Can't believe I bought a MX-3

[Bradhobbs]

Ok ill get my girlfriend to drive the car over there. lol .. Air intake tube, that went over my head.... Perhaps have a picture??

[Bradhobbs]

Ohh you mean the accordian tube? Yes I have


I forgot to mention the odometer is broken so the miles of this mx3 is unknown it could need a overhaul and I just dont know it

[Savin]

when did it break? since you've had it or before? How many miles does it read?

Also, do as Shades said, check the disty cap and rotor. That's about $30 total to replace(for the DOHC) I believe the SOHC parts are cheaper. Check for increased wear on the cap and the rotor under it. Your dad should be able to help you to identify if those are bad, or take them into autozone and ask if you can compare your current disty cap and rotor with new ones.

If I had a camera, I'd take a pic of an almost new cap and rotor. They have a whopping 3 miles on them....

[Shades]

Why would you do spark plugs and not the wires and distributor cap and rotor... the thing with electricity is that if you got a weak link in the system it will deteriorate the rest of the components in the system.

First start with the compression test... just to see if it's worth spending the money on new spark plugs, wires and disty parts.

[Bradhobbs]

Ok I'll do the compression test first seems it the best solution..


Savin, it broke before I had it the last owners drove it overheated water went all over the place they parked it.. I think someone worked on it that didn't know what they was doing. It reads 85,000 miles untelling how long its been broke.

[Bradhobbs]

If the dstributor cap and rotor was bad could I tell it by turning on electric things and losing idle? Because I can turn on my lights loses idle, my ac, and anything in the cigar lighter

[Savin]

To me, the only sure way is to physically take the cap off and look. Just taking it and looking won't mess anything up. Check for pits, grooves, yada yada, anything that looks abnormal.

Anything you turn on in the car will draw power creating an idle drop. The A/C will be the most noticeable.

We can't really help much more until we know what you have tried (meaning comp test and other things). Once you've tried stuff, and it's still not working, we can help further. Until then all we can do is just repeat what we've already said.

[Bradhobbs]

Ok Thanks .. Dad took it off and cleaned it up pretty good because the seal was broke so he put a new seal around it to keep the dust and dirt out

[tehbrookzorz]

Have you noticed whether the check engine light has been coming on when you first start the car? It, and the other lights in the instrument cluster, should come on briefly upon turning the key to the on position, and then go out again. If it doesn't come on at all when you start the car, the bulb is out. If it comes on, and stays on, or is on at all while the car is running other than at start up, you should let us know. Don't worry, it's usually not that big of an issue, but it will help us to help you.

[Shades]

Ok Thanks .. Dad took it off and cleaned it up pretty good because the seal was broke so he put a new seal around it to keep the dust and dirt out

The seal on the disty cap?... If you are talking about that, no one cares about the seal... how are the contacts? Prolly have some white build up on the four contacts inside... not good.

[Bradhobbs]

no nothing white built up

yes the check engine light comes on when you turn the key over to start and goes off after you start the engine.

[tehbrookzorz]

Good and good. Now on to the check for vacuum leaks (accordian tube is the prime candidate), and compression test.

It also wouldn't hurt to change your fuel filter.

[Bradhobbs]

Fuel filter is brand new im going to do the tests tomorrow when I have time

[Bradhobbs]

Haha, any of you guys taking a trip down south through Kentucky?? I saw 5 Mazda MX-3's racing down a straight.. Well anyways I had my dad check the plug wires again and he said 2 of them must not be firing or they're bad (happens to be the 2 middle ones) both of them are croded over and have soot all over them, so what does this mean? new plug wires? or are the plug not getting fire because something is off or are they shot I noticed I haven't had any power since I bought the car because holding it to the floor I would think isn't normal -- granted it only has 88 hp my Ford escort with 88 hp could out run it.

[tehbrookzorz]

Doesn't the Escort have the same engine? Try swapping the wires over if you think they're bad.