[Spannerhead]

Current pic for thread thumbnail:

Original post starts below:

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Hi guys. Just picked up this beauty today:

'95 V6 5-speed, 103K.

First thing I did was to 86 the sunroof shield. Hate those things.

It has a misfire. No CEL, but it's OBD1 so I'm going to have to figure out how to jump the fuse block to see if it'll tell me anything.

Took it for a short spin around the neighborhood. It actually drives pretty well other than the misfire. Shift bushings are totally shot though. The V6 makes nice "big engine in a little car noises." A/C blows nice and cold.

Some cosmetic defects: Needs some PDR on the doors, and the driver's door panel insert is pulling away. One pea-sized hole in the driver's side outer bolster. A few scratches just below the passenger window. Headlights need polishing.

The car appears to have survived the early 2000s import tuner scene with its dignity mostly intact. The airbox and wheels are stock, as is the headunit. There IS a disconnected Kenwood amp in the trunk, though.

Overall, quite happy. Will keep you posted.

 

[Spannerhead]

Hey, thanks for approving my post!

So a little progress yesterday while I'm waiting for basic tuneup parts.

Haynes manual get:

Removed the Kenwood KAC-606 amp and associated wiring from the trunk.

Apparently it's worth a little money so I threw it up on the 'Bay. "Streetwires" underhood fuse and heavy-gauge wiring straight in the bin. Looked like a professional install, but...no. Going OEM.

On the way:

• Fuel filter
• Oil filter
• Air filter
• Cap & rotor
• Trunk struts
• Headlight polishing kit
• Bronze shift bushing kit
• NGK spark plugs
• Battery terminals

Going to start with a basic tuneup and see where that gets me.

 

[TwoPedalWarrior]

Welcome aboard, ya get the basics done, but know that the dizzy's in these things can die often. Being you're in the US, Autozone has life time warranties on them. So make sure if you do replace it, get it from there.

 

[Spannerhead]

Welcome aboard, ya get the basics done, but know that the dizzy's in these things can die often. Being you're in the US, Autozone has life time warranties on them. So make sure if you do replace it, get it from there.

Thanks very much! Looks like it's pretty dead around here, but that's OK. It's a shame most of the DIYs have dead image links, though. I could use a visual or two for some of the repairs I have in the pipeline!

 

[TwoPedalWarrior]

which ones?

 

[Spannerhead]

which ones?

Well, like these:

Reupholstering door panel inserts

Appearance/Body: Reupholstering door panel inserts If your sick of the boring, old, worn out fabric on your doors than this is a very simple, effective way to update your interior. Edit: Dweigand suggested using a hair dryer when applying the new material to soften it so it will stretch...

www.mx6.com

1993-1997 Mazda MX6/626 Manual Gearbox linkage Bushing...

This is the other bushing that you need to replace if your shifter is still loose even after changing the shifter bushings. These bushings won't alleviate a lot of wobble, they will make shifting smoother though. To get rid of the amount of wobble that you have (and I used to have) I installed...

www.mx6.com

It's not a huge deal, though. Plenty of other resources out there to draw from and I'm pretty handy with a wrench.

 

[Hosz]

Going to guess the misfire is from oil leaking out of the rear valve cover. If there is oil on the spark plug boot that is the likely culprit. Congrats on the purchase and Good Luck!

 

[Spannerhead]

Going to guess the misfire is from oil leaking out of the rear valve cover. If there is oil on the spark plug boot that is the likely culprit. Congrats on the purchase and Good Luck!

Thanks! I'll give that a look. Spark plugs are one of the items on the list this weekend.

Parts are starting to trickle in. Wiper blades and trunklid struts in what little time I had to work on it this evening.

Tires were pretty low also, so I filled them up to 35 psi all around.

Don't want to open a can of worms, but I'm thinking Motorcraft 5W-30 semi-syn for the oil change this weekend. It's what our Mazda5's engine swims in and loves it.

 

[Spannerhead]

A little progress:

• First bath. She cleaned up VERY nicely. Pics forthcoming.
• First oil change. Super easy, Wix filter + 4.5 quarts 5W-30.
• Pulled the spark plug boots to check. They're all dry as a bone.
• Pulled the codes. We have: 16, 25, 29, 41 and 46. Seems to be pointing me in the direction of the EGR system and VRIS solenoids.

More parts going on tomorrow. Will report back.

 

[Spannerhead]

She has been christened; her name is Megumi.

Some post-bath shots:

She cleaned up SO well, and I'm not even done yet. Still can't believe what I deal I got.

Engine bay clean and replacement part installation slated for tomorrow. These came in also:

Next weekend maybe.

In not-so-great news, here's what a sunroof shield does to the paint underneath:

I have some factory Mazda 5S touch-up paint, but still... Makes me angry at the previous owner(s).

 

[Spannerhead]

OK, so:

✅ Fuel filter replaced.
✅ Air filter replaced.
✅ Dist. cap & rotor replaced.
✅ Air tank-to-coolant reservoir neck repaired.
✅ Engine bay cleaned up.
✅ Two VRIS solenoids and a length of 4mm vacuum hose ordered.

Took a peek around the back of the intake manifold, and there's definitely some Mickey Mouse action going on back there. Going to get it all sorted.

I'll probably throw the smoke tester on the intake also (the adapter for my E46 should fit the snorkel) to check for any additional vacuum leaks.

 

[DOO640ER]

Great thread,...following this.

Hunter Green, just like mine. Best color, imo. I always wanted one of those moon roof wind deflectors, now I'm not so sure.
Here's mine....keep up the good work!

 

[jcpost62]

Hey, thanks for approving my post!

So a little progress yesterday while I'm waiting for basic tuneup parts.

Haynes manual get:

View attachment 14691

Removed the Kenwood KAC-606 amp and associated wiring from the trunk.

View attachment 14692

Apparently it's worth a little money so I threw it up on the 'Bay. "Streetwires" underhood fuse and heavy-gauge wiring straight in the bin. Looked like a professional install, but...no. Going OEM.

On the way:

• Fuel filter
• Oil filter
• Air filter
• Cap & rotor
• Trunk struts
• Headlight polishing kit
• Bronze shift bushing kit
• NGK spark plugs
• Battery terminals

Going to start with a basic tuneup and see where that gets me.

I had this exact car only it was a 1994. I loved it. Had it for over 25 years. Totaled it in January due to black ice. Anyway, I once had a miss that was intermittent and chased it for months.
It turned out to be bad Magenor spark plug wires. Might want to consider replacing them. I replaced mine with NGKs and the miss never returned. Also, this car is very sensitive to battery ground connections. Make sure the battery ground is clean and in excellent condition. This car can do funny things if the ground is not good. Had a problem with the gauge cluster going completely dead intermittently (very infrequently). Chased this problem for over a year. Replacing the battery did not help. Replaced the negative (ground) cable from battery to body with heavy gauge wire and cleaned the connection and the problem disappeared forever. Cosmetically, I put RX7 wheels on mine with P225-50-ZR16 tires. Make the car look a lot more sporty. Good luck.

 

[Spannerhead]

Thanks guys! Good tips about the spark plug wires and grounds.

VRIS solenoids and vacuum hose were delivered today. A local you-pull-it yard has a couple of 626s and Millenias; going to visit this weekend and see if I can grab anything off those.

Anyone have a source for the driver's door cup/pull thing? Or a part number? Mine has disintegrated and I can't even find it on a parts diagram to be able to ask the dealership about (though likely NLA).

@jcpost62, do you have pics of yours with the RX-7 wheels? I'm very pro-OEM but tentatively open to a different look if all the stars align.

 

[Spannerhead]

Yep; here's our botched repair on the VRIS solenoids...

And here's the repair (actually, the replacement) done correctly:

Should (hopefully) take care of the VRIS solenoid error codes...

I had read horror stories online about how hard it was to access/remove the solenoids, but it turned out to be pretty easy. Going to get it buttoned up in the next day or two and see where we are.

 

[Spannerhead]

More eye candy from the Saturday photoshoot:

 

[jcpost62]

More eye candy from the Saturday photoshoot:

View attachment 14712

Wow, paint and especially clear coat looks really great. My 94 had pealing clear coat on roof and doors. Tennessee sun really hard on clear coat. I loved this car and would buy one again if I could find one. Good luck.

 

[Spannerhead]

Wow, paint and especially clear coat looks really great. My 94 had pealing clear coat on roof and doors. Tennessee sun really hard on clear coat. I loved this car and would buy one again if I could find one. Good luck.

Thanks! Pretty sure it was garaged most (or all?) of its life for the clear coat to have held up this well. As far as I can tell, it lived all of its life in the Memphis area before joining me here at the other end of the state in Chattanooga.

If you want her, let me know. There's a better than 50% chance Megumi will end up on Cars & Bids, if I can get her running well and polished up...

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Evening scene:

✅ Low 70s
✅ Light breeze rustling the leaves
✅ Back end of the summer humidity

Perfection.

 

[Spannerhead]

Pretty productive couple of days.

✅ New pair of VRIS solenoids installed, w/4mm silicone tubing as needed.

Discovered the smoke tester adapter I made for my E46 fit Megumi's intake perfectly:

On to the smoke test today. Getting the machine warmed up and plugged in:

Screwdriver is cracking open the throttle butterfly.

No leaks except for a few wisps around the rock-hard intake boot:

Need to replace that piece anyway. But the good news is the rest of the intake is airtight.

Gave the bay another bath and reinstalled the airbox & battery:

I have a new "V6 DOHC 24-Valve" sticker on order.

I re-cracked the stupid neck to the air tank as I was reinstalling the airbox. Guess I'll have to reglue it; those things are worth their weight in gold apparently.

So...she runs a lot better. I think she still has a slight misfire, but it's really hard to tell. Ample power and no threats to die at any time. I checked the codes, and we're down from 5 to 2:

25: FPR solenoid
29: EGR vent solenoid

Tomorrow I'm going to time the engine and see if that will help smooth out the engine even more. Can't hurt.

Oh, I raided a few Millennias and a 626 at the junkyard earlier and snagged some plastic bits and another pair of VRIS solenoids just in case the ones I bought didn't work.

$11:

Bonus pic: Megumi and Indigo chilling together in the driveway.

 

[Spannerhead]

More progress today. I was going to time the engine, but, well, that didn't happen.

I did replace the FPR solenoid with one from my junkyard trip yesterday; seems to have taken care of the code 25.

Then I decided to replace the shifter bushings with the bronze set + hardware I got from Exile.

Removed the crossmember, then I undid the two bolts at the back of the cat, enough to push the rear section of the exhaust back so the cat would drop out of the way:

Probably should've supported the cat rather than letting it dangle from the flex pipe, but oh well.

I temporarily bent down the front tongue of the heat shield below the shifter, and unbolted the arm without any drama:

The bushings at the shifter were in good shape, actually, but the ones at the transmission end, were GONE. Like, nonexistent.

The Exile kit requires you to open up the holes in the shifter end of the arm a little bit:

They look like this when installed. Shifter end:

^You can see the heat shield tongue bent down. Bent this back into place during reassembly.

Trans end:

Shifts like new now. No slop at all; it feels absolutely perfect.

I drove her on a 10-mile errand round trip, and the slight misfire is still there. Pulled the codes when I got home, and we have 16 and 29. So something's definitely up with the EGR system. I got a good look at everything at the back of the engine when I was under there earlier, so I feel pretty confident to drop the crossmember and exhaust and replace what needs replacing. Those vacuum solenoids are a dime a dozen at the junkyard, too... Stay tuned.