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Well, just picked up a 1993 Mx3 SE Anniversary edition from my cousin who got it from our aunt who was the original owner, its got 230,000 km. It's black, with all the special edition perks, a pretty nice little car. A few things I've noticed so far though; The heated seats do not seem to work, the brake light on the dash stays on, and theres a clunking noise from the rear when I hit bumps or take rough corners. Could this just mean it needs new struts? I'm pretty sure they are original. The first thing I did when I purchased the car was get an engine flush and filled up with Synthetic oil. Next maintainence I figure on doing is tranny fluid change as it kind of bumps into 2nd and 3rd sometimes, but not all the time. The only other thing I'm concerned about it is the kind of rough acceleration I notice in 2nd gear. It feels like it not pulling very hard then It hit's a certain RPM and just grab and starts pulling hard(around 5000 RPM) Is this how it shoud run or a common issue? I searched around a bit on here, but I'm pretty new to these cars. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ps. What would be your first order's of buisness with it? Exhaust? Cold air intake?

I saw first thing to do and its VERY important. Go trough the V6 FAQ board. Its got tons of information. Regular maintenance to swaps. Do this before you get yelled at

I'd listen to hgallegos915 if i were you. but the noise when you hit the bumps isn't that big of a problem.. i had the noise too and i got my shocks lubricated and the noise disappeared. about your rpms, i learned something cool, your engine will sound different after 3000 and 5000 rpm, listen to it, i'm not sure how much power you have below 5000, there is definitely a little shift when you hit 5000, but if it's too obvious like car is raising from the dead kind of thing u might wanna check it out. goodluck with your mx3

your power boost at roughly 5k rpm is your VRIS kicking in. The heated seats dont get overly hot I've noticed, just warm. If yours aren't getting warm I'd check fuses first. Which light stays on the red parking brake light or the ABS light? If its the red one you need to do some adjusting of the parking brake lever so it switches the light off, if its ABS you're looking at a more expensive fix as it may be the ABS sensors. I had clunking of my rear struts when i bought mine. I remedied this by switching them out when I lowered it. It may just be something like that hharb said.

Thanks for the help so far guys. It's the red brake light, so how would I go about adjusting that? The heated seats don't work at all, so I'll check the fuse panel, I already checked to make sure the wires were tight. I'll have to replace the struts soon then to r the clunking, I hope that fixes it and it's not bushings or something. Does anyone know what "tuning" was done to the SE's engine? I wanna get a bit more zip out of her and am looking for which way to go first.

it's got 230 on it already.. i would not invest in the existing engine.. wait till it dies and get a klze.. that's what i'm doing with mine..

yeah i got a klze at 201 clicks... if i were u id do the same... just make sure u get it from a reliable source like JDm or sumtin.. theres alot out there that would selll messed up Zes ...or u could always put a BPT conversoin that would be sweet

I don't really want to swap motors at this point, and if I did I'd want to keep it a small displacement v6, just maybe 2.0 instead of 1.8, and go turbo. That will cost at least a few thousand, so I won't be going that way right away. I was under the impression the BPT swap is for 4 cyl's?

ya its easier in 4cylinder. but can be done in the gs's as well and would be better sicne GS has betetr suspension and brakes and the smaller steering rack!

well, if you want a little zip you can get a KLDE, from a junkard. 2.5L, nearly identical to the KLZE but its 170hp. I think. costs 500ish

OR

If you want aLOT more zip, you can get a KLZE. 2.5L as well, but higher compression. It's got almost 200hp. costs about a thousand dollars for the engine alone, but you'll need a new clutch, seals, fluids, belts etc.

There not a whole lot you can do to the K8 (1. unless you want to rip it apart. There have been a couple peopel who have boosted it, but the money you spend boosting your K8 to 200hp you could put into the KLZE for a permanent n/a 200hp. You can redo exaust/intake, swap over some KLZE parts. You can also bore out the K8, port it, complete rebuilt..but thats alot more work.

The KLDE is good if you want alitte more zip, and then the option of adding a turbo or nitrouse if you want more. If you want it right away, get a KLZE for sure.

Also, make sure your brake fluid is full, that coudl e a culprit for the brake light.

Welcome to the board and enjoy your new car!

koireland wrote:I don't really want to swap motors at this point, and if I did I'd want to keep it a small displacement v6, just maybe 2.0 instead of 1.8, and go turbo. That will cost at least a few thousand, so I won't be going that way right away. I was under the impression the BPT swap is for 4 cyl's?

Bear in mind that you may actually have an easier time finding a 2.5L KL engine than a 1.8L K8 engine.. seriously lot more of them around.. the one I used to replace my 1.8 when I 'bent' someting inside my engine came from a Ford Probe GT.. it was far easier to find and far cheaper than trying to find a 1.8L

Speaking of which however.. anyone in the seattle area that is needing a parts car. I saw a Tropical Emerald GS at Whiteside (in Clearview, between Woodinville and Snohomish) I think they want like $600 or so for it.. body is wacked.. like someone went off on the car, hood bumpers, sun-roof dented, etc.. but supposedly motor is good, and there's other parts that appear in ok shape.. (not too sure about seats and stuff) If someone picks this up, let me know, there's some parts I'd like if you don't want em.. I just don't want them bad enough to deal with buying the thing and parting it out..

clunking in the rear? i'd say bushings... When i first got my car, all four struts were making racket, but after replacing all four struts, and all 4 springs, all 4 wheels, one wheel bearing, and all 4 tie rod endlinks: i'm left with only clunking in the rear to this day, which became most noticeable when i lowered the car.. I believe it is all the swaybar bearings in the rear suspension: you should take a look at those, as should i...

mine clicks in the rear.. replaced struts and everythinbg looks fine.. oh well haha its been doing it for years.. i think its the actual brake pad not having the little metal clips that hold the brake.