EVERYTHING IN MY CAR IS FAILING :(

[madmdx]

EDIT:: My mx-3 is a 1996 k8 everything stock.

hello all! my first post so ill try to make a quick intro as well as explain my problem

Well im a 20 year old guy just got his first car, an annoyingly small mx-3 It had been working perfect for the few months ive had it, with only a single repair (somethin to do with clutch).

Well this morning i started the car up, and the most f'ed thing happened. there were fumes commign out of the hood, from my vents, evyerwhere!
i turned it off quickly and waited a bit. I went to check the oil and noticed there wasnt even a drop on the dip stick o.o i guess it had been burning some oil (didnt put any since i gotten it 3 months or so ago).
I went and got some with my dads car and bla bla bla, finally the engine started fine and everything appeared normal.
until...
I tried to move the car...
power steering not working (at all)
heating not producing hot air (i had let the engine run till the normal temp, and still nothing)

I thought that was pretty weird. I didnt know which fuses control these things, so i checked the fuses under the hood and noticed my "cooling fan" fuse was blown.
So i went to go get one...
on my way there, guess what, engine overheating!!! hooray.
after an hour long drive to get there (i was too far to turn back and thought this would fix my problem so i decided to keep going, shutting off and letting it cool when it got too hot)
I get the fuse, replace, and guess what, still overheating!

so far, i know the power steering isnt working, the heating isnt working (fans are workin but air is cold all the time), and the cooling system isnt either. The weird thing is i can hear the fan turning, and i also feel a lot of wind coming from near the engine when i put my hand near it.

Also i checked all the fluid levels and they seem normal. I mean, the day before i had been driving the car and i only heard i faint grinding once in a while (which i assume was the lack of motor oil)

Im sure most of you guys know a lot more about the mx-3 than i do, so if anyone can help me out please do! I really dont want to bring this to a dealer because im sure they would take this as the perfect occasion to screw me over and make me buy a million new parts. And i unfortunatly dont know any honest garages...

thank you for reading and i really appreciate your time to whoever helps

sorry my first post had to be this

[Ryan]

Well, you don't sound too mechanically oriented. Unless you want to bring it to a shop, be prepared to learn a thing or two.

Welcome, by the way.

It sounds like your waterpump might be toast, or something in the cooling system is clogged. If your waterpump was seized, that would explain the blown fuse, overheating, and no warm air.

Its quite the job to do, espeically as the first one.

You've got nearing 200k kilometers on it, my guess?

How much do you want to dig into this problem? Can you spare her, and a few evenings, in a garage to get her going again?


Edit: just realized he said cooling fan. That somewhat wrecks my theory.

[madmdx]

Well yeah im actually not too mechanically inclined but ive recently grown quite into loving cars and their mechanics so yeah i wouldnt mind spending some evenings working on it myself.

Although yes i will bring it to a few shops and see which one of them will try to screw me or not but yeah. i was actually thinking this is an issue where the engine which, as far as i know, provides the heat, the power for the psteering has trouble "connecting" to them.

thanks for the input lemme know if you think of anything else. I mostly want to know whats the most probably cause for this so that i don't get screwed over at a shop

and it actually has 300k kms lol

[Mad Cow]

The power steering and water pump share the same belt if I remember correctly, check the belt to see if maybe it snapped or something. If it seems fine start up the car and look to see if everything is spinning. The water pump pulley is near the middle with 4 bolts holding it on, the power steering pulley is near the bottom closer to the firewall.

Did the fumes smell like burnt rubber? If they did your power steering/water pump belt is probably gone. Remember that these motors use 2 accessory belts instead of 1 like you usually see.

[madmdx]

the fumes smelled somewhat like what the exhaust of a car burning oil would smell like, which is rubber-burning like... Ill try to have a look but the problem is there's barely any room to see anything because everything is so close together! is that normal in an mx-3 because it is a pain

but the thing i dont understand is the huge amount of smoke that came out when i started the car in the morning. just because there wasnt any (or im guessing very little) motor oil, that shouldnt make the car explode in fumes now would it?
and i really mean a lot of smoke, like i barely started the car for a second and i could see smoke coming out from all sides of the hood.

i mean, the car was cold (about -12 celcius) so the engine wasnt overheating at that time obviously, so doesnt that mean something else mustve caught on fire or blew up? i had always thought the only thing that could do that was the engine lol..

[Daninski]

The power steering and water pump share the same belt if I remember correctly, check the belt to see if maybe it snapped or something. If it seems fine start up the car and look to see if everything is spinning. The water pump pulley is near the middle with 4 bolts holding it on, the power steering pulley is near the bottom closer to the firewall.

Did the fumes smell like burnt rubber? If they did your power steering/water pump belt is probably gone. Remember that these motors use 2 accessory belts instead of 1 like you usually see.

Now that's insight and excellant trouble shooting. Best call I've heard in a while. Now lets see if your right.

[madmdx]

oh and obviously i will try my best to check that in the morning. t
thanks a bunch guys. either way i dont think i can pull off the repair with my own tools, even though i would like to try it i really dont have anyone to explain me what the hell i would be doing lol. so ill be takin it to the shop.

i will keep you all updated... who knows who else this might happen to anyone else running 300k?

[Ryan]

You can do anything a shop can do, with baisic tools. 8, 10, 12, 14, and some other odd mm sockets, 1/2" drive w/ extensions, phillips... thats really about all you need to dismantle 90% of the car.

Oh, and this

http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Belt makes a lot of sense, except the popped cooling fan fuse. (Unless somehow it can pop after running too long)

[madmdx]

i would love to fix this myself. but i at least have to be sure what is causing this problem before i try since i dont know enough to figure that out myself.

plus this would probably be the best car for me to learn a few things on, wasnt expensive and right now im jobless lol so i got some free time on my hands for sure.

i should probably check if i have those sockets, last time i saw some decent tools i was probably like 6 years old. might be around somewhere still!

also if anyone has a picture/diagram where you could point out where the waterpump/esps pulleys are would be cool. in case i dont find em myself (not too sure what im looking for lol)

[Mad Cow]

They're all on the passenger side of the engine, I explained what they look like, you should be able to find them pretty easily.

And thanks Daninski

[mazdags94]

I second the idea to check the P/S and Water pump belt. If the belt is worn or not functioning at all, you wont have proper movement of coolant (engine can overheat) and you wont have power steering. Also, having so many miles, you might want to consider replacing the thermostat. I bought my 94 mx-3 with 165K miles and I have flushed the coolant system twice, which proved to be beneficial considering the amount of sediment that came out. So definitely have your coolant system flushed after you check your belts. VERY easy to replace, it takes approximately 30-45 mins if you dont know what you're doing .

If you're burning a LOT of oil, I would suspect the valve seals first and then piston rings. But, start with the easy stuff first and then work your way up from there. If all else fails, I have a rebuild upper end K8 for sale with newer Head gaskets, lower mileage cylinder heads, valve cover gaskets, water pump, timing belt, timing belt tensioner, timing belt pullies, leak-down tested (decent rings).

Good luck!

[ninjajim4]

+3.. no powersteering + overheating = broken belt

[madmdx]

Well I brought the car to a mechanic who, so far for my dad, seemed to be pretty good at diagnosing. I told him my problem and at first he said maybe it needs prestone, but then i told him i don't think so and he said , well its probably the belt then. It wasn't easy to see through by just opening the hood so i left him the car and he called me later telling me the belt was snapped (excellent diagnosis guys!) and that the pulleys were fucked (don't remember what he said exactly lol) and that one of em was stuck somewhere and therefore when i turned the car on that's what would've made the belt snap.

So he had to order the parts and whatever, said it will take him a day before he gets em. he estimated the costs at 200 some, including labour.

I think he screwed me over for the price of the parts though... claimed the belt was 90$?? and he was also getting new pulleys, said he would try to find me some used ones so it wont cost me shitloads but we'll see.

thanks all for your help! and seriously awesome diagnosing!

[Mad Cow]

An accessory belt for $90? They're worth $30 at most, a timing belt costs around $90. He's screwing you.

[madmdx]

yeah this guy was gonna make my dad pay like 350$ for oem cambers on a civic... but that was during summer and the car could run fine, just hard steering and stiff suspension feel. so he went out and bought the exact same parts for like 150 and only had to pay the labour.

woulda done the same but its winter and its hell cold and i just spent 2 days without a car and i already cant take it anymore lol...

lets hope my next break down will be durin summer

also hard to find parts for mx-3's isnt it? discontinued car for a while now :S