Mazda MX6 2.5 V6 manual
Discussion
Another exciting update here, I know you've all been waiting with baited breath!
I got around to cleaning the '6 yesterday, for the first time since owning it, lovely weather.
The body and paint are good for a 20 year old car but I've some surface rust around the rear arches and sills to sort.
Got the new heater blower resistor fitted, a cheapo secondhand ebay one (£10) from a Mazda 626 I think. Not quite the correct part no. and is a different as can be seen but it fits in the hole and the blower works on all four levels now so satisfied with that.
I fitted the new front plate, having previously binned off the ugly plastic mounting for the old rectangle plate. Interestingly, underneath in the bumper there a recess for a square plate (must be for over-seas markets) so got one of those (£7.69) plus some new fixings.
I got around to cleaning the '6 yesterday, for the first time since owning it, lovely weather.
The body and paint are good for a 20 year old car but I've some surface rust around the rear arches and sills to sort.
Got the new heater blower resistor fitted, a cheapo secondhand ebay one (£10) from a Mazda 626 I think. Not quite the correct part no. and is a different as can be seen but it fits in the hole and the blower works on all four levels now so satisfied with that.
I fitted the new front plate, having previously binned off the ugly plastic mounting for the old rectangle plate. Interestingly, underneath in the bumper there a recess for a square plate (must be for over-seas markets) so got one of those (£7.69) plus some new fixings.
Edited by mx-6 on Monday 3rd April 16:07
The leaking cam cover gaskets seems a really common issue on the KL-DE, most old V6 Probe's and MX-6's probably need it doing. I will tackle it at some point though it's not a priority at the moment as the engine seem to be running okay. A had a look into it and it looks a bit involved, to get that back cover off you need to pull the intake manifold and other asorted gubbins. How did you find it, run into any issues?
Yes the whole manifold has to come off and there alot of vacuum pipes , but its not that bad to be fair but the back one was leaking really badly , but i did it over 2 days as the inlet manifomd gaskets they ordered were wrong so i did it over 2 days and the biggest ballache was remembering the where the vacuum pipes went as i didnt label them lol but its not to bad dude ... she asked me last week to do her clutch so that will be fun ...i hate the probe shes had 2 , one from 12 month old which was a 2 litre , piston rings went 5 years ago and then she got the v6 2 weeks later, but the engine has gave her no trouble what so ever in 5 years , well apart from cam cover and exhaust manifold gasket.
That's good to know, I will be tackling it in due course. I had noticed that there are a lot of vacuum hoses running around on this engine, connecting to the rear cam cover, intake manifold and assorted other gubbins. It seems quite a complex engine design for one that's over 25 years old and doesn't really make that much power by modern standards. Changing the clutch will be a bit involved but hopefully not too bad...
I know everyone dislikes the Probe but I actually quite like it's retro '90's looks now, complete with the pop-up lights. Saying that, a friend had a 2.0L one back in the day, it drove like s
t. Gutless engine, boat like suspension... A modified V6 one could be a fun and very cheap motor though.
Just a minor update, I've not had much time to work on the MX6, my 159 daily driver needed some attention. Anyhow, I've finished sorting the battery cables out now as they were quite messy and corroded, replaced them with new ones.
The car is looking fairly tidy now, I like the new front plate. I put the rear spoiler back on for now as I didn't want to leave the holes in the boot exposed, it was interesting to see how it looked without it. I've ordered my lowering springs now, really looking forward to getting those on. I went for Kilen -35mm Sport springs, they were the cheapest on ebay at £106. I'd not heard of the brand before but they are an established manufacturer of OE springs, they are designed and made in Sweden.
I know everyone dislikes the Probe but I actually quite like it's retro '90's looks now, complete with the pop-up lights. Saying that, a friend had a 2.0L one back in the day, it drove like s
t. Gutless engine, boat like suspension... A modified V6 one could be a fun and very cheap motor though.Just a minor update, I've not had much time to work on the MX6, my 159 daily driver needed some attention. Anyhow, I've finished sorting the battery cables out now as they were quite messy and corroded, replaced them with new ones.
The car is looking fairly tidy now, I like the new front plate. I put the rear spoiler back on for now as I didn't want to leave the holes in the boot exposed, it was interesting to see how it looked without it. I've ordered my lowering springs now, really looking forward to getting those on. I went for Kilen -35mm Sport springs, they were the cheapest on ebay at £106. I'd not heard of the brand before but they are an established manufacturer of OE springs, they are designed and made in Sweden.
So my new lowering springs have turned up now, exciting. I've been wanting to fit some since I bought the car, I sold a few old car parts I had in the garage again to fund the purchase, £105.20 from ebay. These are -35mm Sport Springs designed and made in Sweden by a manufacturer called Kilen. I'd not heard of them before but they are a large manufacturer of OE springs and have been going for 150 years apparently, according to their website.
I'm really looking forward to getting these beauties slipped in though it will have to wait for a little while due to other priorities taking priority, I'm fitting a new kitchen in my house this week...
I'm really looking forward to getting these beauties slipped in though it will have to wait for a little while due to other priorities taking priority, I'm fitting a new kitchen in my house this week...
I've not had much time to work on the MX6 lately, I've been fitting a new kitchen, so haven't slipped in the lowering springs as yet. As the car seemed to run and drive okay I decided to cross my fingers and book it in for an MOT. It failed on a few items. The most serious fail was on emissions, it passed the CO2 and hydro-carbon tests but failed on the lambda. The other fails were fairly innocuous, the battery isn't properly secure and two of the tyres are rotating the wrong way, which I didn't even know was an MOT fail to be honest.
To resolve the lambda emissions issue I'm thinking that I could need a new lambda sensor but will try and rule out a couple of other things first. My VAF repair job has failed, the glued parts have started to separate so this could well have messed up the fueling. It had been hanging together fine but the garage were obviously trying to get the car hot to pass the emssions and the heat in the engine bay had started to melt the glue. So I've given up with the attempted repair and have bought a decent used VAF to fit, £25. I'm also planning to put some new plugs in just to rule this out as a potential problem area. As for the other fails, I need to get a strap for the battery and swap two of the wheels over.
On the advisory front, I'll be working through those in due course. The rear coil springs are corroded but I'll be replacing those with the new lowering springs anyway. The front constant velocity joint gaitors and rear trailing arm bushes are deteriorated so will replace those, plus there's a chip in the windscreen which I'm not going to worry about.
To resolve the lambda emissions issue I'm thinking that I could need a new lambda sensor but will try and rule out a couple of other things first. My VAF repair job has failed, the glued parts have started to separate so this could well have messed up the fueling. It had been hanging together fine but the garage were obviously trying to get the car hot to pass the emssions and the heat in the engine bay had started to melt the glue. So I've given up with the attempted repair and have bought a decent used VAF to fit, £25. I'm also planning to put some new plugs in just to rule this out as a potential problem area. As for the other fails, I need to get a strap for the battery and swap two of the wheels over.
On the advisory front, I'll be working through those in due course. The rear coil springs are corroded but I'll be replacing those with the new lowering springs anyway. The front constant velocity joint gaitors and rear trailing arm bushes are deteriorated so will replace those, plus there's a chip in the windscreen which I'm not going to worry about.
Edited by mx-6 on Thursday 4th May 13:36
I fitted another VAF, I sourced a used one £25. I was convinced that the MOT emissions fail was a result of a vacuum leak on the intake caused by the VAF airflow meter starting to separate and allowing in unmetered air, so was hoping this will sort things out for the MOT retest. The KL-DE runs significantly better with the new VAF, the best it has since I've owned the car, rev's cleanly and has a very smooth idle now.
I got hold of a used drivers footwell fuse box cover so got that in, the interior is complete now. The remaining fault is that there is no power to the clock, 12V socket and overhead interior lights so that still need investigation...
Having had the MOT retest the '6 still failed on the lambda emissions reading, so there's work still to do there. I'm thinking that I will fit a new lambda sensor and change the plugs too, fingers crossed that will sort things out.
I got hold of a used drivers footwell fuse box cover so got that in, the interior is complete now. The remaining fault is that there is no power to the clock, 12V socket and overhead interior lights so that still need investigation...
Having had the MOT retest the '6 still failed on the lambda emissions reading, so there's work still to do there. I'm thinking that I will fit a new lambda sensor and change the plugs too, fingers crossed that will sort things out.
Edited by mx-6 on Tuesday 9th May 12:17
So I thought I'd kick this thread off again... Now that it feels like winter is upon us it's time to reprise the MX-6 project and get the car in for garage season as it were. I'd been using the garage for various car and DIY projects recently but it was time to have a good clean, tidy and clear out so I could get the '6 in for some repair, refurb and modification work over the coming cold months.
I've altered the shelf arrangements, put up a drawer cabinet for assorted fixings (£22), fitted a bench vice (£19.99), plus got a used tool box (£29.50) amongst other things.
There are quite a lot of jobs I plan to do on the car over the winter, I've been putting together a few parts I need plus more will be coming in soon...
I've altered the shelf arrangements, put up a drawer cabinet for assorted fixings (£22), fitted a bench vice (£19.99), plus got a used tool box (£29.50) amongst other things.
There are quite a lot of jobs I plan to do on the car over the winter, I've been putting together a few parts I need plus more will be coming in soon...
mx-6 said:
I've not had much time to work on the MX6 lately, I've been fitting a new kitchen, so haven't slipped in the lowering springs as yet. As the car seemed to run and drive okay I decided to cross my fingers and book it in for an MOT. It failed on a few items. The most serious fail was on emissions, it passed the CO2 and hydro-carbon tests but failed on the lambda. The other fails were fairly innocuous, the battery isn't properly secure and two of the tyres are rotating the wrong way, which I didn't even know was an MOT fail to be honest.
To resolve the lambda emissions issue I'm thinking that I could need a new lambda sensor but will try and rule out a couple of other things first. My VAF repair job has failed, the glued parts have started to separate so this could well have messed up the fueling. It had been hanging together fine but the garage were obviously trying to get the car hot to pass the emssions and the heat in the engine bay had started to melt the glue. So I've given up with the attempted repair and have bought a decent used VAF to fit, £25. I'm also planning to put some new plugs in just to rule this out as a potential problem area. As for the other fails, I need to get a strap for the battery and swap two of the wheels over.
On the advisory front, I'll be working through those in due course. The rear coil springs are corroded but I'll be replacing those with the new lowering springs anyway. The front constant velocity joint gaitors and rear trailing arm bushes are deteriorated so will replace those, plus there's a chip in the windscreen which I'm not going to worry about.
Kwikfit Hitchin?To resolve the lambda emissions issue I'm thinking that I could need a new lambda sensor but will try and rule out a couple of other things first. My VAF repair job has failed, the glued parts have started to separate so this could well have messed up the fueling. It had been hanging together fine but the garage were obviously trying to get the car hot to pass the emssions and the heat in the engine bay had started to melt the glue. So I've given up with the attempted repair and have bought a decent used VAF to fit, £25. I'm also planning to put some new plugs in just to rule this out as a potential problem area. As for the other fails, I need to get a strap for the battery and swap two of the wheels over.
On the advisory front, I'll be working through those in due course. The rear coil springs are corroded but I'll be replacing those with the new lowering springs anyway. The front constant velocity joint gaitors and rear trailing arm bushes are deteriorated so will replace those, plus there's a chip in the windscreen which I'm not going to worry about.
Edited by mx-6 on Thursday 4th May 13:36
I've got plenty of mechanical stuff to fix so naturally I got things started by fitting my go-faster aftermarket steering wheel, a used black leather Italian made effort by Selm. At £33 I thought it a better bet than a brand new plastic chinese item...
It was an easy fit, I'd bought an adapter boss for the MX6 column spline. Just had to buzz out the horn signal line and wire it up.
I quite like the interior with the dark grey leather seats, but the blobby plastic shopping car wheel was letting the side down
It was an easy fit, I'd bought an adapter boss for the MX6 column spline. Just had to buzz out the horn signal line and wire it up.
I quite like the interior with the dark grey leather seats, but the blobby plastic shopping car wheel was letting the side down
.It's been slow progress on this due to other projects, but digging into it at more now.
Here's now she was just before being put on stands for some light resto...
...there's been a few small bits and bobs fitted including clear indicator lens and fresh wipers...
...plus I started deleting off the non-working AC (the condenser was already missing from the car when I got it).
Here's now she was just before being put on stands for some light resto...
...there's been a few small bits and bobs fitted including clear indicator lens and fresh wipers...
...plus I started deleting off the non-working AC (the condenser was already missing from the car when I got it).
Good to see this thread again...! It's a very good read by the way.
You mentioned that you also have a 159: which one is it? As a fellow Alfisti I am curious !
I have a 2005 156 JTDM 150 ( remapped to about 190) that I have spent an inordinate amount of money on at Autolusso Penrith in the past year to 'rust proof ' the underside, new DMF/clutch, most of front and rear suspension renewed etc etc...
The 159 would be the logical replacement but I so like my 156 ! Especially with the remap !
You mentioned that you also have a 159: which one is it? As a fellow Alfisti I am curious !
I have a 2005 156 JTDM 150 ( remapped to about 190) that I have spent an inordinate amount of money on at Autolusso Penrith in the past year to 'rust proof ' the underside, new DMF/clutch, most of front and rear suspension renewed etc etc...
The 159 would be the logical replacement but I so like my 156 ! Especially with the remap !
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