engine in need of some help :( advice would be great

[scott b]

hey all, so this is of coarse my first car and so far it has been running without any dramas but a few problems are starting to come up so im just looking a bit of help/ideas/advice from a few of the guys with a world of knowledge.

1. The aircon. When i turn it on i get a belt squeel for about 10 seconds and there is really bad lag on the engine and its power. The aircon does infact work but i dont like using it because of this. So im not sure whether its something to do with the aircon compressor being slightly seized or something. Or whether its simply because the car is 12 years old and problems like this are something you cant get around.

2. CV Joints. One of the boots is torn and the other is starting to tear. I have no knowledge of whether these have been replaced in the cars life. So im not sure what to do, just replace the rubber boots or should i replace the whole CV Joints.

3. Quite often the car will drop shortly to 500rpm when i come to a complete stop, then slowly come back up to around 700-750rpm. I have 3 amps running so im not sure whether or not im putting too much load on my alternator or not. Any ideas? :S


Any ideas and help on these few issues would be great. im probably going to go around to a mechanic on wednesday and get it all looked at and quoted, just glad my folks are willing to lend me the $$$ to get it all sorted well.

Cheers,
Scott

[project.r.racing]

1. Worn and stretched belts, replace the alternator belt while your down there.

2. I would replace both shafts if the car has never had CV replaced.

3. IAC valve, either very dirty or inner bearings have semi seased.

[scott b]

thanks ryan

Sorry to be a noob but IAC is?? :S

[project.r.racing]

http://autorepair.about.com/cs/troub...042603a_08.htm

click link.

so over time the valve gets dirty and fails to open and shut properly or the bearings inside the unit begin to sease and it fail to open and shut properly.

this is one for a 94-97 (P1 and P2) BA Astina / KJ Laser / NA8 MX5 BP powered engine.




so on the lower pick. black tube thingo = motor. bottom pipe = air feed. this is located under the throttle body.

[maztech]

1 Adjust or replace belts
2 Replace both cv shafts with exchange units and also replace lh driveshaft seal
3 Adjust / check base idle speed first before jumping to any other conclusions

IAC = idle air control valve

[scott b]

thanks heaps guys

whats an estimate cost of the cv joint job??

if the other problems are just belts and and adjustments i can see them being too costly,

[project.r.racing]

just recently replaced a cv joint. $160 + 0.5-1.0 hrs labour costs per side, (depends on how easy they are to get out). labour can be anywhere from $70-$140 per hour. you'll find most mechs will be between $80-$100 for non rip off ones.

[scott b]

cheers ryan,

pretty hefty but it needs to be done i guess, i will be seeing the mechanic this week and i can use that as i guide against his quote.

thank you both

[maztech]

That sounds about right for CVs About 250 a side . Geez 140 per hour thats heaps never saw anyone charge that are the robbers

[project.r.racing]

mazda dealerships, even thought the poor mech only gets to see $25 of the $140 of it. lol

surely you know the feeling jared?

[maztech]

Yeh but what dealer chages that much we dont even chage that

[RustyKaos]

When I got my CVs done it cost only $185 a side fitted. That was from the CV place down in slacks creek.

[asanga]

series 3 IAC is different to series 1/2



Air path is simple straight in /out compared to series 1/2.

Scott, i can help u out with idle adjustment /IAC/ timing if u like

[project.r.racing]

Awesome asanga, I haven't had a chance to rip apart my throttle body. Now I know what to remove on my P3 BA Astina. Did it have a gasket at all?

I didn't put up a P3 pic as I never pulled aprt one before. Wish is was a easy clean like the P1 and P2 version. ie remove pipe and spray cleaner in. P3 requires the removal of the whole IAC valve.

[scott b]

hey asanga,

that'd be awesome i wont tell the mechanic about that problem for now then.

[BG1.8sp]

also mate,
regarding problem #3.
it is also possible for it to be the O2 sensor.
my brother had the same problem on his 180sx, it would usually drop to low rpm, and sometimes it would even stall.
once we changed the O2 it was perfect.

[maztech]

thats why i said go to the o2 sensor on your car first bg1.8sp.
The problem on scotts car is a totally different problem never seen a ba stall from o2 fault or have a idle drop , scotts car most likely to have a tune problem or blocked throttle body passage.

[andrewck]

save yourself some money if the CV's arent making any strange noises when turning hard lock to the right just clean remove the old grease replenish with some new stuff that will keep it going for quite some time still.

Aircon belt most likely needs tightning maybe a new belt would be the way to go

[scott b]

how much is an O2 sensor out of curiousity? i remember 70NYD saying it helped his car a fair bit

[asanga]

Originally Posted by project.r.racing

Awesome asanga, I haven't had a chance to rip apart my throttle body. Now I know what to remove on my P3 BA Astina. Did it have a gasket at all?

I didn't put up a P3 pic as I never pulled aprt one before. Wish is was a easy clean like the P1 and P2 version. ie remove pipe and spray cleaner in. P3 requires the removal of the whole IAC valve.

hey Ryan, its so easy to remove and has a paper type gasket. its very easy to clean and you don’t really need to separate IAC from TB to clean it (unless its badly clogged up). there are 2 small coolant hoses going in/out from IAC which need to be removed. I bypassed coolant path as I removed my IAC few times for some experiments. Carby cleaner does a good job , if not Subaru upper body cleaner.