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Mazda 626 Troubles

2544 messages,  Last post on Apr 15, 2013 at 8:56 AM

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What is this discussion about? Mazda 626, Sedan




Messages Page 66 of 255

#647 of 2544 94 626 engine troubles by bud25

Jun 28, 2001 (2:10 pm)

I bought my 1994 mazda 626 lx with a 4 cyl. and 5-speed about a year and a half ago. After having some ticking noises coming from the engine I had a rod break in the engine. The beginning of my nightmare of the mazda 626
   I had a mechanic friend (ASE certified) put a new rod, rings, timing belt in the engine. I also had the head and crankshaft machined. Ever since I got my 94 626 back, I've had problems. It is blowing out blue smoke from the tail pipe when I drive the vehicle or if I rev the rpm's up when sitting in neutral. It has a bad ticking noise, and besides all that I have got starting problems.
   basically It starts, but then dies right away.
Then when I try to start it again, it just keeps turning over like it's flooded. I then can get it started occasionally by putting the pedal to the floor and cranking the engine over, sometimes pounding away on the accelerator pedal seems to help it along. Once it does start, I have to keep it idling at about 3000rpm's or it will die again. After about 3 minutes the car suddenly smooths out and runs fine.(excluding the blue smoke and ticking noise)
 
My friend said that all my problems are just engine management problems. But the dealer said that their was no codes and It was an internal engine problem.(oil getting into the cylinder)
P.S. My friend said that after a few thousand miles the new ring seals would seat and the blue smoke would stop. Well It's been 3500 miles and the car is burning oil and blowing blue smoke.
 
??Who is telling me the truth??
What can I do to fix this nightmare and get it running good enough to sell it and get something new.??? I would appreciate some good advice, I've been dealing with this for about three months now and have spent over $1,300.

#648 of 2544 Hindsight by windowphobe6

Jun 29, 2001 (5:35 am)

I'm surprised that the oil pump wasn't replaced during this semi-overhaul.
 
"Nightmare" usually translates to "I took the cheapest way out, and this is what I got." At this point, you're probably better off looking for a rebuilt engine. Of course, that was also the case three months and $1300 ago.

#649 of 2544 hmmmm... by qbrozen

Jun 29, 2001 (6:49 am)

windowphobe, couldn't this be a timing problem? After all, the belt was replaced by his friend. Just a thought.

#650 of 2544 Timing off by windowphobe6

Jun 29, 2001 (12:35 pm)

That could account for the lousy drivability, to be sure, but it's not enough to generate plumes of roiling blue out the tailpipe all by itself. (And why didn't Mr. ASE Certified think of that instead of trying to pass it off as an engine-management problem?)
 
It won't hurt to check the timing just once more, just in case. And if the belt is one tooth off, not that difficult to do on these little DOHC darbs, replacing the belt in the correct location (I wouldn't recommend reusing a timing belt on general principle, even with only 3500 miles on it) should ease the stalling and such. I don't think it will help with the oil spew, but taking it one problem at a time is sensible.

#651 of 2544 Hesitation/Resistance at highway speeds & CEL by am2181

Jun 29, 2001 (7:47 pm)

Hi everyone,
 
This is my first time posting to this board. What a pleasure it is to discover that I'm not alone in my Mazda grief.
 
I have a 97 626 LX 4 cylinder automatic. I bought the car with about 68,000 miles and have since put about 18,000 miles on it over the span of a year. It ran like a champ until about a month ago when it started acting up.
 
When driving home one day, I noticed that the car resisted during hard acceleration or very high speeds. That is, when I stepped on the pedal, it accelerated fine, but halfway through it would resist - making it feel like I was taking my foot off the pedal for a split second over and over, even though it was firmly planted. It began as a very minor inconvenience, but seemed to get worse over time. I had the fuel injectors serviced and the fuel filter replaced hoping it help, but noticed no improvement. Finally, about 2 weeks later, the CEL came on and I took it in for diagnostic.
 
The shop had the car for a week and two days, but hopefully (crossing my fingers), it's now fixed. They seemed pretty convinced that they pinpointed the problem. They said that my O2 sensors were both bad and had to be replaced. In all, this job cost me about 800 bucks. 200 to figure out what the problem was, 500 for parts (249.98 per sensor - ordered directly from the Mazda dealership)and the balance for labor. I don't know if I got ripped off or not (to my amateur eye, the sensors look like they could cost 2.49 each rather than 249.98), but I'm hoping that at least the problem is taken care of.
 
I also have another, apparently unrelated problem: After the car warms up, I notice a rattling sound from under the car during acceleration. It doesn't happen all the time, but it ONLY happens during acceleration. The mechanic said that it probably won't hurt the car if I left it alone, and, after blowing 800 bucks as it is, I wasn't about to jump at the chance to spend any more.
 
Anyway, just wanted to share my story. If anyone else has/had similar problems, it'd be great to hear about your resolutions to them.
 
Thanks.

#652 of 2544 am2181 by rpm9

Jun 29, 2001 (10:44 pm)

I've already shared this in prior posts, but if this makes you feel any better, I've invested over $3400 in repairs on my 94 626 in the last five months and I still have to replace my sunroof and replace my AC compressor switch (approximately another $1000 combined).
 
BTW, my car has 101K miles and rattles like crazy all over the dashboard area. And in regards to my .02 sensors, I paid my mechanic $25 to diagnose and bought Bosch .02 sensors from an independent parts store at a cost of $140 for the pair. Then I paid the same mechanic $50 to install (for a total of $210 for the complete job).
 
The only time I would ever buy dealer parts is when an aftermarket part isn't available. Dealer parts are absolutely a rip-off especially since aftermarket parts are just as good for half the price (and even lower). Furthermore, I would never go to a dealer to work on my car when there are competent Mazda mechanics that work for independent repair shops at a much lesser expensive rate (unless of course you live in a small town and your options are limited).
  
I used to love my 626, but the financial burden caused by a consistent flow of costly mechanical problems has become too overwhelming and has taken the fun away from my ownership experience. I now regret that I ever bought this car in the first place. However, I hope this information I shared with you will help save you money in the future. Good-luck.

#653 of 2544 am2181 by rpm9

Jun 29, 2001 (11:25 pm)

An error in my post #645: The grand total for the complete .02 sensor replacement (parts and labor) should read $215 and not $210. I failed to edit my post because the time had expired.
 
It's part of my obsessive-compulsive behavior and the perfectionist in me to correct such an error. Maybe that's why I keep spending money on this car. I'm just glad I have a five-speed and not the infamous auto trans. I'd probably have to increase my medication if I had to invest another $2500 to fix the tranny...

#654 of 2544 Oxygen sensors by windowphobe6

Jun 30, 2001 (6:34 am)

The only thing Mazda-specific about them, I believe, is the connector; other than that, they're fairly generic 4-wire jobs. If the failure isn't due to the old connector, you should be able to splice it onto a generic sensor and plug it in. The dealership generally will not think of this.
 
On the subject of rattling during acceleration - this is probably a minor bit of detonation. (The four-cylinder car doesn't get the fancy knock sensor that's on the V6.) Unless it gets worse, I wouldn't worry about it, and if it does, it might go away with a switch to 89 (instead of 87) octane.

#655 of 2544 Symptoms remain as well as infamous CEL by am2181

Jun 30, 2001 (4:16 pm)

Thanks RPM and Windowphobe for your insights.
 
Well, it looks like the auto shop didn't exactly pinpoint the problem after all. When driving on the freeway today (one day after having the repairs made), I noticed the same symptoms as before (resistance upon hard acceleration or very high speeds). Then, sure enough, shortly after getting off the freeway, the CEL came back on. Essentially, after blowing 800 bucks, my car appears to be in the same condition as it was when I brought it in in the first place.
 
For some odd reason, I feel as if I'm being taken for a ride. I guess I'll wait to see what happens on Monday when I take it back in.

#656 of 2544 Overheating and A/C - '98 LX-V6 by viks123

Jul 06, 2001 (1:03 pm)

I have a '98 626 LX-V6 with 95000 miles on it. I am the original owner. I haven't had any major problems, changed the plug wires (more later), fuel filter, oil changes, etc.
 
Recently I started having a overheating problem and I am still searching for the cause. This will be a bit lengthy, but I figured the more info the better.
 
History: The engine would start to overheat while I was driving. I would use the heater setting on the dash to cool it some until I could pull over. I found that I was low on coolant. This was because the coolant reservoir had two stress fracture cracks in it (in the underside corners above the Full mark) and when under pressure, the coolant would shoot out in a nice little stream. (A side note: this coolant would get on the belts and make them squeal when the engine was started. But would go away after the fluid dried). I bought a new coolant reservoir from the Mazda dealer to install myself. The service manager said he had only seen this one other time and in that case the guys engine was running hot because the thermostat was stuck closed and he blew his engine. On his recommendation, I got a thermostat (not from Mazda). I replaced the reservoir and the thermostat and the car seems to run fine now under normal conditions, but starts to run hot when I use the air conditioner and seemingly only at highway speeds. The engine fans run fine. Tested the old thermostat and it opened fine. If I shut the air conditioner off, teh temp. comes back down. The engine is running about 210 deg F under normal usage.
 
I have also found that the air conditioner is not nearly as cool as it use to be, and I am fairly sure I have a leak. Sometime when I turn off the car, I can hear a hissing of something in the engine and it sounds like it is coming from the accumulator (black cylinder on passenger side, near firewall and hood). There is a nice hole in the soundproofing on the firewall right next to the accumulator, so I am fairly sure that it has leaked there. I'll have that checked out and fixed (when I take my car in to get the timing belt replaced VERY soon).
 
So on to my questions:
-- It seems that these two things must be linked (A/C leaking and the engine running hot when air conditioner is running). I can't seem to think of how these things are linked, except though the compressor/belt system. Any ideas? Maybe it will go away when I get the A/C leak fixed but maybe not.
-- The new thermostat I replaced the original Mazda thermostat with was from an auto parts retailer, and was a bit different. The Mazda part has a hole in the collar with a little metal plug type thing and the replacement does not have this. Should I get a Mazda part and replace the one I replaced? What is this hole for? Seems like the plunger would keep fluid from flowing back thoguh this hole.
 
And on the plug wires, I would suggest only Mazda plug wires. I first bought wires from some retail store, installed the wires, then decided to double check the plugs. When I tried to pull the wires off, several of the crimps got stuck on the plugs. Several of the rubber boots at the end of the wire near the plug came off and I had to fish them out of the plug wells. One of the wires even pulled off the crimp (ruined the set). I then got Mazda wires which are better, in that the boot is all one rubber overmold that holds the crimps and wire snugly. The other manufacture of the wires had several hard plastic parts, probably so they could have more uniform parts for different cars. Just my two cents.

Messages Page 66 of 255

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