New v6 owner
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Hi folks, my name is Ross. Im based in ireland.
I purchased a mazda mx3 v6 last week. I picked it up VERY cheap.
Im still trying to figure out what its going to take to put it back on the road. If it will cost too much then i will consider making this a trackday toy.
It needs a clutch and the brakes need to be bled. Besides that it drives great. The engine feels and sounds sweet. The interior is in great condition. The entire car is in standard condition, no modifications.
I have two main concerns with the car.
The first is the smoke coming from the exhaust. I believe this could possibly be valve stem seals. I would like to know whats involved with fixing that. Ie: could i do it myself?
My second concern is the bodywork. Its blaze red paint will come up lovely after a tcut i reckon. But the car has had a light frontal impact and ill probably need a new front bumper. Does anyone here have one for sale?
Oh, and the central locking system isnt working and the sunroof is nasty.But despite all that, im very excited to have acquired my first mazda, and my first v6.
I do love unusual and rare cars. My other cars are: toyota sera, corolla sprinter and a citroen xm.
I would love to restore the mx3 back to new condition (or as close as i can) and keep the exterior/interior 100% standard. I would lower it 50mm and fit intake and exhaust...thats all.
I hope this community is an active one... i know these cars are becoming rare these days. I hope to learn a lot here and contribute myself.Sound
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Hi Ross,
I have in the last 5 months returned an MX 3 to the road after it was nearly on the point of no return having been stood up outside for 7 years. Is saving grace was that it was a genuine car with 63,000 miles and the bodywork was pretty good. It took me 2 years to dismantle the original MX 3 I had which had failed its MOT on rust of the rear quarter and was in a bad way. I used the parts from that car to fix the current one, which is all original. I have some more works to complete on it, but it is on the road and running. I just love it. Neil
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Hello,
Im based in Kent and i 2 MX3 1.8 V6.
I currently drive one as a daily car and have had no problems with it however the other was my daily car until i had the same problem as yourself, smoke from the exhaust.
Make sure that you have diagnosed the correct fault (Valve stem seals) as i thought that was the fault that i had on mine.
It turns out that i had a bent piston rod on cylinder 1
The first thing that i would do is to do a compression test
There is a lot of work involved in doing the stem seals as you will need to remove the heads from the engine to be able to get to them.
I would also recommend looking at the valve stem guides and the valves plus valve seats while you have it all apart.
While you are looking into this amount of work you should be able to find a workshop manual online that you can download or you can get a Chilton manual from the bay of e.
The Chilton is ok as a guide however the workshop manual will provide more details.
With regards to the bumper i would possibly say that the bay of e would be a good starting place for a replacement however you would also have the option to change the bumper for a different look should you wish to.
The central locking system could be something simple like a fuse or the bar on the door lock has a broken clip however it could also be the central locking system itself or even worst it could be a wiring fault which can takes weeks/months to go through if you don't know where you are looking.
The sunroof is an easy one to do, open the sunroof and remove to liner inside.
You will then get access to the nuts that hold it onto the frame, remove these and it will just come off so that you can repair/re-paint it.
I don't come on here that often however if i do see you post when im on here i will do my best to help you out.
