Steve_SK [MX-3 V6]

[Steve_SK]

Basic data
Bought: October 2006
KM's when bought: 136000
Previous owners: approx. 4
Manufactured: 31st August 1993
Engine: K819 with some K838 spec parts (genuine)
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Comfort: Electric sunroof, electric adjustable headlights, ABS, power windows, power mirrors

So I bought the car in 2006, it was hit on front, once by owner I bought it from and once by one of the previous owners. I still need to repair the front-end to bring it to the best possible condition, I am a perfectionist. Now the car has 166000 km's, I like it very much.

How it looked when I bought it, a day or two after purchase..




I had to replace both front and rear valve cover seals..


And then I went to my friend's carwash where I spend almost all the day with cleaning and polishing, etc. Plus I put new wheels on the car. One pic is from the carwash, another is taken in the evening after the "rebirth" process.




Then I installed my SONY CD/radio, which I took out from our 323 BJ-series.


And then I was having fun with the car, taking pictures and driving..






At 150 000 km's I decided to rebuild the engine and transmission. Everything went OK, I was able to get all genuine Mazda parts needed, incl. rings, seals, gaskets, clutch, water pump, timing kit and much more for a reasonable price. I had one KL transmission at home with only 21000 km's on it, so I wanted to put all those gears and synchro's in my transmission and just wanted to keep final drive ratio. That's why I used one old shaft with pinion in my tranny and also differential, everything else is from that almost new KL tranny. Unfortunately, something's wrong and the car takes oil.. Probably because of EGR, I was browsing internet and found some new interesting facts about it.

During 2007 I was discovering what could I install in my MX-3. So I've found cruise kit and altezza lights, plus headlight washers and many more. My BIG THANKS goes to MARK (MOONEGGS), I've got a lot of beautiful parts from him, incl. JDM folding mirrors, switches, 2DIN centre console and so on..

Here's how my car looked few months ago, it looks the same now, only a little bit dirty. There's need to repair the body, maybe next year and I need to fix oil consumption as well. Except for those problems, I love this car. I will add more pictures as I install US cruise kit in EU MX-3.

[npspears]

What a difference a car wash and a polish makes! Looks really good. Do you have the glass headlights on yours?

[Steve_SK]

Yes, they are glass, LHD. There's a very little percentage of plastic headlights in Europe.

[OutlaW]

Steve, your car has the same problem ...
the previous owner frontcrashed the car, and my GS front lip is missing ... i need it

[Steve_SK]

OutlaW, yes, but I will find a picture of the car when it was crashed, I was told the lip was damaged, but in the picture the lip is untouched and still on the car! Probably he sold it before I bought the car. I was very angry.. He told "no no, it was in pieces.." and then aftertwo months he sent me pictures of the car after crash..

Once I bought front lip for the UK seller with rear mudflaps, never turned up! Rip-off...

[OutlaW]

someday i will buy it ... i am waiting

[Mooneggs]

I'm glad to see you finally have a worklog

you have a nice euro mx-3 sir

[Steve_SK]

Thank you, sir Mark. You know thanks to you I have a lot of extras in my car!

[Steve_SK]

Yesterday I went to pick up A/C for my sister's 323F BA-series. So I drove around 80 km in total, had a nice weather and beautiful landscape around, so here's just picture of AC system in my MX (excl. condenser and fan), plus one video and picture(s).



Mazda 323F BA (Astina) in the back


More 323F's - wrecks


A/C

[Steve_SK]

I bought the car crashed on the front-end, I bought it with white/pink front bumper and without front lip. I was told by previous owner that front lip was damaged after crash and was in pieces, so he threw it away. Then after some time I received two pictures of my car few days after the crash... Front lip is THERE and is UNTOUCHED. That idiot probably sold it or who knows what he did with it..

[Steve_SK]

My poor baby was suffering from bad EGR valve/solenoid, so I decided to order my car at my local Mazda service for repair work. After the whole day I was told they didn't have time to remove the EGR from the car, I called them 8 days before and I was told it would be done.. So full of bad emotions, I picked up my car on Saturday and decided to remove the EGR myself. I must tell you it is a tricky job to do without removing intake manifold. Fortunately my friend has really big 2500 kg jack stand, so I lifted up the car and removed the EGR from exhaust side. What I saw was a nightmare. Someone must have done the job before, or tried to blind the EGR, there was no gasket between EGR and right cylinder head! Anyway, after 2 hours of removing EGR, I finally got home and started to clean it. About 300 ml of totally black liquid came out of the EGR, plus some hard big carbon parts as well. Unfrotunately I don't have a picture of how it looked before cleaning, only how it looks now prepared for installation. I also have a new gasket. The valve now opens like heaven and there's no damage to diaphragm, so I am happy. Tomorrow I am going to check three solenoids controlling EGR valve and if they're OK, my EGR will be working again!!





I though I would blind it, but it doesn't only reduces NOx.. it has many more functions in engine, so I think it is more than a good idea to keep it there.

[Steve_SK]

Today I decided to wax my car, so I bought Turtle Wax with PTFE. Cleaned the car and polished it.. it looks much better now, unfortunately I only had my mobile phone with me, so pictures are not that good.. Finally I also bought a new car-alarm today and I am going to have it installed on Wednesday.

[fowljesse]

It looks great! I love a polished black MX-3! I wish you could get better pics.

[Steve_SK]

For you, my friend, I will take more pictures with Lumix tomorrow, ok?

[fowljesse]

That would bring me joy.