I bought her on November 10, 2006 in Milton Ontario by a private seller. According to the Used Vehicle Information Package, I am owner #7...yikes!
The car came with a valid e-test, but I would have to get a safety done. The following is a list and prices of all parts and services performed by my mechanic...
1 Caliper $200.73
1 Set of Front Brake Pads $68.72
1 Set of Rear Pads $59.82
1 C.V. Boot $27.32
1 Fuel Tank $223.68
1 Brake Cable $48.22
Miscellaneous Hose and Clamps $20.00
Brake Fluid $5.00
6 1/2 Hous Labour $390.00
I spent more on the safety and repairs than I did on the car, but I really wanted this car.
Fast Forward to January 19, 2006, the car wouldn't start. It was really cold out. I was thinking the battery gave up the ghost as it was about 4 years old so I bought a Motomaster Eliminator from, you guessed it, Canadian Tire, for $67.31 including taxes. I hate taxes!! Anyway that didn't do the trick so back to the mechanic I go. I am not very swift with the technical stuff that comes with maintaining a car, but try to pay attention and I have been searching this site. Turns out I needed New spark Plugs ($30.60) and an oil and filter change...duh, I work for Fram, jeepers!
Now, last week, the car wouldn't start again and back to my mechanic as I was going to guess alternator from what I was searching thru, plus my instinct was starting to tell me that too! I was wrong. A wire from the starter was corroded, so it was replaced and whammo, I am off and running again.
I also was getting concerned about my idle issues. There was a lot of posts in here about that problem, but being as I am not that confident in playing under the hood, not to mention, I don't know what a lot of things are called, I thought I would take it to the Mazda Dealer and get a diagnostic done on it, and save myself the hassle of doing something stupid that may cost me more in the long run. But then again, how am I going to learn anything?? So, the codes were pulled and came up code 8 and code 10. Now if I can recall, what the guy at Mazda said, something like that was strange as no engine light was on, so he was thinking, Coolent. I read somewhere that PatDiesel suggested looking at that for an idle issue in another thread. I think I am going to pay attention to what he posts a little more!!
The rad was low on coolent and the rad cap was junk. At one point, the car had run really hot and the seal was burnt up and very brittle. The idle screw was adjusted so far that one more rotation it could have come off. So that was readjusted, coolent was added and a new rad cap replaced and $86.60 later I am off to the races again, Yahoo!!! What a difference. My idle is steady around 1000 rpms, before it fluctuated super crazy, cold, warmed up, in neutral and in gear. I couldn't win, and it sure was hard to figure out how to drive stick as a newb in that department as well, but I have it down now. I just need to try out hills to test my confidence.
Well with all of that now recorded in my worklog, I can focus on future works in progress. I will have to get the gears fixed as they are pretty chewed from my inexperience, learning to drive the car. It's not super bad, but I feel it in 2nd gear for sure. I am not asking how to do that, I will search for that in the future when I am ready to perhaps tackle that project or chicken out and call my mechanic again.
The front driver's side fender is dinged up and the hood doesn't appear straight or in line with the body lines of the car. The rear passenger side has some rust issues. A friend of mine does bodywork and paint and is willing to show me the ropes in that department so when that job is being done, I wil make sure I get pix of me prepping and painting the car.
Anyway, this has been fun, I love the MX-3. It's been a long, long time since I have had this kind of fun driving a car. I would also like to thank everyone on this site for their contributions to help educate dummies like me, the ropes of owning and maintaining a MX-3. A contribution to
MX-3.com is definately coming from me in a short while. Thanks everyone, I will be back with updates, hopefully not the repair stuff but the paint and sound system aspect of it.
Here is a picture of the MX in the previous owners' driveway.
