Mazda MX6 2.5 V6 manual
Discussion
I've actually been thinking of selling the blue car as a project as you say. The large majority of the work done was on the engine and turbo conversion which will be going in the new car so most of the work It won't be lost entirely. The blue car won't sell complete though since it'll be missing some important parts like the ECU, etc. I will almost certainly make more money from breaking it and selling the parts, but too be honest I'm thinking I'd rather not do the work and just sell it as a project to get it out of the garage, so I can get the silver car in there.
When it became clear that I wasn't going to use the Volk Racing wheels I sold them on, I managed to doubled my money on them so was satisfied with that. Would have been great wheels but they needed a proper full refurb and new tyres.
Thanks for the thread link, I'll definitely be giving that a read through. A somewhat similar to the situation with Civics, some MX6's have had their engines robbed as well, to go in MX3's, MX5's, 323's, etc. Prices for the 90s Jap RWD stuff eg. 200SX have gone up loads as you say (I remember when you could buy a runner for £500). The prices of stuff like Supra's have gone wild.
When it became clear that I wasn't going to use the Volk Racing wheels I sold them on, I managed to doubled my money on them so was satisfied with that. Would have been great wheels but they needed a proper full refurb and new tyres.
Thanks for the thread link, I'll definitely be giving that a read through. A somewhat similar to the situation with Civics, some MX6's have had their engines robbed as well, to go in MX3's, MX5's, 323's, etc. Prices for the 90s Jap RWD stuff eg. 200SX have gone up loads as you say (I remember when you could buy a runner for £500). The prices of stuff like Supra's have gone wild.
With my old car, I pretty much got straight into working on it, I've never really enjoyed driving it so didn't built up any sentimental attachment to it. It would be a shame to see it go in the bin but I can't really see anyone taking it on as a project to be honest, it'll either be broken up by me or someone else I imagine. That's quite a long while to keep your old Prelude, it can be tough to make a decision on these things.
There was quite a lot of interest in the Volk wheels despite me listing them for what I thought was a toppy price, I guess it's collectable 90's parts as well as the cars that are on the up in terms of prices.
It was an interesting one deciding what to pay for the silver MX6, they are very hard to value as there are generally none for sale in the UK such is the rarity of them now. This car is even more unusual given that it's quite highly modified, nothing to compare it to. I'm hopeful that, given 90s car prices are generally on the up, if I keep it for a while, get it fully restored, modified, etc. then it will be worth a fair bit more than it is now. It is good to see older retro classic cars at higher values as it does encourage their longer term survival.
There was quite a lot of interest in the Volk wheels despite me listing them for what I thought was a toppy price, I guess it's collectable 90's parts as well as the cars that are on the up in terms of prices.
It was an interesting one deciding what to pay for the silver MX6, they are very hard to value as there are generally none for sale in the UK such is the rarity of them now. This car is even more unusual given that it's quite highly modified, nothing to compare it to. I'm hopeful that, given 90s car prices are generally on the up, if I keep it for a while, get it fully restored, modified, etc. then it will be worth a fair bit more than it is now. It is good to see older retro classic cars at higher values as it does encourage their longer term survival.
I did a bit of work on the car this weekend. The new Borbet wheel center badges turned up in the week so I popped them on, a nice cosmetic improvement. I went for silver text on black to compliment the rim colour, the old silver centers just didn't look right.
The other new items to arrive were a pair of coilover adjusting spanners, nice and cheap from ebay, about a fiver. I had a measure up and decided that I want to lose 40mm of ride height at the rear, now that the wheels sit inside the arches, and 20mm at the front. I started with the offside rear coilover, but the lower collar ring/nut didn't want to rotate on the threaded sleeve part. I tried penetrating oil and putting a hammer to the adjustment spanner but it appears to be jammed into position. I've basically resigned myself to having to just chop it off with a grinder and replace it. I've order two new lower collar rings/nuts from BC Racing (£7 each) so I'll have another spare at least if I run into the same issue on one of the other corners.
I managed to fix the lighting issues I was having. First was a wing indicator not working, there was a dodgy contact in the bulb socket so it just needed a bit of a wiggy about. A more annoying fault was the instrument cluster back-light not working. I checked all the fuses but no issue there, thought it had to be the dimmer switch at fault so swapped on the part from the old car but that didn't work either. It couldn't be that all the bulbs in the cluster had all failed at the same time, just seemed too unlikely. After poking around for some time, I surprisingly found that the issue was actually due to the radio/CD head unit not being fitted, I had just left it out as it didn't seem much of a priority.
The '6 seems to run and drive fine now with all the electrical systems operating correctly, so I've booked an MOT for Wednesday, fingers crossed. The main unknown quantity is around the fact that the custom exhaust system isn't running a cat, so as the car is a '96 and is due to be tested for emissions, the NOx reading might be interesting, but let's see...
The other new items to arrive were a pair of coilover adjusting spanners, nice and cheap from ebay, about a fiver. I had a measure up and decided that I want to lose 40mm of ride height at the rear, now that the wheels sit inside the arches, and 20mm at the front. I started with the offside rear coilover, but the lower collar ring/nut didn't want to rotate on the threaded sleeve part. I tried penetrating oil and putting a hammer to the adjustment spanner but it appears to be jammed into position. I've basically resigned myself to having to just chop it off with a grinder and replace it. I've order two new lower collar rings/nuts from BC Racing (£7 each) so I'll have another spare at least if I run into the same issue on one of the other corners.
I managed to fix the lighting issues I was having. First was a wing indicator not working, there was a dodgy contact in the bulb socket so it just needed a bit of a wiggy about. A more annoying fault was the instrument cluster back-light not working. I checked all the fuses but no issue there, thought it had to be the dimmer switch at fault so swapped on the part from the old car but that didn't work either. It couldn't be that all the bulbs in the cluster had all failed at the same time, just seemed too unlikely. After poking around for some time, I surprisingly found that the issue was actually due to the radio/CD head unit not being fitted, I had just left it out as it didn't seem much of a priority.
The '6 seems to run and drive fine now with all the electrical systems operating correctly, so I've booked an MOT for Wednesday, fingers crossed. The main unknown quantity is around the fact that the custom exhaust system isn't running a cat, so as the car is a '96 and is due to be tested for emissions, the NOx reading might be interesting, but let's see...
The silver '6 was MOT'ed today. It was a fail but I'm seeing it as a good fail, nothing particularly unexpected.
The primary issue was emissions, the fail was on carbon monoxide levels at fast idle. Its pretty obvious that the issue is due to there not actually being a catalytic converter fitted at the moment, the lambda and hydrocarbon readings were well in spec. So I'm going to have a think on the best solution to this.
I also had a fail on a tyre, the're not the best on these wheels to be fair, nice and easy to sort at least. Had an advisory for rear brake pads, that was it. So not bad for a 24 year old car I guess.
The primary issue was emissions, the fail was on carbon monoxide levels at fast idle. Its pretty obvious that the issue is due to there not actually being a catalytic converter fitted at the moment, the lambda and hydrocarbon readings were well in spec. So I'm going to have a think on the best solution to this.
I also had a fail on a tyre, the're not the best on these wheels to be fair, nice and easy to sort at least. Had an advisory for rear brake pads, that was it. So not bad for a 24 year old car I guess.
Not much progress unfortunately, due to a two week holiday and these bloody quarantine requirements. I've received the catalytic converter that I've going to have fitted, a 2.5" diameter 200 cell jobbie with a lambda sensor bung in it. I'm planning to install a single wideband lambda sensor for monitoring the air/fuel ratios with the gauge that will be mounted where the clock currently sits.
Here's a pic of how the car sits on the new wheels. I think I'm quite satisfied with the style and fitment, I still want to lower the car somewhat more though. The tyres aren't in very good shape, I need a couple for the MOT so have decided to get a new set of four. I've done a bit of research and am thinking of going with Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5's, seem to have a good balance between performance and price.
Here's a pic of how the car sits on the new wheels. I think I'm quite satisfied with the style and fitment, I still want to lower the car somewhat more though. The tyres aren't in very good shape, I need a couple for the MOT so have decided to get a new set of four. I've done a bit of research and am thinking of going with Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5's, seem to have a good balance between performance and price.
I got the new cat fitted today, plus had the central silencer/resonator swapped off in place of a larger one. The exhaust is somewhat quieter, it's just loud now as opposed to very loud. Hopefully the cat does the job on the emissions, I just need it to do enough to get the carbon monoxide down under the specified limit on fast idle. I've heard that you need to get these smaller cats nice and hot. The exhaust does smell a bit better now at least so I think it's doing something. Anyhow, the new tyres and MOT are booked for Monday, so fingers crossed...
Edited by MX6 on Thursday 24th September 10:45
Thanks for the positive comments guys.
At my previous MOT, the natural idle CO volume was found to be bang on 0.5%, so that was a pass even with no cat fitted. But at fast idle it was up to 0.56%, the limit as I mention is 0.3%. So hopefully the high flow cat can do enough to get it under but let's see on Monday. It all seems a bit arbitrary but thems the rules I guess.
With regards to my planned turbo conversion, I will obviously need this to pass emission as well. Since the fast idle test is 2350 to 2650 RPM, the theory is that the engine should run as standard at this RPM since the T3/T4 turbo won't start to spool up until 3k RPM or higher, given the size of it and the exhaust diameter. With my basic initial set-up, the standard ECU will control the fuelling at natural and fast idle as normal, the FMU (fuel management unit - basically a rising rate fuel pressure regulator) won't start pushing more fuel until the turbo starts to come on boost. That's the theory anyhow, if it doesn't pan out that way I will have to go straight to an aftermarket ECU solution...
samoht said:
Hopefully with it being a 1996 car the emissions limits won't be too strict, so the sports cat should suffice.
I had a further look into the emission requirements for the car. You may know, but the emission test standards became a lot more strict from 1st August 1992 with the introduction of catalytic converters to achieve this, it's the CO (carbon monoxide) levels that are significant, my car is a '96. Before this date and back to '86, a volume of up to 3.5% CO was permitted at natural idle, post '92 this became 0.5% which applies to the MX-6. At fast idle there was previously no limit, post '92 that became 0.3%. Then in 2002 things became more strict again, the limits being 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.At my previous MOT, the natural idle CO volume was found to be bang on 0.5%, so that was a pass even with no cat fitted. But at fast idle it was up to 0.56%, the limit as I mention is 0.3%. So hopefully the high flow cat can do enough to get it under but let's see on Monday. It all seems a bit arbitrary but thems the rules I guess.
With regards to my planned turbo conversion, I will obviously need this to pass emission as well. Since the fast idle test is 2350 to 2650 RPM, the theory is that the engine should run as standard at this RPM since the T3/T4 turbo won't start to spool up until 3k RPM or higher, given the size of it and the exhaust diameter. With my basic initial set-up, the standard ECU will control the fuelling at natural and fast idle as normal, the FMU (fuel management unit - basically a rising rate fuel pressure regulator) won't start pushing more fuel until the turbo starts to come on boost. That's the theory anyhow, if it doesn't pan out that way I will have to go straight to an aftermarket ECU solution...
Edited by MX6 on Friday 25th September 11:21
So I finally got the MOT passed yesterday afternoon, no advisories. She scrapped through the emissions, the garage seemed to be sympathetic and nursed it through, the high flow cat needed to be baking hot for the CO to go under the limit. Job done though, chuffed to have the car road legal now. I'm impressed with the new Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres, the car handles noticably better now and grips really well. Obviously plenty more work to do, things to improve/fix, mod's to make...
I managed to adjust the ride height of the coilovers in the end. The locking collars on the rears weren't rotating, stuck firmly in place. I bought an ebay blow torch to whack some heat into them which did the job of loosening them off. Cleaned up the threads with a wire brush and used some penetrating oil to get things moving better. As a result I knocked about 30mm off the ride height at the rear, looks a bit more purposeful now, though I will continue fiddling around with it.
Went out for a blast last night, grabbed a couple of pic's.
I managed to adjust the ride height of the coilovers in the end. The locking collars on the rears weren't rotating, stuck firmly in place. I bought an ebay blow torch to whack some heat into them which did the job of loosening them off. Cleaned up the threads with a wire brush and used some penetrating oil to get things moving better. As a result I knocked about 30mm off the ride height at the rear, looks a bit more purposeful now, though I will continue fiddling around with it.
Went out for a blast last night, grabbed a couple of pic's.
A minor update. I've not done much work on the silver car, just been enjoying putting some miles on it. I've been slowly breaking the old car, stripped quite a bit including the large majority of the interior but still some work to do before I scrap the shell.
I've been selling some of the parts, notably the front and rear seat, good to know they'll be put to good use at least.
I acquired a new engine performance upgrade part, an intake manifold from a KL-ZE. The ZE is a higher power JDM version of the KL-DE 2.5L V6 found in the MX-6, it puts out around 200bhp compared to the 165 of the standard motor. The main upgrade parts to achieve the power increase were the better flowing intake manifold and longer duration inlet cam. I'll fit this part when I start doing the work on the turbo mod's.
I've been selling some of the parts, notably the front and rear seat, good to know they'll be put to good use at least.
I acquired a new engine performance upgrade part, an intake manifold from a KL-ZE. The ZE is a higher power JDM version of the KL-DE 2.5L V6 found in the MX-6, it puts out around 200bhp compared to the 165 of the standard motor. The main upgrade parts to achieve the power increase were the better flowing intake manifold and longer duration inlet cam. I'll fit this part when I start doing the work on the turbo mod's.
Hi, thanks! Things have been proceeding at a glacial pace here, the old blue car is mostly dismantled now, planning to pull the motor out this weekend.
I'm keeping some parts as spares and selling some parts as well, let me know if there are any specific parts you need?
I'm keeping some parts as spares and selling some parts as well, let me know if there are any specific parts you need?
Edited by MX-6 on Saturday 16th January 12:49
savvy said:
Not sure how I managed to miss this thread in 4 years.. Been a fascinating read. I've always been into MX's since new as a kid in the 90's. Have owned MX-3's since 2002, really good to see these cars still going so well. Glad I'm not alone!
Thanks for the comments, it's always good to hear from other MX enthusuiasts. I always really liked the MX3 since the 90s as well, it's a shame that the numbers of those and MX6's are really thinning out now, I think they make for fun project cars particularly for those on a budget.robc831975 said:
Hi. I would be interested in the vris solenoids and the rear spoiler plus the seat rail trims if you have them.
I have these items available, I'll message you about it.Edited to add: I see that you don't accept private messages, if you want to message me then we can talk about the sale of the parts mentioned.
Edited by MX-6 on Saturday 23 January 09:24
robc831975 said:
Looks great, like my old one, is it Noble Green?
Last time I looked there were less than 200 cars left of the road if I recall, my GT manual is one of about 40.
I think they have got to the age now where they have started to come more interesting to the enthusiast and the better cars remaining are worth restoring.
savvy said:
It was sad to see how many MX-3/6’s got scrapped on the scrappage scheme (another thread on General Gassing). It has made our cars much rarer and I imagine the values will really start to increase in years to come.
Here’s my MX-3 after a recent clean.
Looks like a very nice example, I always thought these looked really good in the red. I like the bodykit these came with, would have been good if the MX6 had the side pods, front splitter, etc. as standard. As I'm into modifying stuff, I think the KL-DE 2.5L swap into the MX3 looks a really good route to increased power and just bolts straight in more or less.Here’s my MX-3 after a recent clean.
I think values have already started to head up somwhat, the better MX6's for sale are starting to have asking prices of around £3k now. The fact that they are FWD has really limited the appeal though, if they were RWD and popular with racers/drifters then the values would be like other 90s Japanese performance coupes whose values have inflated a lot in recent years, like the 200SX for example. I've always really liked the MX6, but the main reason I've got into them in recent years is because they are cheap to buy. They were the answer to the question: what is an interesting sporty looking coupe with a V6 that you can buy for cheap?
savvy said:
I think the MX3/6 represents the an of an area of a market that had healthy competition for coupes, one that has since disappeared. When you had the Calibra, Celica, Probe or the 200sx, the MX3 and 6 was an interesting alternative. You didn’t choose one because of its performance but more for their character. Arguable one of the nicest sounding V6’s and great handling whist being incredible practical.
Incidentally, if you have an original 5 speed manual gear knob in good condition, I could do with replacing mine!
Yes the 90s was a great time for 2 door coupes, lots of interesting options on the market back then. The MX-6 is a good all-rounder really and didn't seem to have any real weaknesses in the road tests of the time, but also didn't perhaps stand out as having a strong point either. Seems to have been largely over-looked in what was a crowded market at the time.Incidentally, if you have an original 5 speed manual gear knob in good condition, I could do with replacing mine!
Ive actually a couple of spare original gearknobs here. I'm not really a fan of the standard knob and steering wheel, I think they look quite cheap and plastic and let down what is otherwise a functional but good looking interior. As you can tell from the thread here, I'm not someone who is particularly bothered about originality, a little while ago I swapped in a black leather gearknob from a 90s MX5 which I think is quite a nice upgrade whilst still being OEM.
I also treated the car to a period Mazda branded black leather Momo steering wheel, again from an MX5, not fitted yet though...
Edited by MX-6 on Sunday 24th January 14:43
I've finally got rid of the old car now that has been taking up space in the garage. I had mixed feeling breaking it but I just felt that it was too worn out from high miles and rust for me to justify spending the money and more importantly time on repairing it. In financial terms I've already made quite a bit of cash from selling parts, I guess around double the £430 the car cost me to buy so far. Plus I now have an Aladins Cave of spares in my garage loft space, all the parts I bought and fitted to it have come off plus a lot of useful spares as well.
There were more parts that I could have removed, but got to the point where I had to call it a day and pass it on to a breaker. The guy came for it Sunday. I was sad to see it go, but in hindsight, looking at it as a development motor for the turbo conversion and as parts donor car I can make sence of it to myself.
So moving on, I was very keen to finally get the silver Six in the garage. It's taken quite a bit of time to tidy and re-organise the space to fit the car, although I pleased I'm got a garage it is a compact space really, significantly smaller than the garage of my previous house.
I'm planning to paint all the walls and ceiling, plus wall mount the stack of cupboards, the never-ending DIY projects aren't going away. I need thin out the amount of parts I have and get to get more bits and pieces up into the loft space.
I'm excited to actually start work on improving the car soon, it's still running and driving very well but there are plenty of bits and areas to fettle and improve...
There were more parts that I could have removed, but got to the point where I had to call it a day and pass it on to a breaker. The guy came for it Sunday. I was sad to see it go, but in hindsight, looking at it as a development motor for the turbo conversion and as parts donor car I can make sence of it to myself.
So moving on, I was very keen to finally get the silver Six in the garage. It's taken quite a bit of time to tidy and re-organise the space to fit the car, although I pleased I'm got a garage it is a compact space really, significantly smaller than the garage of my previous house.
I'm planning to paint all the walls and ceiling, plus wall mount the stack of cupboards, the never-ending DIY projects aren't going away. I need thin out the amount of parts I have and get to get more bits and pieces up into the loft space.
I'm excited to actually start work on improving the car soon, it's still running and driving very well but there are plenty of bits and areas to fettle and improve...
Well I've plenty of plans for work on the car but not much time to do anything recently unfortunately. It's the usual working full time plus commute, looking after/spending time with my 17 month old son, plus I've been doing the house DIY project at the weekends.
We moved into a bit of a doer-upper (again) at the end of 2019, I've made quite a lot of progress with things internally. I inherited a tip of a garden, so have been really keen to get that all sort for spring/summer and the end of lockdown, been working on it for the last month. There was a large decking with plenty of rot and loose boards, so a bit dangerous, like walking the plank/shiver me timbers, etc. Plus had a pond full of stagnant water and quite a large summer house, again with ample rot. Just need to level up some patio slabs and lay some new turf down over the next couple of weekends then will call it done, for now.
Anyhow, plans for the car. Once I get though sorting out this garden I will be making time for the MX6. The medium/longer term plan is to get it turbocharged with all the parts I have for this conversion. In the short term I'm going to be concentrating on servicing, maintainance and cosmetic repairs. Here's something of a list:
A deep clean inside and out. I bought a pressure washer recently for the patio so will be putting this to use.
Fettle the ride height. One of the front coilovers doesn't seem to want to rotate and thus adjust in height below a certain point, need to remove it and strip it down to find out what is limiting it.
Rear brake pad replacement, I've already purchased and received these. They are very low now, had an advisory for them on the MOT. Planning to paint the rear calipers in yellow to match the carriers and front calipers, ordered this along with brake cleaner.
Fix the rust spot on the offside rear wheel arch, annoys me every time I look at it. Plus there are some other paint marks/imperfections that I want to deal with. Need to repaint the sunroof panel.
Give the seats the black leather dye treatment.
Fix the sunroof, doesn't operate. Have a spare complete assembly at least.
Other stuff I can't remember off the top of my head...
We moved into a bit of a doer-upper (again) at the end of 2019, I've made quite a lot of progress with things internally. I inherited a tip of a garden, so have been really keen to get that all sort for spring/summer and the end of lockdown, been working on it for the last month. There was a large decking with plenty of rot and loose boards, so a bit dangerous, like walking the plank/shiver me timbers, etc. Plus had a pond full of stagnant water and quite a large summer house, again with ample rot. Just need to level up some patio slabs and lay some new turf down over the next couple of weekends then will call it done, for now.
Anyhow, plans for the car. Once I get though sorting out this garden I will be making time for the MX6. The medium/longer term plan is to get it turbocharged with all the parts I have for this conversion. In the short term I'm going to be concentrating on servicing, maintainance and cosmetic repairs. Here's something of a list:
A deep clean inside and out. I bought a pressure washer recently for the patio so will be putting this to use.
Fettle the ride height. One of the front coilovers doesn't seem to want to rotate and thus adjust in height below a certain point, need to remove it and strip it down to find out what is limiting it.
Rear brake pad replacement, I've already purchased and received these. They are very low now, had an advisory for them on the MOT. Planning to paint the rear calipers in yellow to match the carriers and front calipers, ordered this along with brake cleaner.
Fix the rust spot on the offside rear wheel arch, annoys me every time I look at it. Plus there are some other paint marks/imperfections that I want to deal with. Need to repaint the sunroof panel.
Give the seats the black leather dye treatment.
Fix the sunroof, doesn't operate. Have a spare complete assembly at least.
Other stuff I can't remember off the top of my head...
Edited by MX-6 on Wednesday 17th March 13:31
Well, I've managed to get the back garden into a useable state for summer now, put down several tons of top soil and rolled new turf last weekend. So the Mrs is off my back for the time being at least and I can put some work into the motor.
As mentioned the rear brakes were very due some attention, I'd basically run out of pad and was starting to get some untoward noises emanating from that area. I wanted to tidy things up a bit and paint the calipers to match the colour of the fronts and rear caliper carriers.
The wear was a bit inconsistent across the pads, the worst basically had nought left though.
I gave the calipers a going over with the wire wheel and brake cleaner
As mentioned the rear brakes were very due some attention, I'd basically run out of pad and was starting to get some untoward noises emanating from that area. I wanted to tidy things up a bit and paint the calipers to match the colour of the fronts and rear caliper carriers.
The wear was a bit inconsistent across the pads, the worst basically had nought left though.
I gave the calipers a going over with the wire wheel and brake cleaner
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