How reliable are MX-3's? How can I improve any weak spots?
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Hi,
I was after a bit of advice.
I have owned a my mx v6 since June of this year and I love it! I bought it for my g/friend for when she passes her test.
Problem is I can not stop ragging the sh~t ou of it!
That sound above 3k to redline is addictive, and the smile you get as you hurtle round corners is much the same.
I have a long history of destroying cars with my heavy right foot and I really don't want to kill this one.
My mate has an mx6 v6 that he regularly runs up santa pod and he has had no problems and thats got over 160k on the clock and mine is only on 78k.
I am getting a full service with timing and drive belts and pulleys at the end of the month with freelance mazda in kent for a very reasonable price.
I have heard that these cars are pretty reliable but I was wondering what mods I can carry out so that it will last a bit longer despite having a heavy foot?
I was thinking along the lines of piston rings and pistons, uprated gaskets etc??
I'm not really looking for a performance increase as such just to increase the tolerance.
I will be taking it to Nurburgring next year so I want it top notch b4 I go.
Does anyone have any ideas on companies that specialise in tuning mazdas? and is uprated parts really needed or just simply new standered parts?
Thanks
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Calm yourself!!
It is not worth the money to fork out for all this to prevent failure!! Especially if you are keeping the engine standard. I bought my mx-3 for track days, it has been to the nurburgring and later today is going round silverstone, it ONLY gets driven extremely hard. So far so good (mine has 110k).
You are much better off repairing in the unlikely event of failure, as pistons etc would require and overhaul anyway..
The engine seems v.strong, not even a hint of temp rise even on the long climb on the ring.. Just keep her well lubricated, and keep and eye on oil consumption and rocker cover leakage.. (Which even then is no major concern)..
Have fun.
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I agree. Mazda engines (except rotaries) are nigh on bomb proof. I've been running my 1.8 v6 for 5 years and I've never had any problems with the engine and it gets thrashed to the top end on a regular basis. Just be sure to keep the oil well topped up and you should be fine.
The only problem I have come across is that the front hubs were not well greased meaning that when the bearings went they could not be removed from the hub (literally welded together. :( ) This meant I needed to get a replacement hub from the scrappy (£150) I did a bit of research on this and it turns out that Mazda cheaped out on the grease for 98 mx3s, I'm not sure if it effects earlier models but the fix is to dismantle the hub/bearing/cv joint assembly and regrease everything before it gets bad.
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@9f727b45fb=hypnoticstoat:
I did a bit of research on this and it turns out that Mazda cheaped out on the grease for 98 mx3s, I'm not sure if it effects earlier models but the fix is to dismantle the hub/bearing/cv joint assembly and regrease everything before it gets bad.
more info on this please, what is the cause of the bearing failing, is it the lack of grease or hard driving? ie if i dont rag it they wont fail??
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Its not a problem with the bearing as such, more a problem with the grease used with the whole hub assembly. I had problems with both my front hubs caused by this. the bearings get so hot that they literally weld themselves to the hub meaning that you can't replace them without replacing the whole hub. If your front bearings or CV joints have recently been worked on then you should be okay as the mechanic (hopefully) would have regreased them. If not you might want to consider regreasing them your self to avoid problems further down the line. This is just going on my own experience of having this happen to me twice in 2 years, both of my front hubs have now been replaced due to this.
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how hard is it to do? what grease would you put in copper?
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I'm afraid someone else is going to have to field this question as the work I had done was by a mechanic and I didn't ask what grease he used or how he did it. Sorry. At a guess I'd say copper grease would be okay. I think Mazda must have gone through a patch of cheaping out on all their cars in the late 90's. My brother has a 98 MX5 and he's had to regrease a lot of stuff on that to fix/prevent problems that shouldn't really have been an issue in the first place. As I said I'm not sure if it effects early 90's cars but I know late models can suffer.
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Thanks guys,
That has put my mind at rest.
All the surveys and reviews show that older Mazdas are bombproof, but i also heard that about Toyotas and I managed to kill my old celica GT4.
I have noticed the oil level decreasing when I plant it and no visible signs of leakage which is a little concerning, but worst comes to worst I have seen decent examples of whole cars going on ebay for as little as £500.
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if your oils is going but no where can be seen. could be the same as whats happening to mine. valve steam seals. just stick some oil addative in for them. if you catch it early enough its all good.
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Funny enough, someone else metioned that to me.
To be honest its probably worth sticking that stuff in anyway as its on £8 and could save me a fortune in the long run.
Are there any other key parts that are prone for going on these?
I have a very annoying noise coming from the belt tensioner for the alternator between 1.5k-2.5krpm. Apparently they are quite prone to going, I am getting that replaced with my service in a few weeks.
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well i had mine just over a year now. heres what i changed. and had done.
2 cv joints.
new clutch (uprated)
head gasket.
back box
middle section
bottom ball joint.
trailing arm
rear sus cap.alround pads.
callipars un siezed. (found that out by nearly running up arse end of cop. and me blasting horn for him to go which he did lol)