MX-3.com

Let's see, where to begin. I have a 1994 5-speed MX-3 GS that hasn't been drivable for about a year now. I'll try to get everything down the 1st time but if I forget any I'll update this later.

1.Horrible starts, sometimes taking over 2 minutes of cranking and I'll actually have to push down on the gas peddal
2.The car runs fairly well when it's cold, but after it gets warmed up it's a different story. After it warms up I have to lightly feather the gas peddal and rev it up to about 3000 rpm and slowly let off of the clutch or the car wont move, and if I put any more pressure on the gas peddal it will stop accelerating and shake badly.
3.The check engine light was on but I tried to run the diagnostics test using a guide I found on this website, but it didn't work and now my CEL wont come back on even if I unplug sensors.
4.My cooling fans don't come on regardless of how hot the car gets.
Things I've replaced already: Battery, spark plugs, fuel filter, cacalytic converter. I also tried adjusting my throttle position sensor and my Idle air speed skrew.

If anyone can offer some advice on this problem it would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Assuming mostly stock, all good connections, no engine swap, and it ran fine at one time or another, blah, blah, blah:

1) Air leaks in accordian intake?
2) If it'll idle, check spark timing
3) Fuel pressure - ensures good pump (my vote is this)
4) Compression test - easy...will ensure good head/valves
5) Disty swap - gets you spark.

Otherwise - how many miles on the car, any engine work or swap, did it ever run well, when didi this all start, any other clues?

I'm gonna say, if it's got more than 120,000miles or 200,000kms on it, look into a healthy DE/ZE.

Then change your:
clutch
driveshafts and driveshaft seals
intake piping
fuel filter (maybe pump too)
ECU
timing belts, tensioners, water pump etc
valve cover gaskets

A few other small things and you can walk away with change from $1500 (USD) and virtually no issues.

Or you can try fault find this engine if it's low on mileage. ganue made some good points to follow.

also check to see if the timing belt has jumped a tooth or two. Its not the easiest thing to
check but your description of the problem points to it.

Sounds like a fuel issue to me too. Check for fuel pressure and if you have that you might need to get your injectors rebuilt. You can check the fuel pressure valve on the fuel rail, but I've found them tricky to test. Looking for cracks or leaks in your intake tubing is a good idea too.

I'm thinking distributor and coolant temp sensor. First replace the coolant temp sensor, it's on the filler neck near the timing belt covers. It's a really cheap and easy to change. My car was giving me massive headaches with very similar symptoms to yours, I changed the sensor and everything was perfect.

This is joshs the original maker of this post. Sorry it has taken me so long to reply but shortly after I made the post my computer went for broke and the email account I used to use is inactive so I can't get my pw for the joshs account on here.

In response to ganue's post: there are about 190k miles on the car, no engine work or swap have been done, the car ran almost perfect for the 1st 3 months I owned it, and the only other thing that might be a "clue" as you put it is I hit a deer in it the night before this all started happening and it kicked a hole through my left headlight housing, and the only problem I ever had before all of this is one time when I went to take off from a stoplight the car hesitated and shook a little but it was so slight I barely noticed it.

Also I just recently replaced the battery and it's dead after only 2 weeks of sitting, if that helps any.

You've got to get past the hard starting condition before moving on to other things. The battery could easily be shot from all the cranking of the starter. Being a new battery it can be recharged.

Complete your tune up with some plug wires, distributor cap and rotor.
Verify all electrical connections are solid. Clean and tighten as necessary connections at the battery, grounds to the car engine, transmission and body. Check for corrosion inside the battery cables by looking at the ends. Check and tighten the alternator connections.

Reset the tps using feeler gauge and ohmmeter. Search or check the service manual for the procedure.
Searching the forum you'll find hard starts often attributed to the distributor. The distributor is a weak link on this car and it can act up with no warning. Typically though a bad distributor would be a no start. Do the above before replacing more major $ parts.