributor took care of it.

If anyone has any strong ideas as to what to look for first (as simple as an idle adjustment or controller?) I'm game for suggestions. Thanks again for all the help, everyone.

Still sounds sorta fuel related.

Just as a heads up, if MAC donalds gave you this problem, avoid Dairy Queen's drive thru, Your timing belt might snap.

Savin wrote:Still sounds sorta fuel related.

Just as a heads up, if MAC donalds gave you this problem, avoid Dairy Queen's drive thru, Your timing belt might snap.

Good call on DQ. Maybe my MX3 is vegan.

I had the exact same problem as you and for me it turned out to be a bad Coolant Temperature Sensor. I would start the car when it was cold and it would run fine, then after warming up it would either just shut down in the middle of the road or not start again till the engine was stone cold. I guess the Coolant Temperature Sensor was "shorting out" and telling the engine that the engine temp was wayyy higher than it should be and effectively putting it into shutdown mode.

I initially thought the Coolant Temperature Sensor on the front of the engine, but for me ('92 MX-3 with the 1.6L SOHC) it was actually on the intake manifold.

I learned this through this post here:

http://www.mx-3.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=66120

The one on the front of the engine is called a "Water Temperature Sensor" (not confusing at all right - hahah)

It was a PITA to get out, but $20 and 30 min later I was up and running, and it's been running great since (9 months now)

I don't know if the DOHC B6 is similar but the SOHC has like 3 different temp sensors, the one that I replaced on my car matches the one linked earlier in this thread to this page:

http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php ... F1-162.gif

Looks like AutoZone has one for $22.99

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalo ... ure+sensor

Good luck, I would love to know if that fixes it. For $22.99 its worth swapping in a new one without testing the old one.

Hadrien wrote:I had the exact same problem as you and for me it turned out to be a bad Coolant Temperature Sensor. I would start the car when it was cold and it would run fine, then after warming up it would either just shut down in the middle of the road or not start again till the engine was stone cold. I guess the Coolant Temperature Sensor was "shorting out" and telling the engine that the engine temp was wayyy higher than it should be and effectively putting it into shutdown mode.

I initially thought the Coolant Temperature Sensor on the front of the engine, but for me ('92 MX-3 with the 1.6L SOHC) it was actually on the intake manifold.

I learned this through this post here:

http://www.mx-3.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=66120

The one on the front of the engine is called a "Water Temperature Sensor" (not confusing at all right - hahah)

It was a PITA to get out, but $20 and 30 min later I was up and running, and it's been running great since (9 months now)

I don't know if the DOHC B6 is similar but the SOHC has like 3 different temp sensors, the one that I replaced on my car matches the one linked earlier in this thread to this page:

http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php ... F1-162.gif

Looks like AutoZone has one for $22.99

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalo ... ure+sensor

Good luck, I would love to know if that fixes it. For $22.99 its worth swapping in a new one without testing the old one.

Thanks for the heads up and all the info. Mine is a DOHC car so there's just the 2 sensors. I was actually looking for a used one at the junk yard one day last week but it ended up being a SOHC car that they had. I'll probably pick up the temp sensor one evening this week and see what turns up after that.

I drove it to work on Friday and everything was great most of the way home. I was stuck in traffic for a while, bumping the clutch and rolling at about 10mph avg and everything was great. Then I crossed the river back into Indiana and got gas and it started running like it used to (before the distributor). I'm hoping there was just some crap in the gas and it'll work itself out, but time will tell. Drove the wife's Freestyle today because I could, but I'll be back in the MX3 tomorrow. We'll see what gremlins rear their head on that trip .

Next time it doesn't fire up after it is warm, just try disconnecting the Coolant Temp Sensor. If the sensor is bad, having it unplugged should allow the car to turn over right away, best part it's free to test

Hadrien wrote:Next time it doesn't fire up after it is warm, just try disconnecting the Coolant Temp Sensor. If the sensor is bad, having it unplugged should allow the car to turn over right away, best part it's free to test

Well, it actually hasn't done that since the new distributor. At this point I'm just chasing minor idle issues. I figured for $25 it's worth replacing regardless, maybe it's a waste.

Is the idle bouncing around on you after the car has warmed up and you have your foot on the brakes?

I have had this problem since we got the car almost 4 years ago and cannot track down the problem. Minus the bad Coolant Temp Sensor everything else seems to be working fine.

Hadrien wrote:Is the idle bouncing around on you after the car has warmed up and you have your foot on the brakes?

I have had this problem since we got the car almost 4 years ago and cannot track down the problem. Minus the bad Coolant Temp Sensor everything else seems to be working fine.

It did that once about a week ago, but not since. The last few days there hasn't been any real problem. There's supposed to be a warm weather snap over the next few days into the weekend so I'm expecting the problem to arise then if it's going to.