Mx3 Engine Problems.

[Mx3inNC]

Hey, I'll try and give you all a quick run down of the problem I'm having and hopefully some one out there can offer some sage advice, because I'm about at my wits end.

The long and short is that the car won't continue running. After idling for 4-5 minutes, it begins running horribly, the RPM's drop from 1100 or so to about 800 and periodically (every 5-10 seconds) the engine sort of heaves and the RPM drop to 500-. If left idling long enough the engine will eventually stall out. I have noticed that the fan is not switching on to cool down the engine. It's been guessed at (by my father, a much more competent mechanic than I) that the problem is this - The engine is getting hot, and with the fan not switching, the ECU is chaning the amount of gas being sent and flooding the engine. (Did I forget to mention that the engine floods from time to time and won't start unless you pull off the injector wires, crank, replace the wires, and then crank again?)

So far, I've replaced the temperature sensors (both the one under the injector rack on the passenger side, and the one under the distributor cap) and still nothing.

Can anyone please help? Thank you.

[mwmorris]

When is the last time you replacing your plugs/wires? That might not be the problem but ya never know. I'd try that route

[monty73741]

might as well do the cap & rotor too

[Som1Dies2Nite]

What engine code do you have stored? I can give more advise from there.Theres no need to guess around replacing things you might not need at the time.The mx-3 engine and electrical components are pretty easy to solve.

[Mx3inNC]

Alright, I'll try to reply to each right here.

I replaced the plugs, wires, Cap, rotor button, and timing belt. (The water pump was shot, so I did it all at once while I was under the hood a couple of weeks ago) that is when this problem began, after doing all of this.

As for burnt valve, I have on good authority that they are actually in good condition. (When I bought it, it had a blown head gasket, when it was replaced, the mechanic told me that he was surprised at what good shape everything was.)

As for the computer code question, I really don't know. I've called several garages as well as places such as Auto Zone about getting the car hooked up to a diagnostics machine but they all tell me that they cant run one on a car older than a 1996 model, mine is a 1993. Would a Mazda garage be able to do this? I imagine it costs money at one, but at this point, I don't care much about the cost, I'm just frustrated with the damned thing.

Thanks for your suggestions so far, keep them coming!

-d

[Som1Dies2Nite]

Locate the diagnostic box by the firewall on the driver side.Connect a jumper from number 10 pin to ground(pin).Turn the key to the on(DO NOT CRANK) position.you'll start to see the check engine light blink.Count the number of blinks for example(1 long blink & 2 short blinks means its a code 12 and thats the throttle sensor...etc...

<small>[ November 25, 2003, 11:49 PM: Message edited by: Som1Dies2Nite ]</small>

[Mx3inNC]

Well, I think I've found the problems. The following were done, and now the car runs fine (except for an idle problem, which is unrelated to the aforementioned issues).

The distributor was not set correctly, several hoses were not tightened, and one of my spark plug wire was split at the boot, causing it to arc against the block, shorting out that cylinder (so I was running on 3 cylinders, effectively). Once these were all corrected, the car runs without any major problems. The idle still needs fixed, like I said, but that is just an easy adjustment.

Thanks for all your help everyone. Good driving!