My key broke in the ignition today also.

[se7en]

alright, I broke my key in the ignition too! that's great.

I seem to have all the same problems with my car that everyone else has.

At least I am not alone

Hector mentioned that there is a allen screw or something like that to remove the tumbler part?

I couldn't find it tonite in the cold, but I didn't look that close.

tomorrow I will take the column all apart to see if I can fix it/ find the missing screws.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

thanks

7

[mr1in6billion]

The only problem I've ever had with my mx was a worn clutch and old axles. But that's expected for a car this age.

I guess i'm just lucky

=b

[Tunes67]

There are some keys that have quality issues. From what I have found.. the 2 keys that I had issues with were not original mazda ones. Just cheap knockoffs. I dont blame the locks or ignition tumbler.. its the quality of the key to blame there. If your locks seem stiff.. use some graphite lubricant. If that is too much of a hassle.. pay someone to shave the door handles and install door poppers

Distributors are produced by mitsushitsi for mazda.. nuff said.
Alternators are produced by mitsushitsi for mazda.. nuff said.
Rear Brake Calipers (GS Model only) are produced by mitsushitsi for mazda.. nuff said.

Idle raising and lowering & random stalling.. this is usually due to a lack of regular maintenance. Clean the throttle body and tune up the car and these arent usually issues.

Intake flex hose... its plastic.. and the engine bay heats up and cools down rapidly.. over time its not surprising if it has issues. This is most common on high mileage cars.

GS lip.. has nothing to do with the quality of the car or part.. has everything to do with people who dont know how to drive or park their cars.

Shifter bushings.. like any other moving part.. they will wear with age.. has nothing to do with any specific car. They are cheap too.


Thing is.. these cars are 12-16 years old now. Any car of that age with regular mileage is going to have issues. If people cant realize this.. they should just go buy a new car every 5 years. Part of the reason most of us own the MX-3 is because they are fairly cheap & easy to work on. Not many of them on the road either so they are on the unique side of cars at any given car show or meet.

For the record.. with my 94 RS, outside of regular maintenance (or dealing with issues resulting from lack of maintenance from the previous owners) I have only had 2 issues. The distributor crapping out on me (twice) and the indicator light in the rear window defroster doesnt light up when I push the button. I did the HEI mod rather than give mitsushitsi any more cash.. and I really dont care about the light bulb in the button.

My 92 GS hasnt been on the road enough for me to really have any issues yet since I have been building it.. though I did have to clean the throttle body And I did replace the alternator with a Millenia alternator.. preventive maintenance

Tunes67

[se7en]

Ya, I hear ya tunes!

I just like to tease my car, because it keeps breaking

soon I will have had all the common problems that these cars have, and my car will be like new again!!

7

[se7en]

okay,I fixed it today. not too hard, you just have to drill out 4 pins(i think that many) and pull the cartridge out and remove the broken key part. They are a cotter pin of some sort, that the factory pushes in so the piece can't be removed.(some cars have screws holding this in, so it would be easier)

also, on a side note, those tamper proof bolts holding the ignition stuff on the column are easy to remove, you just have to hit the bolt in the direction of removal(countclockwise) with a punch or a sharp screwdriver or something like that, or you could just use a vise grip(needle nose type) to start turning them. They are not tight in there at all. after that, it is all self explanatory.

I hope this helps someone one day!

7

[Elric_207]

Wow, I wish I would have seen this thread sooner. About three months ago I had broken my key off inside the ignition... due to the fact that it was my DD I needed to get going... in the process I busted my lock cylinder all to heck as well as broke the connector to my airbag/horn. The Ignition isn't such a huge deal... I took a day and did some research which led to me wiring a completely custom turnkey/push button/toggle switch ignition setup. My aunt who I bought the car off of for $800 just happened to have two other keys so I still have the ability to lock up the car

The Horn I still haven't fixed but wont be an issue, a small circuit run from the + on the battery, to a push button on the dash, to horn, to ground... pretty common fix in older cars...

as far as the air bag is concerned I'm a little less fortunate on my options, the connection snapped off right at the base of the swivel that has the directional controls as well as the wiper controls. Unfortunately I think that I may just have dismantle the dash, remove the airbag dummy light as well as find that annoying beeper which beeps 5 times every twenty minutes and snip the +wire... impatients will be the death of me lol

but the more I have to do to the car the more I love it, the DOHC 1.6 doesn't have much get up & go, (I'm used to the 3.8 in my regal) but it sure is a sweet looking unique car, not to mention with a nice set of 205's it corner's like no tomorrow

[cabriolet]

I 've had my 92 mx3 gs for like a year or so now
and while on top of a hill , I put it in neutral it suddenly went
vroom vroom vroom ........the idle like was resonating at a frequency...it was hilarious yet kind of disheartening...first time it's done that...yet it corrected itself a couple lights later...but I had a couple frds in my car that didn't know much abt cars then haha they were like wudda:shrug: o well

idle's always been a prollem

AND

I also had to go through two keys already...they were hAlF broken luckily

[hgallegos915]

Oh... install a kill switch i your cars... if somoene reads about the ign switch LOL bye bye mx3.. i have one on my mx.


any kid with a hex key can start it :X

[Elric_207]

haha this is what my lock cylinder now looks like...


and this what I installed for an ignition set up... the key lock gives power to the fuel pump so with out it all anyone can do is run my battery down...