cdrad51

He's just pulling your leg man, or being sarcastic. It's just not a popular design, but it is meant to be an oil cooler.

GSL-SEX2

www.ultimatecupholders.com

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Thanks GSL-SEX2, my order's in. You gotta love this forum. Anybody know where you can get some good Jamaican? (. {attempt at smiley face disclaimer}

Ray

82transam

iTrader: (18)

I agree with all the previously mentioned lists. IMO the biggest flaw of them all is the wheel well rust. The rest of the problems (rear suspension, steering, beehive oil cooler etc) can be fixed by most people with basic tools, while, depending on the severity of the damage the wheel well rust will either require a body shop to fix, or just make you junk the car completely if its really bad. Despite all the little things wrong with the car its still awesome and well all love our shitboxes

1stgen4life

iTrader: (1)

like previously mentioned, the rear defrosters. Does anyone know a good way to reatatch these? Other than that I am having a hard time thinking of any problems that I have with my car.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

solder and a soldering iron. disconnect your hatch shocks from the hatch and raise the glass up as far as it can go. should be a little eaiser. takes 2 people.

83gslRX-7

walmart has one that you can shove between the passanger seat and the center console. it works pretty good.. its only like $3. better then trying to shift ,steer, and hold a drink.,

rotarygod

iTrader: (1)

The name of this thread should be something along the lines of "find something that isn't a design flaw!"

82transam

iTrader: (18)

the 50/50 weight distribution resulting in godlike handling and braking.

cosmicbang

Huge amounts of cargo room for its size compared to other sports cars

rotarygod

iTrader: (1)

I will easily disagree with the godlike handling comment. It goes back to the suspension system flaws since they did nothing right in this respect.

Don't get me wrong I love my first gen. It is a damn fun little car.

cosmicbang

Maybe "Godlike handling once you upgrade the suspension." The 50/50 weight distribution is definitely a strength which makes the upgraded end result that much better.

Another flaw:
Weak, easily broken attachment points for the shifter boot (part of the cheesy interior weakness). Fortunately there are several fixes for this one also.

Rotorious7

iTrader: (1)

center console

Wankelguy

Nope. I'm not joking or being sarcastic.
The beehive is supposed to warm the oil up to stabilize it's temperature with that of the water. This is mostly useful for cold weather warm-up.

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

Maybe, but Mazda calls it an Oil Cooler in the 1985 Factory Manual

Wankelguy

lol, well they had to call it something.
"Oil cooler" sounds better than "oil/water temperature stabilizer" I suppose.
In all fairness, there is a possibility that the thing could actually cool your oil if the oil got hotter than the water...

cdrad51

So you are actually serious? My bad for misinterpreting you. But anything that has heat diffusers, I would call a cooler. That plus the fact that it replaces the under-the water-radiator-cooler of earlier models, it's a giveaway to me.

Wankelguy

Well, I'm sorta serious.

I doubt that the wimpy array of fins is going to lose much heat compared to the heating effect of the water. But, I suppose it all depends on which is hotter, and when.

JAMES-RX-007

Wheel size on the SE. There are no VR speed rated tires in this size : 205/60/14. If someone knows of any that are all season let me know. I have done many searches and cannot find any. The discontinued Michelin MXV ll beat the hell out of the original Pirellis. I have heard the discontinued Yoko AVX Intermediates were great. I guess I am going with the Michelin Pilot H XGT. One has to go with the lower H speed rating or spend all the $ to change rims.

Mills

iTrader: (1)

Go straight to Z-rated tires!

Mmm, sticky rubber...

JAMES-RX-007

I would love to have a Z rated but is anything available in 205/60/14 though? Usually the rim sizes get larger as the speed rating increases. There is just very little selection in 14" anymore due to the crazy rim size arms race.

Mills

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, 14" is considerably smaller than what most cars are coming with from the factory these days...

I work at a Chrysler/Dodge dealership-you wouldn't believe what these chrome 17", 19", and 20" (truck) wheels cost...

Blitz0309

Only thing im going to bitch about is rust.... DAMN RUST..... Bought another SE that had "very little rust." Which it wasn't bad in the tirewell, used a grider to get most of it. Then when i was under the car taking the starter out, i reached to the rocker pannel to pull myself out. And my fingers went through it. rust sucks...

bliffle

What's bugging me right now is the intake manifold Orings for the water passages. It's gonna be a bear to replace those, but I'm burning coolant.

B

TOUGHGUY

What about the fact that Mazda(partly owned by the blue oval) made the engine bay just big enough to fit a small-block? Yeah, I guess that would be one of the good things the engineers did!

Toughguy