I suspect a clogged exhaust as well. Maybe the o2 sensor was out for the one 7k glory rev or maybe that knocked stuff loose that clogged it up?
I suspect a clogged exhaust as well. Maybe the o2 sensor was out for the one 7k glory rev or maybe that knocked stuff loose that clogged it up?
Confirmed...
Unbolted the exhaust post cat.
Shoved some heat sheikding above there to reduce fire risk.
Result.
Now to cut off exhaust and make a new one.
P.s. car is now legal with Insurance and plated.
Hell yeah brother!
Well...
I took the exhaust off the car. I had to cut it off at the back because it seems like the exhaust was installed before the rear subframe. There is only 1 flange on the entire exhaust.
I cut the exhaust off after the 2nd cat. I could blow right through the back of the exhaust easily.
Looked into the 2nd cat and it just had melted chunks of crap in it. I was able to shake most of it out and sorta smash the rest.
Then, I welded it back together.
I rigged up the tailpipe (the part I had to cut to get the exhaust off). I might fix it later. Or not.
Put my little ladies in the back seat and went for a quick drive.
Still doesn't want to idle very well (probably a vacuum leak). Revs through the rev range, but feels a little sluggish. Time for an Italian tuneup!
Items to do to the car:
Fix non operable speedometer.
Replace engine mounts
Figure out slight clunk in front end
Recharge ac system (fix it if it's broke)
Rust repair from the crustiness underneath.
For now, I'm just gonna drive it for errands and stuff to see what else it needs.
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
Is this coming down in 12 days?
I don't think so. I don't have a way to get it there. I'm driving the rx8.
This car will be my underbudget car next year.
Anybody wanna come through summerville, sc and take this to the challenge? Radio works, brakes work, wipers, lights, etc. Work. It's insured and registered in SC.
It will probably make it there and back. I got tools if not.
I can't drive 2 cars and can't find another driver for this one. I believe the total budget is like $380. Plus 4 rx8 wheels. Call that $300. So $680 budget total.
So, after leaving it for a few weeks I went to move it.... it's doing the same thing...
I took the exhaust off. It still idles like crap and revs roughly.
Poop.
I looked at the live data. The short term fuel trim slowly goes up to 25%. It runs great there. Then, it resets to 0 and almost stalls. Rinse and repeat.
I'm posting pictures of the live data here. Tell me what you think. Next steps are smoke test of intake and verify coils are wired correctly.
First pic is live data where the car is barely running and chugging and vibrating.
Clogged fuel injector(s) after sitting?
I don't know Mazdas well at all but that MAP reading looks a little low. Also, the MAF is waaaay high if that's measuring at idle...should be less than half that. I'd definitely smoke test for a vac leak.
cobra17 said:I don't know Mazdas well at all but that MAP reading looks a little low. Also, the MAF is waaaay high if that's measuring at idle...should be less than half that. I'd definitely smoke test for a vac leak.
Thank you!
I really need to get around to doing that smoke test.
cobra17 said:I don't know Mazdas well at all but that MAP reading looks a little low. Also, the MAF is waaaay high if that's measuring at idle...should be less than half that. I'd definitely smoke test for a vac leak.
Adding to this. 76kPa for vacuum is low idle vaccum even for a "Hot for Teacher" chopping LS cam. Going off of a few different very lightly modified engines I've played with MAP at idle should read 45-60kPa.
Well.... vacuum leaks it has.
Lemme see if any of these pics work...
Intake manifold has this weird hole in the side.
This hose with the tape I added to see where the next spot is...
Valve cover...
I used plastic emblem adhesive to hold a small piece of plastic to the intake manifold.
I cut that hose a little shorter and reattached it.
I used the plastic emblem adhesive for the hole in the valve cover.
I will most likely go over all of this stuff with some zipties and a soldering iron during the performance improvement stage.
Also, I have a new name for this project that I overheard at the challenge.
I hearby christen this vehicle as the MazdaFree.
I should have results tomorrow for the vacuum leaks and see how she runs.
Vacuum leaks make sense since it ran fairly well at WOT once I replaced the cat and smashed the other cat.
I let everything dry overnight.
Started the car today (without an exhaust post main cat).
She started, ran smooth, idled under 1k rpms.
It even reacted properly to throttle that wasn't WFO.
Sunday I'll try to put the exhaust back on and put a decent set of matching rx8 tires on it and start driving it around!
Vacuum leaks are the Newman of drivability problems
So, I got all the rx8 street tires on the MazdaFree. I got the exhaust back on it. I set the tire pressures. I torque all the lug nuts. I checked the oil. I ziptied the front bumper on to make sure it doesn't leave the premises.
I'm gonna take it and get a car wash.
I'm driving it to work on Monday.
Will report back...
RX8 rollers look massive on that car. Me likey!
Car drove fine to car wash. Needs something because it feels like vtek when I go wfo.
Something sounds like it's dragging.
Wipers are crap and need replaced.
Headlights need refurbished.
Nothing related to steering wheel buttons work. Prolly needs a clockspring.
I will continue to drive it and fix its faults.
My experience with Mazdas says dragging noise is a rear caliper with E36 M3ted-up guide pins.
Nice detective work!
I'll check on those guide pins.
I drove the car to work today! Made it just fine this morning.
Still has a dragging noise. I'm thinking something is dragging with increased speed (indicating aero forces on it).
Did not overheat. Wipers all worked. Defrost worked. Made decent power. Does have a little stumble at about 1/3 throttle.
Yay, little stiff to chase down and fix.
Oh, for a beater mazda with 150k on it, the brakes work okay (firm pedal). No vibrations. Tracks true. NO squeaks or rattles.
Super happy to see this is coming together.
Drove it to work again today. Tried to ziptie some plastic that is hanging down and dragging. That failed. Need to do something about that still.
Cleaned the sun visors cause they were Grote. Much better now. (No pics. Ugh).
Things still to do:
-Fix speedometer (it doesn't register anything)
-check for more vacuum leaks (still has a little stumble when transitioning to wfo)
-replace exhaust gasket (seems to have a small exhaust leak)
- fix plastic dragging on ground
-figure out how to add an aux to the stock stereo.
Once those things are done, I can start really tearing into things to turn it into a challenge car. I have some ambitious plans.
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