[mosheen]

Hello all! This is a great site! So many questions already answered... A free login here has been so much more help than that stupid Haynes manual.

I picked up a 93 MX-6 LS 5 speed about 6 months ago. 1993 was the year I graduated high school and this was an impromptu 30th B-day gift to myself. I found it on cars.com, talked to the guy a lot, got some pictures, drove up to VA to pick it up.

Anyway, lots of things I was wondering about have already been answered by a quick search of these posts.

Here is something that I saw addressed, but not really answered. The mystery of the missing oil. I am not smoking or leaving puddles under the car... I am down about a quart every two weeks. Where is it going? The car runs super smooth for having 180,000 miles.

I have pictures up (not terribly impressive, but I love the car, man!) in my gallery at medinaline.net/gallery/MX-6.

A couple of other things someone may be able to help out with... My trunk lid contains a look-alike after market spoiler and there is also a brake light in the back window.

Do all 93 LSs have both the light in the back window AND one on the spoiler? I know the parts of the car have been painted... I know it has been wrecked. I'm just trying to figure out what's original and what's not. How bad was the wreck, you know?

I know the trunk lid is from a model without a spoiler. Here's why, it doesn't line up perfectly (the bottom sags lower than it should... if you slam the trunk lid closed it smacks the DS brake light, which has one mount broken off from it) also, the trunk lifts are shot and are the model that are for "without" spoiler. Could the sag be caused by the bad trunk lifts?

Next question: This thing seems to be geared unreasonably low (high RPMs) I hit 3000 at 60MPH in 5th gear. I get on the highway, get up to 80 and am turning right at or just over 4000!

Next, the clutch pedal... The car I was driving when I bought this is an old Honduh Accord. It has this nice little knob that you turn to adjust the clutch. Does the MX-6 have anything like that?

The Haynes (crap) manual explains how to adjust the pedal, but here's the problem: It really takes using the tip of your toe to push the clutch pedal absolutely flat against the floor to get it to disengage. I have big feet. I don't want to bring the pedal forward an inch or two, it's already sticking out further than the other pedals.

The last thing is the sunroof. I lubed it up when I got the car, but every once in a while, it seems to be about 1 out of every 20 times I open it, that it won't do the initial lift up by itself, it needs a little push, then it gets going. Suggestions? Something I missed with the lube?

I'm going to close with this: I think the MX-6s were years ahead of their time. Marketed properly, they could have been a lot more popular back in the day (and taken better care of now!) I'm glad to find this place full of people with the same passion for cars that I have! I often wonder why no V8s were made?

Thanks, all!
James

 

[mosheen]

Sorry about the repost / bump whatever, but maybe there will be a better response if I post one question at a time...

My trunk lid contains a look-alike after market spoiler and there is also a brake light in the back window.

Do all 93 LSs have both the light in the back window AND one on the spoiler?

I inquired earlier about buying a rear dash, without the hole for the brake light mount... The seller said he thought that all 93 LS's had both the light in the back window and spoiler. Is this right?

As I said in the original post (not many people have read it 8D) I know the car has been wrecked, I'm just trying to figure out what has been replaced and what is original. I know I have seen pictures of sixes without a rear window brake-light.

Can anyone help?

 

[Fastest95PGT]

Welcome to the site. :tup:

If you have a third brake light between the rear speakers, then your car did not come factory with a spoiler.

If you have both, I would suggest unhooking the bulb in the window because it's kinda lame to have the pair.

 

[Oddball]

Hi Mosheen, i persoanlly did'nt mean to ignore your questions, i just thought it would be more apt a US member answered then regarding the brake light... So, being in the UK, i'm going to take a guess here regarding the rear brake light in the window, and say NO, its not standard. Also regarding the brakelight in the spoiler, these were fitted to the J-spec models.
Now then.. your speed and clutch question are most probably related.. 4k on the speedo in my UK 5 speed is 85 ! not 80, and is possibly hinting at a slipping/defective clutch. The clutch on the 5 speed is hydrollic, taking a feed from the brake fluid reservoir, and so will take up any extra play. It sounds as though your clutch is close to failing with you mentioning a far travel on the pedal and 80 mph at 4k. You say its also done 180k, any idea if and when the clutch had ever been replaced ?
Hope the above helps... Oddy.

 

[mosheen]

Thanks, oddy, in general, the clutch feels fine, I never have problems getting in gear, so... would I not notice other problems if the clutch was on the way out?

I replaced the o2 sensors this weekend, cleared my 17 & 24 codes, but still have 16, EGR. My idle is pretty high most of the time, but I think it is related to the EGR problem. I would set it lower, but sometimes (rarely) it idles where it is supposed to, so I think it is set properly, but is getting false reports from the EGR sensor.

Does a fast idle transfer on up through the gears, or is it only in neutral?

Or, to rephrase, if it is idling at 1200 instead of 750, would those extra 450 RPMs still be there at 80MPH?

 

[mosheen]

Welcome to the site. :tup:

If you have a third brake light between the rear speakers, then your car did not come factory with a spoiler.

If you have both, I would suggest unhooking the bulb in the window because it's kinda lame to have the pair.

Sorry, I saw the other reply first.

Yes, I've got a 93 LS, so it did originally come with a rear spoiler, so I think, for whatever reason (most probably a serious crash) the rear end has been replaced with that of a model that didn't originally come with a spoiler. On the inside of the trunk lid, the holes for this after-market look-alike spoiler are drilled crooked, jagged metal in the holes, etc. I know it's not from factory. Also, the wires for the brake light in the spoiler are spliced in, no harness.

Everything points to a rear end (body at least) swap from a different car. The title clearly states it's a 93 LS and tracing the VIN agrees.

So there SHOULD be a rear dash out there somewhere that doesn't have a brake light. Good! Now to find it and not get raped on shipping.

Thanks for your quick response!
James

 

[Fastest95PGT]

Just because it's an LS doesn't mean it came with a spoiler..

 

[mosheen]

My bad, then... I thought the spoiler was standard.

Mystery solved then.

 

[Fastest95PGT]

My gf has a 93 LS, no spoiler. Also my 95 LS and 93 LS parts cars did not come with a spoiler either.

Plenty of them don't have them.

 

[Oddball]

No, idle speed will not affect MPH. 4000 rpm in 5th will still be the same. its done by how many revs the engine is turning divided by the gear and wheel circumference. gear ratios are ..
1st:3.307:1
2nd:1.833:1
3rd:1.310:1
4th:1.030:1
5th:0.795:1
Rev:3.166:1
final:4.105:1

I have also just been looking into other posts regarding speeds at certain Revs and 80 at 4k does seem to be popular.. possible i'm incorrect about the 85 then, i must make a mental note to check next time i'm passing through it on the way to work, traffic pending that is.

Oddy.

 

[mosheen]

Thanks guys, excellent info!


One more bit from the original post, is there an easy adjustment, other than moving the pedal further back, to adjust the engage point of the clutch in regards to pedal position?

It was really easy to do in my 88 Accord, a plastic knob that you turn one way or the other. I've got that set to about 3/4 of the pedal throw. These Japanese cars seem to be designed to house size 6 Asian feet, not size 12 American!

Thanks again!
James

 

[Fastest95PGT]

I believe there is an adjustment screw on the pedal. Look up under the dash and you should see it.

 

[mosheen]

OK, so it has to be done at the pedal, which is already sticking out an inch further than the other pedals... so, it can't be adjusted, then.

Crap.

Thanks again, Fastest95PGT!

James

 

[Fastest95PGT]

IIRC, they should be lined up (the brake and clutch) but I could be wrong.. I don't get down there very often.

 

[mosheen]

Yep, they should be, but I think someone has already adjusted it "out" that way... I still have to push it flat against the floor board to disengage and shift.

I was hoping there was an adjustment on the cable or whatever, like there is on the throttle cable (on most cars anyway)

 

[Zach]

if you have to push it flat against the floor for it to start to disengage the clutch, you might have a faulty clutch slave or master cylinder. Does your clutch pedal have any "feel" to it, like really light, or is there some pressure?

squeeze your slave cylinder boot and see if there is fluid coming out of it. you also might want to evacuate your old fluid as well. as time wears on, the viscosity in the brake fluid breaks down and can have the consistency of water. Get the brown out and get the clear in! lol

 

[mosheen]

There is definitely some good resistance to it. It feels *normal* compared to every other car that I have had.

There is, however, much more engine vibration in the pedal though, than I am used to. When you push the pedal down about half way, it feels like it is bolted directly to the engine block. Is that normal for this model?

Checking / draining / flushing the fluid leads back to an earlier post of mine from last week, where the people at the oil change place noted that the check / fill plug is completely rounded off and they couldn't get in there to check it and top it off with the rest of the fluids.

 

[Zach]

what plug are they talking about? clutch slave cylinder opens up like your brake master cylinder.

and yes, the hard line is bolted to the trans case.

 

[mosheen]

Oh, sorry, I was thinking about transmission oil, not brake fluid...

They were talking about the check / fill on the tranny oil.

 

[Zach]

oh okay...hahah

but the lines should be like this:

(fill here)clutch master cylinder -> hard line down firewall -> soft line between firewall and trans case -> hard line on case to clutch slave cylinder (bleed here)