Completed ATX to MTX, now has code 3....related???

[Ihatedomestic]

Hey,
This is my first post....
Just bought a 94 GS (131k km) with an auto tranny....and bought it knowing the transmission wasn't working well. Hello, the fluid in the transmission looked like anti-sieze
Took it to the track, ran an autocross and cooked the transmission. 2 out of 4 gears isn't too bad

Anyway, just finished up converting it to a manual and now all of the sudden it's flashing a code 3 at me intermittenly....and when the light comes on or goes off, the car shutter/stutters. Was this something I may have done when I did the swap? or just a coincedence? I did remove the tranny computer and cut the tranny harness off just in front of the air box. Should I just bite the bullet and buy a new distributor?

Oh and if anyone is looking for some parts, I stripped a parts car for this project and everything is going CHEAP!

Colin W.
94 MX-3 GS (131k km)
91 EF7 CRX (50k km)

[Ihatedomestic]

Nobody has any ideas?

Any experience with the code 3/camshaft position sensor in general?

Is replacing the distributor at 130k km common?
I don't feel like dropping $300 on a new one if I don't have to.

Oh, and are the distributors for the 94s different than say a 92?

[shameem]

The distributor is known to go bad - search for HEI mod........

[2fazed]

My GS has the code 3. But for me, it's not the disty. Cause my GS runs. Remember there's two cam sensors. The other is on the timing belt side. You'll see it hook to the harness running down the timing belt cover and hooked almost to the bottom of the engine.

[shameem]

The non disty crank sensor usually throws a code 2
http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php ... F2-074.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ihatedomestic]

Just ran through the entire "code 3 troubleshooting" from the service manual.
Pretty vague if you ask me. Didn't get any further ahead in my diagnosis.

[Ihatedomestic]

Bought a distributor....problem solved....for now anyway

[Red Rocket]

1st, where'd you get a disty for $300 new, and second do you have the auto tranny coolant lines left over, or do they get re-used for the manual.

[Geoff]

hey so i know you got a disty, but for future reference ,

the switch in the types of disty's is in between 93 and 94. and a 93 or earlier will definitely not work. (loooots of experience on this one...ha) and you can use a 94+ probe, 626, mx6 disty as well. so check the junkyards!
and code three usually means your disty is on the way out. mine ran without much protest with the CEL on code 3 for about a month then pooped out at the worst time possible, then continued dying randomly. so best to replace when that happens.

but yeah. hope some of that helps!

[Ihatedomestic]

CAr has been working great since the distributor went on.

I did try a used distributor from my 92 parts car and was a definite no-go

The "new" dsitributor I got was from The Distributor King, on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/BRAND-NEW-94-Mazda-M ... .m20.l1116" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is the 2nd distributor I have bought from them and recommend them (I bought one for a customers CRX a few years back). Sure, the distributor wasn't OEM quality, but it was pretty close. Comes complete: mount it, attach the plug wires, plug in the 2 connectors and you're off!

[Ihatedomestic]

Ugh, seems the coil in this "new" distributor crapped out on me yesterday.

So, I out my old one back in (with a bad CPS) and boxed up the new one for a warranty return.

Will keep you guys updated on how the whole warranty process goes and how long the next one will last.

[Ihatedomestic]

Well, I am now on my 3rd coil and 2nd warranty distributor. NOT happy.
Distributor King service is great and so is their warranty, so I still recommend them

This is the third (and final) time the car has crapped out on me, all 3 times very suddenly and all 3 times due to coil issues.

I have no idea what is causing these coils to go so quickly, but I am now done with the car. So, anyone in the Atlantic provinces or beyond that is interested, I will have a very low mileage 94 GS up for sale shortly.
I would keep this car in a second if I knew that I would get more than 3000 km's from a coil.

So, if anybody has any ideas as to why this thing eats coils so badly, I'd like to hear them before the car goes up for sale.
I kind of get the feeling that I missed a ground or something of that nature....something that's putting extra strain on the coils.....I don't know....

[Mooneggs]

This is a VERY common failpoint for the mx-3 and plus, it's a mitsubishi part... just do the HEI mod....