how are the 4 cylinders?

midrange · Post by **midrange** » June 12th, 2005, 10:43 pm

I have a chance to get a mx3. Everything about it is great except it has 250 000 kms on the motor. I heard these things can keep going for a long time, but is that many k a time to rethink this idea? Or should i go for it..

95 rs · Post by **95 rs** » June 12th, 2005, 11:06 pm

go for it. mine has 292 000 kms on it and its still running strong the only major thing ive had to do with it is a head gasket and well thats not too bad. it doesnt leak oil all the cylinders have good compression and yah i work with a guy who worked at a mazda dealership and he said that the 1.6 will go until 400 000 kms b4 any real major problems so go for it

BuGS · Post by **BuGS** » June 12th, 2005, 11:14 pm

get it and swap a BP. Thats all you need. Or turbo it. Or buy a BPTurbo. ya...

93-Spec-Edn · Post by **93-Spec-Edn** » June 13th, 2005, 12:04 am

midrange wrote:I have a chance to get a mx3. Everything about it is great except it has 250 000 kms on the motor. I heard these things can keep going for a long time, but is that many k a time to rethink this idea? Or should i go for it..

What year is it? The 92 and 93 4 cylinders has a 1.6L SOHC. This engine is one of mazdas best engines ever made in terms of reliability. I had a 92 and it had 300,000km before a truck hit it. It wasnt leaking or burning oil and ran very very well and in the 6 years i owned it it never broke down or went wrong. Go for it if its in good shop. let mazda inspect it.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » June 13th, 2005, 12:21 am

The DOHC 4cyl from 94 on seem to like to burn valves.. the valve seals seem to wear out around 100k miles unless proper oil changes have been done. I have seen a couple in great shape that were properly maintained.. and I have seen a couple that were just driven into the ground and suffered because of it. Comes back to how well the engine was maintained.. if maintenance records are not available.. do a compression check and a leak down test (or have the dealership do them and provide you with documentation of the tests). These tests will help reveal premature wear in the valve train due to lack of maintenance (can also help determine the condition of your rings too) Best of luck.

Tunes67

phredren · Post by **phredren** » June 13th, 2005, 2:00 am

^ I've heard the opposite of that. I've heard from like 5 different people and mechanics that it's the SOHC 1.6L that likes to eat valves... more specifically on the #1 cylinder.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » June 13th, 2005, 2:04 am

Well considering I have 2 burned exaust valves from two different DOHC engines (both from #3 cylinder) I can speak from first hand experience on this one. But I dont know anything about the SOHC. But really what it comes down to is proper maintenance.. if the oil had been changed regularly.. the seals wouldnt have hardened prematurely and it wouldnt have been an issue.

Tunes67

Grants · Post by **Grants** » June 13th, 2005, 5:48 am

And Tunes my friend that is 1500 posts!!!

jrors · Post by **jrors** » June 13th, 2005, 8:01 am

Way to go Tunes! 1500!

I have the 93 SOHC with a little over 126,000 miles on her and I started at, if I recall, a little over 123,000 miles on her when I bought her. I have hed no problems at all from the engine and she is almost whisper quiet when in Park or even at a stop light. So IMO, as long as you are doing the oil changes on a proper basis, the engine will be good to you in return.

midrange · Post by **midrange** » June 13th, 2005, 10:44 am

yeah, its a 93 1.6L I have heard of two people who looked at mx3's wish over 400 000 and they were still going strong.. But i thought i'd get some opinions.

thanks guys

nos92mx3 · Post by **nos92mx3** » June 13th, 2005, 5:57 pm

Well before i swaped my sohc i beat the snot out of that thing for about 20,000 miles and it still ran as good as the day that i bought it. Btw i when i bought it it had 184,xxx it now has 205,xxx. Id do a compression check and a leak down test. Yea im with tunes on the DOHc Eating valves, when i pulled the head off of the sohc everything looked imaculate.

93-Spec-Edn · Post by **93-Spec-Edn** » June 13th, 2005, 11:36 pm

nos92mx3 wrote:Well before i swaped my sohc i beat the snot out of that thing for about 20,000 miles and it still ran as good as the day that i bought it. Btw i when i bought it it had 184,xxx it now has 205,xxx. Id do a compression check and a leak down test. Yea im with tunes on the DOHc Eating valves, when i pulled the head off of the sohc everything looked imaculate.

Yeah when my sohc got totalled but was drivable i raped that thing. I did doughnuts and kept the rpm at 6500rpm and it still had no smoke. Damn strong motors.

MX-3.com

how are the 4 cylinders?

how are the 4 cylinders?

Re: how are the 4 cylinders?