Mazda MX6 2.5 V6 manual
Discussion
Thanks Brett, it's finally getting there. I'm looking forward to the next update too, I just hope I'll be telling tales of a well running turbo car, though I imagine there'll be a few little bits and pieces to sort out. I'm thinking of making a short video of the engine running so might post that.
Thanks for the advice, I'll have a think on the best ways to minimise the heat soak. I've had thoughts of installing a bonnet air exit vent in the area above the turbo to expel some of the hot air...
Thanks for the advice, I'll have a think on the best ways to minimise the heat soak. I've had thoughts of installing a bonnet air exit vent in the area above the turbo to expel some of the hot air...
It's alive! I managed to get the thing started and running, here's a couple of video links...
https://youtu.be/sa9arnIS6sg
https://youtu.be/5FOd485D4D0
https://youtu.be/sa9arnIS6sg
https://youtu.be/5FOd485D4D0
Thanks for the reply folks, I'm really pleased to get to this stage now.
There were/are a few little leaks here are there which I had to sort out. I had removed the EGR value but forgot to blank off the hole in the head, so got the blanking plate fitted. Had a water leak due to a hose not being on properly, need to buy the correct size jubilee clip for the fuel line from the FPR.
I've updated my cost spreadsheet recently. Seeing as this is obviously a budget build, the aim was to get the turbo conversion done for less than £1k, I was hoping for around the £800 mark.
Here's a list of the parts bought to get the MX6 turbocharged as it stands at the moment (the fuel pump and gauges are yet to be installed). This list doesn't include replacement parts bought to restore the car, only the additional parts that were required to go boosted. Every item was bought on ebay, apart from the turbo exhaust parts which were bought used from a guy in Canada on the MX6 Facebook group.
Turbo Exhaust Manifold (used) £263.96
FMU fuel pressure regulator £93.46
Turbocharger – T3/T4 £83.99
Intercooler – same side, 2” inlet/outlet £79.00
Mazda Millenia S 310cc fuel injectors (used) £65.46
Intercooler/Charge Pipe kit, 2.25” £64.99
Wastegate (with 8psi spring) £55.00
Tial Wastegate spring – 3.63psi £29.90
Slim profile Cooling fans, 12” X2 £27.99
Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge £27.95
Turbo Oil Feed Lines £26.00
3 way 52mm gauge DIN panel box £24.99
Silicone Coupler – 2.25” to 2” X3 £21.57
Epman adjustable fuel pressure regulator £19.99
Battery Relocation cable £19.80
Boost Gauge £15.00
Exhaust manifold gasket X2 £14.99
Osias High Flow Fuel Pump – 255LPH £14.99
Turbo oil sump return adapter £14.25
Oil return fitting, 10AN 60deg £12.50
Oil feed line, 1m £11.99
Oil filter sandwich adapter plate £11.99
38mm Screamer pipe (used) £9.45
AN4 90deg adapter – male to female £7.89
Silicone Coupler – 2.25” to 2.5” £7.49
Exhaust mounting bolts M10 £6.99
Exhaust gasket 2” X2 £5.90
Exhaust manifold stud nuts X20 £4.95
T3 turbo outlet gasket £3.69
Sump plug for EGR bung £3.50
Coolant hose reducer, 18 to 22mm £3.00
Exhaust mounting bolts M8 £2.79
Vacuum hose 4mm dia, 1m £2.60
Exhaust gasket 2.5” £1.99
T3 turbo to downpipe gasket £1.29
Total: £1,061.29
I've spend around £1k on other parts, both for restoration and modification. Given the car cost £430, I have spent circa £2.5k, over about 3 years.
There were/are a few little leaks here are there which I had to sort out. I had removed the EGR value but forgot to blank off the hole in the head, so got the blanking plate fitted. Had a water leak due to a hose not being on properly, need to buy the correct size jubilee clip for the fuel line from the FPR.
I've updated my cost spreadsheet recently. Seeing as this is obviously a budget build, the aim was to get the turbo conversion done for less than £1k, I was hoping for around the £800 mark.
Here's a list of the parts bought to get the MX6 turbocharged as it stands at the moment (the fuel pump and gauges are yet to be installed). This list doesn't include replacement parts bought to restore the car, only the additional parts that were required to go boosted. Every item was bought on ebay, apart from the turbo exhaust parts which were bought used from a guy in Canada on the MX6 Facebook group.
Turbo Exhaust Manifold (used) £263.96
FMU fuel pressure regulator £93.46
Turbocharger – T3/T4 £83.99
Intercooler – same side, 2” inlet/outlet £79.00
Mazda Millenia S 310cc fuel injectors (used) £65.46
Intercooler/Charge Pipe kit, 2.25” £64.99
Wastegate (with 8psi spring) £55.00
Tial Wastegate spring – 3.63psi £29.90
Slim profile Cooling fans, 12” X2 £27.99
Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge £27.95
Turbo Oil Feed Lines £26.00
3 way 52mm gauge DIN panel box £24.99
Silicone Coupler – 2.25” to 2” X3 £21.57
Epman adjustable fuel pressure regulator £19.99
Battery Relocation cable £19.80
Boost Gauge £15.00
Exhaust manifold gasket X2 £14.99
Osias High Flow Fuel Pump – 255LPH £14.99
Turbo oil sump return adapter £14.25
Oil return fitting, 10AN 60deg £12.50
Oil feed line, 1m £11.99
Oil filter sandwich adapter plate £11.99
38mm Screamer pipe (used) £9.45
AN4 90deg adapter – male to female £7.89
Silicone Coupler – 2.25” to 2.5” £7.49
Exhaust mounting bolts M10 £6.99
Exhaust gasket 2” X2 £5.90
Exhaust manifold stud nuts X20 £4.95
T3 turbo outlet gasket £3.69
Sump plug for EGR bung £3.50
Coolant hose reducer, 18 to 22mm £3.00
Exhaust mounting bolts M8 £2.79
Vacuum hose 4mm dia, 1m £2.60
Exhaust gasket 2.5” £1.99
T3 turbo to downpipe gasket £1.29
Total: £1,061.29
I've spend around £1k on other parts, both for restoration and modification. Given the car cost £430, I have spent circa £2.5k, over about 3 years.
Edited by MX6 on Tuesday 13th August 17:24
...just thought I'd do a quick little lack of progress update. Basically the turbo conversion is complete and the car is in one piece, it appears to need a new head gasket or two now though so I need to take it all apart again. No recent progress due other projects, the biggest of which include having a baby and suffering a protracted house move saga. The latest is that I have a completion date for next Friday, so the '6 with be off to her new home shortly...
Edited by MX6 on Thursday 19th December 11:04
...so the MX6 is re-homed now, as am I. As ever the new gaff is something of a project so there'll be no shortage of DIY-ing to do, I will be making time to get the car on the road next year though. I've been slowly clearing the crap out of the garage so I can get the car in there, planning to resume the project over the Xmas hol's.
Thanks, I really want to get back on with it soon, I'm interested to see how it turns out too! There's an element of planning and an element of making things up as I go along...
With regards to the head gasket issue mentioned, basically these is a fair bit of white smoke from the exhaust when the motor is run, plus the cooling system appears to be pressurised as well. I haven't actually done a compression test so that is one of the first things I need to get done before properly assessing things and deciding what to do next.
Before I started work on the turbo conversion I did know that there seemed to be a problem with overheating, I think I mentioned this in an earlier post or two. There didn't seem to be a problem with lost compression, the engine seemed to run okay. During the course of the work I've changed the water pump, thermostat, radiator and coolant temp sensors so I've ruled out any issues with those. I actually deleted the coolant expansion tank as it was located where my air filter is now positioned, so that situation is likely to be causing problems as well and needs sorting.
With regards to the head gasket issue mentioned, basically these is a fair bit of white smoke from the exhaust when the motor is run, plus the cooling system appears to be pressurised as well. I haven't actually done a compression test so that is one of the first things I need to get done before properly assessing things and deciding what to do next.
Before I started work on the turbo conversion I did know that there seemed to be a problem with overheating, I think I mentioned this in an earlier post or two. There didn't seem to be a problem with lost compression, the engine seemed to run okay. During the course of the work I've changed the water pump, thermostat, radiator and coolant temp sensors so I've ruled out any issues with those. I actually deleted the coolant expansion tank as it was located where my air filter is now positioned, so that situation is likely to be causing problems as well and needs sorting.
Very impressive work !
You may have mentioned it earlier on, but what is the increase in BHP over the standard V6 ?
With reference to the front bumper 'clips etc'.....If it were mine I would make the car as good on the outside as it is on the engineering side !
Seems a pity to have a 'rat look' as you say when you have obviously done a very good job on the design/fabrication side...
Of course that's only IMHO !!!
Followed the project since the start and pleased to see/hear it is running. Well done !
You may have mentioned it earlier on, but what is the increase in BHP over the standard V6 ?
With reference to the front bumper 'clips etc'.....If it were mine I would make the car as good on the outside as it is on the engineering side !
Seems a pity to have a 'rat look' as you say when you have obviously done a very good job on the design/fabrication side...
Of course that's only IMHO !!!
Followed the project since the start and pleased to see/hear it is running. Well done !
Thanks for the comments Paul. The standard MX6 is around 165bhp so not a particularly high output for 2.5L really, but even with that the car goes pretty well given the circa 1250kg weight, and sounds good. My power goals are for the output to be in the 250-280bhp area which should be achievable with around 6-8psi of boost. I think that will be plenty for me to have fun with on the road and also realistically enough for this chassis.
These motors are pretty strong and take boost well by the accounts I've read, the weak link is the transmission which can start to fail at around 300bhp+ apparently. I've a 3.63psi wastegate spring fitted so for starters I will just try and get things working well at that level, the power will obviously just be whatever it makes at that boost pressure. A guy in the states who did a similar build to mine made 240bhp at 4psi on the dyno.
You are right regarding the bodywork, I'd like it to be all flawless and glossy but I will just have to deal with one thing at a time. I'm more into doing the oily bits than restoring bodywork, I'm just not very good at it. Given this is a budget build and a car with minimal value I can't justify having a body shop sort everything out. For now it's function over form.
These motors are pretty strong and take boost well by the accounts I've read, the weak link is the transmission which can start to fail at around 300bhp+ apparently. I've a 3.63psi wastegate spring fitted so for starters I will just try and get things working well at that level, the power will obviously just be whatever it makes at that boost pressure. A guy in the states who did a similar build to mine made 240bhp at 4psi on the dyno.
You are right regarding the bodywork, I'd like it to be all flawless and glossy but I will just have to deal with one thing at a time. I'm more into doing the oily bits than restoring bodywork, I'm just not very good at it. Given this is a budget build and a car with minimal value I can't justify having a body shop sort everything out. For now it's function over form.
Just making my presence known for encouragement etc only found this brilliant thread yesterday and read it all now. I'm a fan of the mx6, what's not to love? You've done great work on yours, it sits really well. I have a 1mz MR2 and would love to turbocharge it.
Shame it's all stalled because of possible hgf but no doubt you will have it all up and running soon. Hopefully see it at a PH meet one day. If not a YouTube video will suffice. Until then, watching
Shame it's all stalled because of possible hgf but no doubt you will have it all up and running soon. Hopefully see it at a PH meet one day. If not a YouTube video will suffice. Until then, watching
danllama said:
Just making my presence known for encouragement etc only found this brilliant thread yesterday and read it all now. I'm a fan of the mx6, what's not to love? You've done great work on yours, it sits really well. I have a 1mz MR2 and would love to turbocharge it.
Shame it's all stalled because of possible hgf but no doubt you will have it all up and running soon. Hopefully see it at a PH meet one day. If not a YouTube video will suffice. Until then, watching
Thanks for the encouraging reply, sorry I missed this earlier and didn't reply. I really like the MR2, must be great with the V6 I always liked the idea of that.Shame it's all stalled because of possible hgf but no doubt you will have it all up and running soon. Hopefully see it at a PH meet one day. If not a YouTube video will suffice. Until then, watching
Well, the project has still stalled, but I've managed to make some progress towards being able to make some progress at least... Following the house move the garage had been used as a store room stuffed full of various household contents and rubbish. Getting the house interior into shape has been a priority over the last several months (plus I've a 5 month old baby, life, etc.) but I've recently been able to turn to the man cave side of things. It's basically just a brick shell but is on the side of the house so light and power, I've managed to get the space into some kind of reasonable order now and free enough of stuff to allow the '6 to actually fit in there.
I was hunting for a little while for storage solutions, found these secondhand black cupboards on ebay, very solid, £15 for the three.
It might not look like much but I'm chuffed to have it finally straight and tidy. It is a space purely for the car and car related tools, no other rubbish. Thankfully the garage has a pitched roof and a boarded loft space so all the parts and other assorted bits and pieces are up there. Obviously the space needs more work, I want to paint it out, get a proper workbench and all the rest of it in there but it's a start.
The car is a tight fit length ways, I've had remove the front bumper but it still only just fits with the door closed. I did plan to run a beer fridge in there but it didn't fit with the car in, shame.
Edited by MX6 on Monday 16th March 16:46
In more car specific news, I've bought a new part. I've not been expecting the standard clutch to be up to stratch so have bought this, an XTD "level 3" uprated item, supposedly good for 385 lbs/ft.
As per usual it's a bargain basement ebay part - £58.02, plus £18.64 postage from the US, plus import duty. Cheap and cheerful, let's give it a spin and see. From the states as there are no tuning parts available in the UK for the MX6, there just aren't any left now so I guess there is no point for anyone to stock these kinds of parts.
It looks decent enough on paper, it has a 6 puck copper ceramic clutch disc, heavy duty pressure plate, plus comes with the release bearing and alignment tool. There was a "stage 4" type available with a solid rather than sprung clutch disc, more of a part for track use, but I primarily want this to be a road car still so the one I went for seems ample.
As per usual it's a bargain basement ebay part - £58.02, plus £18.64 postage from the US, plus import duty. Cheap and cheerful, let's give it a spin and see. From the states as there are no tuning parts available in the UK for the MX6, there just aren't any left now so I guess there is no point for anyone to stock these kinds of parts.
It looks decent enough on paper, it has a 6 puck copper ceramic clutch disc, heavy duty pressure plate, plus comes with the release bearing and alignment tool. There was a "stage 4" type available with a solid rather than sprung clutch disc, more of a part for track use, but I primarily want this to be a road car still so the one I went for seems ample.
Edited by MX6 on Monday 16th March 16:47
BrettMRC said:
You need a short wheelbase Mx6! 
(Not an Mx3)
Ha, yeah that would certainly help with the space issues! (Not an Mx3)To be honest I have actually had some thoughts about swapping to building an MX3, basically swapping the 2.5 KL-DE turbo motor in, but I really prefer the long sleek shape of the MX6.
Hi kieran, have missed your input on facebook mate but appreciate your change in curcumstances. . Shame about your working conditions but smal price to pay when finding the best family home. Hope you all are ok and stay safe in these strange and scary times. Give us a shout if you decide to change projects. . As im sure some of us would really appreciate your hard work. I will try and check in here from time to time for a catch up. Steve (howdens joinery,wellingborough) 
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