Conference terri::cars_uk

At the local Mazda dealers on Saturday, talking MX-5s at them , and happened
to ask about the new 4x4 ... they showed me a picture of it and it looks
like it's going to be ready for the old Group B rallying straight from the
factory! It will have a turbo version of the 1.8 engine, pumping out (so they
say) 220bhp!!  It will be in the small(er than the old 323) 3-door shape,
and in the 4 door booted 3-box shape, but _not_ in the 5 door 323F shape.
The one in the picture looked absolutely wicked, it was the 3-door style, in 
black with a front skirt virtually on the ground, a _massive_ rear spoiler, and
all sorts of bolt-on goodies ... sounds revolting but actually looked quite
good (and I'm not a fan of bolt-on spoilers and stuff)
It should give the GTE 16v brigade quite a shock!! but then so should the old
one with it's contemporaries, but no-one seemed to have heard of them ...
maybe the MX-5 will give Mazda a bit of a name for sporty cars now ...
I hope so, it's not going to hurt the resale value of my RX if it does!!

Peter

    A plea for help ....
    
    We are now on our second 4X4 and generally speaking we have been dead
    happy with the little beasts ... everything has been rosy in the garden
    until recently a petite problem reared it's ugly head 
    
    Has anyone seen/heard of this sort of problem - has anyone got ANY
    suggestions - our local Mazda garage is going crazy trying to fix this
    and so far no luck ...
    
    Symptoms:
    
    Once the car has warmed up a bit she lurches at between 1000-2500 revs
    like she's about to run out of petrol - changing gear to keep the revs
    above 3000 helps, but you tend to 'kangaroo' along the road like a
    learner if you try 30mph in 4th gear !!
    
    Also - when under stress (like cornering or going uphill) she can be
    very sluggish and have an alomst total power-loss .. very embarassing
    pulling out on the M-way to overtake something and finding you are foot
    to the floor but not going any faster !
    
    Also - no power when pulling away from lights/junctions etc - foot to
    floor gives a sort of 'turbo-lag' where you crawl foward then
    eventually after about 10 seconds she lurches forward and bunny hops
    her merry way towards 3000 revs.
    
    The Mazda garage have had the car in many times now and have called
    other Mazda dealers to see if they can fix this problem - they've
    tested every electrical part (so they say) and tested the
    fuel-injection system etc etc 
    
    
    any wild ideas greatly appreciated - the Mazda garage are at their wits
    end as they have now done about 50 hours work free of charge !!
    
    Thanks
    
    Jane
    same as ORMUZD::BEAGLE and PUGH::JANE and wife to VANISH::TALBOYS and
    OPG::PETER :-)

Sounds like engine management to me - fuel shut-off and all that sort of thing.
Have the replaced the em system ?

The sort of behaviour you describe can get you killed.

    As far as I know they have not replaced the em system - although they
    have checked it on thier diagnosis machines and and checked their
    diagnosis machiones with other machines !!
    
    I am very aware that the car's behaviour is extremely dangerous, and I
    am very very careful to leave plenty of time at roundabouts/junctions
    etc etc - at the moment I must be pigging off lots of drivers who think
     - "silly cow why doesn't she pull-out there's miles of room !!"
    
    I s'pose I was hoping that someone with a turbo/fuel injected car may
    have experienced something similar and say "Yes it's the xxxxxx" - just
    a wild hope really :-(
    
    Unhappy Fatty Beagle who's toy is broken :-(

    Derek - for the benefit of dumb woman please explain further ....Peter
    might have understood this butI'm stupid when it comes to broom-brooms
    
    Cheers
    
    P.S - where's carbuff's these days ??

    yes Peter as in Talboys .. yes the one from Newbury ... yes he's fine
    and happy and working at Midland ... :-)
    
    Thanks for the info
    
    Jane as in Mrs Pter Talboys :-)

    found Carbuffs and the turbo note, but not one that was similar ...
    canb you remember whereabouts/how long ago the note was put in ??
    
    FWIW the car runs on leaded petrol and doesn't have a cat
    
    Here's hoping...
    
    

    I did have similar symptoms with the Cossie one day, rather slow
    performance, a *lot* of induction roar, sucking like mad for breath,
    but never quite managing to go.
    When I stopped and looked under the bonnet, I spotted a vacuum pipe had
    come adrift. It was connecting the inlet manifold up to one of numerous
    sensors around the turbo. I don't know which one, as they all look the
    same to me, but it might be worth you having a pull on all the pipes
    and wires and things and see if anything moves.
    A small jubilee clip solved the problem permanently.
    
    Good hunting (or should I say Beagling ?)  ;-)
    
    Wonko the Sane
    

    
    A cracked inlet manifold can cause similar problems - it would
    probably be even more pronounced on a turbo than on a 'normal'
    car.
    
    Good luck.

             <<< DLOACT::APP$DISK:[NOTES$LIBRARY]CARBUFFS.NOTE;1 >>>
                                 -< Carbuffs >-
================================================================================
Note 80.188                     Merkur XR4Ti Note                     188 of 189
DATABS::SOO "We need the machine that goes *ping*."  48 lines  20-FEB-1991 08:50
                          -< Fuel-Air Ratio Monitor >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Hi Kenny,

    I came across the following instrument while going through my pile of
    catalogues that may help you track down your heavy fuel consumption
    problem or non-problem.  Other than what is given in the catalogue, I
    have no further information.  Further information or the instrument may
    be obtained from the following:

		Racer Wholesale
		10390, Alpharetta Street, #620,
		Roswell, GA 30075.
		(404) 998-7777 - Tech Line
		(800) 326-0372 - Order Line


			Fuel-Air Ratio Monitor

	Now available: An instrument that continually monitors your engine
	fuel-air ratio while the engine is running.  It is extremely
	sensitive to fuel-air ratio changes and will show any variations
	instantly and accurately.

	Fuel mixtures can be precisely observed, whether the engine is
	carburated or injected, normally aspirated or supercharged, at any
	load condition or RPM.  This precision instrument also works with
	nitrous oxide, but it is NOT recommended for nitromethane fuel.

	Reading the instrument:
	Read the instrument from left to right.  The fourth light indicates
	the theoretically ideal fuel-air mixture of 14.7:1.  The fewer
	lighted squares, the leaner the mixture.  The more lighted squares,
	the richer the mixture.  Full power under load should have six (6)
	lights on for engine thermal safety.  High performance engines may
	require more.

	Required: Welding and a 12 volt power source
	The sensor adapter must be welded to the exhaust pipe, as near as
	possible to the engine for a minimum of 600�(F), to operate
	efficiently.  On custom headers the adapter can be welded to the
	collector to effectively read all cylinders.  Minimum 9 volts are
	needed to power (illuminate) the visual display.

	Fuel/Air Monitor Kit			    85-2437	$129.34
	Oxygen Sensor (includes weld-on adapter)    85-2438	$ 48.10
	Monitor Only				    85-2439	$ 83.84

	NOTE: Oxygen sensor is not required on fuel injected cars already
	      equipped with sensor.

    Just to finish this off ....
    
    After being told repeatedly that it couldn't be a problem with the plug
    leads, I have finally got them to change the leads....
    
    The computer that never lies about things apparently lied, cos changing
    the leads in conjunction with a new distributer thingy (which alone did
    no good) seems to have fixed the problem..
    
    hoorah for the AA man who correctly said 'plugs/plug leads' the very
    first time the problem occured....
    
    hoorah for the fact it wasn't something major like the engine
    management system
    
    boooo hiss spit for the computer which kept saying the plug leads were
    fine and not breaking down at all in the slightest
    
    booo for the the garage who believed the computer
    
    hoorah for the same garage who eventually let common sense prevail over
    computer print-outs
    
    Happy Beagle with a car that goes VRROOOOMMMM all the time :-) :-)