My 1st GS Mx-3

[nsklzemx3]

Interested in seeing your pics.
Try tinypic.com

[Eric Hooper]

On the newer posts I just used google photos. Ill update when I can on the older stuff but if you click the links you should see them(on the new posts, not the Photobucket stuff). Tis the holiday season and I'm pretending to be an elf in my workshop.

[Eric Hooper]

A quick update. My car was running alright with good temperatures but when it got cold started idling rougher and surging when 1st started. I tried adjusting everything and ended up with a car that stalled when it stopped so I had to bump the idle screw up so it would not die at a stop light. There was an occasional cell that was 02/ignition related. My fuel mileage was the best part of all, I got 14mpg in the city and 23mpg on the highway(which was surprisingly good when I was getting 14mpg in the city).

So I started searching forums and checked a bunch of stuff and decided the symptoms sounded most similar to people complaining about their klze and how it ran with the K8 ecu, unfortunately; when those posts were wrote parts were probably more plentiful. Luckily for me I noticed a ford probe GT came in to a local wrecking yard and I read good reviews on the DE ECU running the klze so I went to the wrecking yard and got it's ECU, intake manifold, and VAF. I was worried the ECU might now work with my harness as their seemed to be some wiring differences year to year but the KL07 and VAF plugged right in with no cells or fan issues.

My drivability went up a lot and no more surging! I'm thinking I'll use the manifold when I have the chance so the VRIS points match since I decided that if I were to spend $300 on msd window switches I'd just save for MS. The car idles pretty smooth now but I'll have to drive a tank before I know if the MPG went up. By the way I did readjust idle after the new ecu so it's not stalling at factory settings.

[mitmaks]

Car dying at low temperatures sounds like a bad coolant temp sensor.

[Eric Hooper]

It was more than just dying at idle. It was also a poor idle all the time, the occasional cel, surging(similar to if your intake had tube had a crack), and kind of a twitchy throttle. An example of the issues would be I was trying to accelerate quick and ended up spinning the tires and when I put it in second gear it would want to die/stumble. The poor gas mileage was also a good sign. Anyway the issue when taking into account the things that I already replaced and adjust seemed to match what problems people were having running a klze with the k8 ecu.

With the DE parts in the car runs like a different car and hasn't thrown a code yet(crosses fingers). This tank is innacurate since it's partial with old ecu, lots of idling for adjusting, and kl07 ecu but so far it's looking to be above 17 in the city. I may be describing or using the wrong word for the surging but I believe it matches the symptoms of if the motor was getting too much fuel for cold enrichment which would explain why the issues though present before the cold got significantly worse with the cold. It would also explain why the spark plugs I replaced looked like they've been running rich.

I look forward to calculating the next tank but the car runs so well that it now seems like I got a good deal for the car at $1500 and less than $500 in repairs. Motor wise when spring comes around it just looks like oil pan gasket, timing belt, valve cover gaskets, intake gasket, millennia throttle body, and trying to figure out how to get the de intake connected to the stock air filter box since I'm not a fan of the look of cold air intakes. I would use the millennia intake but as mentioned before I want the VRIS points to match without spending much money and don't care too much for releasing the KLZEs full potential. I've seen pictures of it done in MX3's but unfortunately seems as though all the google links go to websites in a foreign language.

[Eric Hooper]

Pictures should all function now, just click the google app links and you should see them.

[projectB10]

Pictures should all function now, just click the google app links and you should see them.

Thanks Eric. Working well for me. Thanks.

[Eric Hooper]

So, I'm now getting 19mpg city in the winter with having to warm the car up occasionally so I can see out the window. The idle is consistent though I still wish I could make it slightly smoother. Maybe fuel injection cleaner, but probably good to just be at piece with a 27 year old car. I'm having the driver seat belt inspected for the seat belt recall which was kind funny because when I first told the service writer at the dealer he said their was no such thing as a lifetime recall till he looked up the recall. Honestly I won't be surprised if it turns out they don't have seat belts anymore. Other than the mpg update though I'm collecting parts and hopefully will have enough to do some work soon (like when it's warm enough that I am comfortable riding my bike if the car's not running).

[Eric Hooper]

I continue my updates on things that are boring! This exciting update is my leaky oil pan gasket which I will mostly just illustrate with pictures. By the way, this was a few months ago and no leaks yet.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aX2MaoHkLmBnhEEl2

And I have a couple of photos of my future project which will be putting the the ford probe gt manifold and tb that I've collected to complement my gt computer and vaf. The klze manifold is what came with the motor which I know only limited things about since I didn't put it in. I will do this when I attack my valve cover gasket leaks.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/42V0h0KOc8HRRuIh2

[Eric Hooper]

Oh yeah, the dealership still had the seat belt rail and replaced it under warranty.

[WhiteFinish]

Looking good, keep it on the road !

Surprised the cork gasket is still sold in stead of regular gasket sealer.

[mitmaks]

Oh yeah, the dealership still had the seat belt rail and replaced it under warranty.

Was it drivers side rail seat belt?

[Eric Hooper]

yes it was.

[Daninski]

Hi Eric. Most people are on The MX-3 Facebook page now. You might want to look into that as well. Cheers

[Eric Hooper]

I'm not much of a fan of facebook which is why I would avoid going their. So this weekend I did half my valve cover gaskets and swapped out the K8 intake manifold for the klde manifold. I did this so the VRIS points would match without having to use separate items to make them work. After installation everything seems to function well and no CEL codes which is good. I'll poste if anything goes wrong. Oh, and I only did one valve cover gasket because I ran out of time, everything else took too long to do. On the manifold swap if you click on the photos theirs information.

Here's the first album which just is a reference of K8 vacuum lines:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z4YJBIhqEnZWnTn73

And here is the swap:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/d2Y9YOyESCXdwXHw2

Sorry if anything doesn't make sense, I was tired when I posted