is everybodies engine kind of loud @ idle?

[Shady469]

my motor is kind of loud , like its got kind of a metallic whir and a little tick. i put in some of that "Sea Foam" stuff which is supposed to help a few days ago but i dont know if its circulated through or not. does anybody elses motor idle loudly? what can i do to quiet it? also, i checked to see if the tick was from a pulley i put on but i can hear it on both sides (wheel wells) and its sounds more localized like right under the intake manifold.

[mixmastermark]

ya man i get that too , but i have no clue what it is. its embarasing some times haha

[Skiddy]

Yea I have that same sound, but its seems to go away after I drive for like 30 min or so. But I have to say it is a very annoying noise I think.

[The_Great_Tonge]

i also suffer from the dreaded tickin sound. i have been told it is the lifters cuasing it.

[jeepdave]

same problem mine is a hydraulic lifter not building up pressure if anyone knows where to get them new or used ill buy one iot aggravates the hell out of me <A HREF="http://null" TARGET=_blank>null</A>

[sheldon]

thats funny because i get the same thing, but it seems to go away when you make sure that our oil is topped up to the max, otherwise it annoying as hell.....<BR>sorry i'm not sure what it is exactly, but, i feel for ya

[littlemantke]

mines the same way and all i do is put a little oil in it every couple of days and it keeps the ticking down to a minimum. CATCH YA'LL LATER

[heatherc]

Wouldn't know......my new exhaust drowns out the sound.... hee hee...

[Drej]

It sounds like you have a lifer sticking. I had the same problem with one of the exhaust lifters and it went away after I replaced it. I picked it up at Mazda for $50 or $60 CDN. I'm sure you can get it for somewhere close to that.<BR>Also, to locate the faulty lifter, give each suspect a light squeeze. If a bit of oil comes out and it rebounds it OK. Otherwise you may have located the stuck one. (I had to put mine in a vise to get it to move... and then the garbage following that experiment

[socal79]

To all of you that own this car: I also own a 93 MX3 1.6L manual. the dreaded ticking is your hydraulic lifters, or hydraulic lash adjusters as they are properly called. I replaced every single one of them(16), exhaust and intake sides, for about $400 total. I also did a complete oil system flush and switched to 5w-30, higher mileage formula motor oil. it took a week or so to really make a difference(I only drive about 10 miles a day) but it did significantly help reduce the noise. What has really happened in your engine is this; mazda makes a ****ty lash adjuster with the ports being just a little too small. they freeze on average at about 90k miles. By the time you start to hear "ticking", your valves are already being moved away from their original clearance and position, which means to correctly fix the problem, you will need to actually adjust your valves. however, most of us can get by just by replacing the failed lash adjusters. I got them for 23 bucks each from a mazda dealership. I suggest you replace them all, because eventually you will need to anyway. Now before you go out and blow 400 big ones, try a complete oil system flush and refill with lighter oil (5w-30). If the noise is not significantly reduced after 50 miles, I suggest you check your lash adjusters. It is a very easy procedure that you can follow right out of the Chilton's manual. The only tool you will need is a torque wrench that reads in in-lbs or n-M, (trust me, you don't want to break the valve cover bolts).
One more thing, the "infamous idle" problem is 99% of the time your idle air control valve. I talked to quite a few Mazda dealerships all over the country(I did my homework),and after the 10th or 11th one told me that the "infamous idle" was their most common problem, and that their records showed that it was one of their more common parts ordered, I was convinced. The "unplug it" trick works TEMPORARILY. Do not leave it unplugged, you are just asking for more problems.
I hope my ranting helps someone, please let me know. sorry for the length.<p>[ April 01, 2003: Message edited by: christos ]</p>

[jap]

I have the same problem. I figure it was normal because every mx3 I seen had the same sound. Question= Does everybody here with this problem have the SOHC MX3?

[guyaverage]

What Christos posted above is right on target. Aside from replacing all 16 pieces, Mazdas 'official' fix for this was to use 5-30 oil. I have a '93 SOHC and I have had this noise off and on for 3-4 years. It will happen for a minute or two, then stop, ten come back 20 minutes later, then not do it again for 3 weeks. I've tried 10w30, 15w50, Mobil 1, Quaker State synthetic, different viscosities of convetional oil, etc. It didnt matter what I used. As for the "infamous idle" problem, before you guys go out and spend a lot of money replacing the air control valve, do this: Clean the one you have (DONT just unplug it and call it 'fixed'). It is on your throttle body. Take off your intake hose, remove the throttle cable (and throttle sensing cable if you have an automatic), remove the 2 bolts and 2 nuts that hold the throttle body on, disconnect the 2 coolant lines, and the one air line. Remove the screws that hold the valve to the throttle body. If yours is like mine, the inside will be caked with carbon and gunk. Use any average carb spray cleaner and spray it out several times as good as you can. Spray it until the drainage is no longer dirty and black. Gently wipe it out, respray it, drain it, and keep doing it until it is shiny and clean inside. Now go and reinstall everything. (Be carefull putting it back on, there is an elaborately shaped O-ring between the valve and the throttle body..dont crush it). After its all back together, on your firewall is a 'diagnostic' plug. Connect a jumper wire (a small piece of speaker wire, or a paper clip, or whatever will do) between the GROUND and #10. Adjust the idle speed where it needs to be, then remove the jumper. Take it for a drive. Since I have done this I have had no idle problems and the 'almost-stall' when coming to a stop has completely stopped happening. It has made a night and day difference, its like a whole different car. The whole operation will take you less than hour if you take your time. If you dont feel confident doing it, ask your girlfriend/spouse/mother/nearest homeless person to help. Its really easy and it could save you a lot of money and hassle.

[socal79]

I have a SOHC too Jap. And thank you guyaverage, I forgot to add your point in my original discussion about just cleaning the IACV.