MX-3.com

Hey Guys, new to mx-3.com

Picked up a buddy's mx3 (Rekognize)

So far loving the car, but i noticed a few goof ups that the swappers did, and i have not been able to get ahold of them for the life
of me.. Never an answer on their phone, no voicemail, no responses at all back.

Im familiar with the bp, as i've got a bp swapped escort myself, mind you it's not a jdm mx-3 bp *traced the motor compared to photos from engine importers*

When i got the car, i noticed it had piss poor power *found out from poking around that the VICS wasnt working, the vac routing was a mess.. I used the chilton's manual for mx3/mx6/protege to reroute everything.. but there were a few extra vac solenoids i didnt recognize.. and they were looped into themselves albeit being plugged into the fuel rail harness..

they were SIMILAR to egr boost sensors.. but there were two of them.. and they both had 2 vac nipples per solenoid.. and all the vac lines were looped into eachother..

so i removed them. the car idles fine still, and it has power now... but when i went to take it for an etest, they couldnt run it on a 2 speed test because the car would not hold 2500rpm no matter what in neutral revving..

it surges 2000-3000 rpm, and when you let go of the gas in neutral, the rpm drops to idle, then surges at idle..

during driving the car acts perfectly.

it eats gas still *canbt figure it out*

I tried tracing the ecu.. but the numbers are worn off.. so i have no idea if it's running the b6 rs ecu or some jdm ecu.

I tried plugging in a escort gt bp ecu.. but the car wouldnt run. it started, then died..

the car also has a maf.. does this mean it's obdII??

Lots of questions for you guys.
also, the throttlebody has a massive block on it with a metal 90' sharp bend elbow that i traced is on all the mx3 1.8L jdm 4cyl motors.. do i need this godawful restriction?> it seems like a bottleneck.


Thanks!

Hey man, glad to see a member who knows what they're talking about.


Pictures would really help, especially with anomalies.

Car has an MAF on it, not a VAF?

I would assume from that, that it is running the original B6 ECU. Id try swapping to a VAF and BP ECU.

Unfortunately it's stuff like this why I never would ever buy someone else's project. Despite all the good reviews and recommendations, there's always something, and unfortunately, the fact that you can't get it e-tested, is a fairly serious something.

yeah you should have a VAF and not a MAF. (i have a b-code vaf if you need)
Could you take pictures of the speedo setup for me if that's not too much to ask?
I have a 94 that i swapped a BP-T into and i used a 323 F-series that the engine came with (or out of) and i got a 92-93 cluster tried to use the speedo cable but it seems to be too short to reach the speedo so i was just wondering if that car has the 95 tranny with the electric sensor or a G-series or F-series with a cable sensor.
Also i can take some pictures of my vacuum set up if you need, but i have a turbo so it might be a bit different

Ryan wrote:Hey man, glad to see a member who knows what they're talking about.


Pictures would really help, especially with anomalies.

I'll have a whackload of pics for y'all tomorrow after work.

And yeah.. it helps to have owned a few bp's in the past. LOL that's how i got the vics working on the car.

I'll take a video of the car not holding 2500rpm in neutral revving too so you can all see what i mean.

pox wrote:Car has an MAF on it, not a VAF?

I would assume from that, that it is running the original B6 ECU. Id try swapping to a VAF and BP ECU.

im almost 100% the car has a MAF.. it's a cone style maf like the k8 and klze's run.

I tried hooking up a few spare escort gt obd1 ecu's.. but no dice.. the car would start, and stumble to a dead no run condition.

I was told by rekognize that it was a jdm familia motor for 1995-1998 BHA chassis.

I snooped around on importer sites, and i found it to be a jdm mx3 dohc motor.

I cross referenced jdm bp pics (na bp) and found that it's for the mx3 dohc.. the familia protege one has a normal intake manifold and TB, this one had the same physical appearance, except that the throttlebody had some sort of metal contraption on it with a sharp restrictive metal elbow on the end of it.. One hose goes to the throttlebody hose.. and another hose is just cut and taped off.... still trying to figure out where it goes. LOL

Nd4SpdSe wrote:Unfortunately it's stuff like this why I never would ever buy someone else's project. Despite all the good reviews and recommendations, there's always something, and unfortunately, the fact that you can't get it e-tested, is a fairly serious something.

Meh, im just happpy that the car is virtually spotless and rust free.. plus the gf has always wanted a precidia.. and i've secretly always wanted one for a kl swap one day.

Plus half of my interior is originally from a early year mx3 (1pc bucket seats & armrest console FTMFW!)

Etest, it bummed me out.. it wouldnt pass 2 speed idle because of the rev thing..

and i cant get ahold of the shop for the life of me to get a mechanic letter that it's swapped to have it tested as hotrod, where im sure it would pass fine, since they'd actually run it on the rollers in 2nd gear, (during driving.. the car acts perfectly fine.. albeit one quirk i thought might be a lightened flywheel bsince i never had one.. but im probably wrong.. the gas pedal is VERY VERY VERY touchy in 1st gear & 2nd gear... you have to find a sweetspot or it'll just buck when you let off and stab the gas again... i'll be cleaning the maf out tonight with electrical contact cleaner to see if it helps)

Im working on a *wink wink* etest for this week anyways, it would be nice to pass legit, but there's always ways around everything. LOL

Evo_Spec wrote:yeah you should have a VAF and not a MAF. (i have a b-code vaf if you need)
Could you take pictures of the speedo setup for me if that's not too much to ask?
I have a 94 that i swapped a BP-T into and i used a 323 F-series that the engine came with (or out of) and i got a 92-93 cluster tried to use the speedo cable but it seems to be too short to reach the speedo so i was just wondering if that car has the 95 tranny with the electric sensor or a G-series or F-series with a cable sensor.
Also i can take some pictures of my vacuum set up if you need, but i have a turbo so it might be a bit different

Noooot sure if it'll help, because the car has aftermarket gauges.. it's a 95 mx3, and im dead positive the swappers reused the mx3 rs's F series tranny, because the gearing feels horribly long compared to my G series trans's ive run in the past.

Also, i noted the car's rev limiter is 6800rpm which suprised me the hard way on a solid highway onramp rip last week.. i was expecting 7000+.. to my suprise it kicked me back at 6800.. and it wasnt a harsh kickback like my escort bp, more of a soft limiter.

Send those vac diagrams over, they might help, they might not, any info is definately useful in my situation

Also... question for you ALL..

do you think i'd be able to use a usdm N/A bp intake manifold? i have a bunch of spares i've cutmodded & pnp'd, and physically they're much larger than the one on this car.... i figure it might be worth the swap if it'll work, seeing as how if they're bigger, they're probably more volumetrically efficient aswell?

This is what I'm thinking: Its running on the B6 ECU and harness with the MAF sensor. It'll work on that, but not the best combo. Swap out the harness/ECU/MAF for the VAF setup that a BP is supposed to have.

The intake should swap. The only BP heads that should be different are the later style miata heads.

Oh, and no mx-3 ever came factory with a 1.8L BP. Recognize is right, that is the "2nd gen" BP if it came with the valve cover that's on it.

its been awhile since i have seen this car but from what i remember it was using a modified stock harness and ecu. he ended up buying my rear subframe and disc brake setup and old coil for it. havent seen it since then

RedBPmx3 wrote:

pox wrote:Car has an MAF on it, not a VAF?

I would assume from that, that it is running the original B6 ECU. Id try swapping to a VAF and BP ECU.

I was told by rekognize that it was a jdm familia motor for 1995-1998 BHA chassis.

I snooped around on importer sites, and i found it to be a jdm mx3 dohc motor.

I cross referenced jdm bp pics (na bp) and found that it's for the mx3 dohc..

A 95-98 BHA motor could be a Z5, or actually a second gen BP. If its a JDM MX-3 motor, it could be a B6-DE. Look for the stamp on the head and block to verify what motor is in the vehicle before messing with ECU/VAF/Harness combos.

i'll get some pictures later today and i'll post them on here.


according to the pictures in his worklog it looks like a 2nd gen BP

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=67046&start=120

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=67046&start=135

Ok guys, pics and videos today. Been sick as a dog over
The weekend.

so I noticed something that may or may not lead pointers to the
Possible surge issue maybe? Who knows

cold start the car holds 2500 flawlessly

Once it reaches operating temps is where it surges and won't
Hold proper idle

anyone have any ideas or suspicions?
I took 2 vids
The first was me attempting to replicate the surging on cold idle
To which it surprised me with holding rpm just fine

So I let the car warm up and took another vid.. And that's wher I noticed
The surging only while warm.


and.. Modified harness?fack. I don't like how that sounds.. Any idea what's
Been modified on the harness?

If I run a bp harness from an escort gt will my dash work properly?
(gauges, clock ect)

Update!

the car still has a valid etest!

I didn't have the original Hardcopy,
And rekognize didn't think it was valid anymore.
So I just assumed it wasn't. He found the
Original etest Hardcopy.
January 2010!!!!



I can get her Legal now! doesn't change the fact
That I still need to figure out and fix the problem..
But at least the car can be used, and my safety
Isn't in risk of running out!