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My 96 automatic 4 cyl DOHC 16 valve is hesitating at times when I put my foot on the gas. Also the car shakes when stopped with my foot on the brake. The tach indicates 750. Some oil is leaking into the spark plug area so I think the valve cover gasket needs replacing. Would these symptons cause the cell light to come on? Will replacing the valve cover gasket fix the hesitation aand shaking?

oil is leaking onto the outside of the motor down into the spark plugs?.... when was the last time you did a full tune up? hesitation could be caused by alot of things..

JR... I Just bought the exact same car as you. My 1996 dohc automatic mx-3 has the same problem that you are having. A little bit of oil is leaking out by my spark plugs too. I asked some of my friends who know a little bit more about engines and also the dealer said that i would probably have to replace the valve cover gasket too when he sold it to me. Tomorrow morning i am putting it on the road for the first time and then i am going to head to the MAZDA dealer to buy a new one b/c Canadian tire does not carry them and i have looked almost all over windsor to find one but i'll let you know how it goes
Dave

I'm 100% sure that your hesitation is caused by the bad valve cover gasket, and oil leaking in to spark plug area. Just buy a new gasket, it's really easy to change should only take 15 min. After you change that unscrew all your sparks so the oil gets drained, check if they are still good if so put them back in. And that should fix it, good luck.


Note: When puting the valve cover back on, don't tighten the screws too hard or you might crack it. Hapened to my friends eclipse.

<small>[ April 30, 2004, 03:47 PM: Message edited by: Guard-TL- ]</small>

Originally posted by Guard-TL-:
I'm 100% sure that your hesitation is caused by the bad head gasket, and oil leaking in to spark plug area. Just buy a new gasket, it's really easy to change should only take 15 min. After you change that unscrew all your sparks so the oil gets drained, check if they are still good if so put them back in. And that should fix it, good luck.


Note: When puting the valve cover back on, don't tighten the screws too hard or you might crack it. Hapened to my friends eclipse.

This is why you buy a torque wrench...

do you guys mean head gasket or valve cover gasket? im assuming your talking about the valve cover gasket since its above the spark plugs? and a head gasket would take alot more than 15 min lol but yes valve cover gaskets are simple head gaskets are not make sure you dont ask for the wrong one from mazda people. you might want to check that parts store again man most stores dont carry alot of head gaskets because they dont go bad that often but more commonly valve cover gaskets are sold so they should have at least one for every car. check again though it will be alot cheaper than the dealer.

Anyone know the specs on torquing the valve cover gaket for this car?

hesitation can be a NUMBER of things. oil leaking into the sparkplug wells isn't a good thing, but doesn't means that's your problem. if your plug wires are on there firmly, and the plug is in tight, the oil probably won't do anything unless you have a nice little puddle down there.

other things:
fouled plugs
plug wires
fuel filter
air filter
disty cap/rotor
dirty injectors

basicly, do an all out tune up on the car.

<small>[ April 30, 2004, 12:27 PM: Message edited by: OsoSlo z28 ]</small>

Originally posted by boomer71283:
do you guys mean head gasket or valve cover gasket?

Ops, my bad. I did mean valve cover gasket in my post. it was late and I was tired, sorry.

i went to the dealer today and bought the valve cover gasket lol $50 pc of rubber lol well i am going to put it on tonight probably so ill see how it goes.

Originally posted by BEE29293:
i went to the dealer today and bought the valve cover gasket lol $50 pc of rubber lol well i am going to put it on tonight probably so ill see how it goes.

Damn 50 is kind of high. For anyone else looking for a gasket, or any other maintance parts I recomand this site everything is dirt cheap.

http://www.mazdaformance.com/

<small>[ April 30, 2004, 04:24 PM: Message edited by: Guard-TL- ]</small>

that's only $36 for us. still a little high, but too bad.

well i changed the valve cover gasket today like i said and the oil stopped coming out, hmm i think it did its job lol anyways yeah i would have looked around but its my daily driver and i just wanted to get it out of the way and not wait but hey good idea to look around i guess i was imapatient. i have only owned the car for a week and i want to get everything running right asap. Anyways thanks guys

hi guys....im new to the forums and got the same problem as specified above,except mine is a 1993 4cyl MX3 automatic. I already took it to the dealer and had done a tune up and cleaned the fuel injector. Now only problem left is when I have the lights turned on or have the AC on. The car shakes and see the RPM jumps up and down, you can actually feel the vibration of the car. I told mazda about it and I spoke to the actual mechanic that did the tune up, but all he said was because of my custom air intake , exhaust , and the air breather i have installed. I dont believe him one bit since I have those installed for the past 3 years already and was normal back then. I also have a leak on top of the engine in between where the plugs and exhaust manifold is. I can actually see the leak coming from the head gasket. I dont know if it has reached the spark plugs, I have changed the spark plugs a couple weeks ago and also the dealer had just recently changed it (I hope). I also have checked all the hoses I can see in the engine compartment and found no leaks. Any help would be greatly be appreciated since MAZDA already has ripped me off!...thanks guys.

Now only problem left is when I have the lights turned on or have the AC on. The car shakes and see the RPM jumps up and down, you can actually feel the vibration of the car. I told mazda about it and I spoke to the actual mechanic that did the tune up, but all he said was because of my custom air intake , exhaust , and the air breather i have installed.

BS... your IAC valve is dirty. Mazda is dumber than rocks. Read this thread here to find out how to clean it. Shouldnt take more than basic tools, some spray carb-cleaner, and an hour or so of time.