MX-3.com

By yourself? between $500 and $1000.

A shop? May as well buy a new car.... $2000 range, easy.

With the help of a forum member? $500-$1000....

K cause I have been thinking about it lately
I have the tools to do it

newdriver92 wrote:1. brownish green foam sludge in filler cap?
2. shudders but doesn't stall. happens once in a while at light intersections, turning, accelerating (sudden) and coming down mountian highways?
3. as u stand i front of the car, facing the engine there is a tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic sound on the left side?
Forgot
4.Backfires with hard accelerating, or sudden acceleration after intersection linked with number 2 I think

i replaced: battery, spark plug leads, pick up (its on the distributor), mass airflow sensor, coolant flush.

its not over heating.
i think the idle may be a bit high

thanks if anyone can help

As long as your head gaskets all good, I know I could fix all these things. If its a head gasket, It is super expensive to change it properly on an MX-3 all aluminum engine.

2) could just be plugs, wires, clean up your distributor leads and so on. But once thats done, it might be something you dont really have to worry about. Mine does weird stuff but I know its no issue.

4) ignition timing? Its a pretty guaranteed thing usually.

MAKE SURE YOUR HEAD GASKETS ALL GOOD!!!

mikeetown wrote:

newdriver92 wrote:1. brownish green foam sludge in filler cap?
2. shudders but doesn't stall. happens once in a while at light intersections, turning, accelerating (sudden) and coming down mountian highways?
3. as u stand i front of the car, facing the engine there is a tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic sound on the left side?
Forgot
4.Backfires with hard accelerating, or sudden acceleration after intersection linked with number 2 I think

i replaced: battery, spark plug leads, pick up (its on the distributor), mass airflow sensor, coolant flush.

its not over heating.
i think the idle may be a bit high

thanks if anyone can help

As long as your head gaskets all good, I know I could fix all these things. If its a head gasket, It is super expensive to change it properly on an MX-3 all aluminum engine.

2) could just be plugs, wires, clean up your distributor leads and so on. But once thats done, it might be something you dont really have to worry about. Mine does weird stuff but I know its no issue.

4) ignition timing? Its a pretty guaranteed thing usually.

MAKE SURE YOUR HEAD GASKETS ALL GOOD!!!

It shouldn't be head gasket cause there's no coolant in my oil
And I replaced my leads and I'm replacing my plugs today

mikeetown wrote: If its a head gasket, It is super expensive to change it properly on an MX-3 all aluminum engine.

Not true, unless I just have a completely different view on "super expensive"; it's not that expensive to change the head gaskets properly. You do need to be careful and have a machine shop check the heads just in case. When I installed new head gaskets on my old 1.8, I had the heads checked for leaks and had them both resurfaced (for peace of mind). All of this cost me 100 bucks, plus the cost of head gaskets. All in all, about 250. Make sure you buy decent quality head gaskets though.

All in all, unless you overheated the engine, you really don't have to worry about warped heads or a warped block surface.

When I changed my oil I saw no trace of coolant iin my oil

Hi newdriver,
Has this just started to occur recently or did you notice the high idle when you first got the car?
The reason I ask. I have a KF 2.0L V6 that has exactly the same issues.
I believe, like me, you have the same problem as this guy.
[http://www.mx-3.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.ph ... 12&start=0]
[/url] (or see K8 Hesitation/Stalling issue)
I have tuned in a high idle to simply make the car driveable.
The same things have been replaced. I have done the heads thinking that the gaskets had gone too from bubbles in the radiator (a difficult job would be understating it). I'm starting to think it was simply a pocket of air in the cooling system now.
Scaling in the cooling system was everywhere including the silly little coolant hoses off to things outside the engine (throttle body, heater core etc.)
Cannot find a vacuum leak. The only clear issue I can diagnose is a weak spark (purple in colour, not light blue).
Still trying to find a solution.
It would be interesting to see how driveable your car is if the idle was lower.
My "tuning" consisted of adjusting the throttle body sensor to open at idle (not Wide-Open, just past the Closed point). TBS normally has three outputs to the ECU - Closed, Open or Wide-Open throttle. This lifted the idle as well.
I don't recommend this, but I'm wondering if someone has done the same thing to your car to overcome a similar "splutter" or "hesitation" issue.

I'll keep an eye on your posts.

i might be able to help with weak spark i switched out my plugs and leads and the pickup in the distributor and now i have a bright blue spark, but its mis-firing now so im going to put in a new cap and router and get the timing fixed
its very driveable now that i did all of that only thing wrong is mis-firing lol

1. brownish green foam sludge in filler cap? fixed
2. shudders but doesn't stall. happens once in a while at light intersections, turning, accelerating (sudden) and coming down mountian highways? kinda fixed
3. as u stand i front of the car, facing the engine there is a tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic sound on the left side?fixed
Forgot
4.Backfires with hard accelerating, or sudden acceleration after intersection linked with number 2 I think

i replaced: battery, spark plug leads, plugs, pick up (its on the distributor), mass airflow sensor, coolant flush
new issues
1) mis-fires
2) random idle between 1000 - 500

its not over heating.


thanks if anyone can help

Thanks for the info.
Looks like you're closer to having yours all sorted.
I suspect the distributor has something to do with mine.
The primary coil resistance readings aren't up to spec.
I might change the pickup as the leads and plugs are okay.
Good luck with solving the misfire.

yaaa i've been researching alot on it

Have you looked into replacing the distributor?

In the very least check your ignition timing.

i know man

boyfromoz wrote:Thanks for the info.
Looks like you're closer to having yours all sorted.
I suspect the distributor has something to do with mine.
The primary coil resistance readings aren't up to spec.
I might change the pickup as the leads and plugs are okay.
Good luck with solving the misfire.

if the difference is 10% or more u need a new coil
if 10% or less then no
Ie. optiam resistance is 100 ohms and u have 110 ohms or higher u need a new coil

1. brownish green foam sludge in filler cap? fixed
2. shudders but doesn't stall. happens once in a while at light intersections, turning, accelerating (sudden) and coming down mountian highways? kinda fixed
3. as u stand i front of the car, facing the engine there is a tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic sound on the left side? just came back

Forgot
4.Backfires with hard accelerating, or sudden acceleration after intersection linked with number 2 I think fixed

i replaced: battery, spark plug leads, plugs, pick up (its on the distributor), mass airflow sensor, coolant flush, dis cap, router
new issues
1) mis-fires kinda fixed but less noticeable
2) random idle between 1000 - 500 kinda fixed

its not over heating.


thanks if anyone can help