I have a noise at about 5k and above that sounds like a slipping belt, but I don't know if it is. I have the dual belt alt pulley, so the only belt on the thing is the alt/water pump belt. I'm thinking it could be the alt dying. It's always been pretty weak (randomly shutting off power if stereo, lights, and turn signal are on, etc), and a high pitched noise could be the alt right? Or do I maybe need new belts? The belts aren't that old (from early summer), and they don't seem very loose. I also am leaking oil pretty badly, so another thought was that at 5k it spews oil on the belts, but I dunno about this either. Any ideas? Thanks.

~brian

 

Sounds like your on the right track.

 

I was squeaking in my MX6 for about a week or two, then the belt (alt.) snapped...check for wear...It could be loose. I think it should be tightened to about a 1/4 of an inch of play.
If you have a weak alternator, you might as well replace it...I got one cheap from Vic. British (Bosch) for my '79 RX7. 20 minute job.

 

Alright, I'll check belts again when I get home. Also, I need a new alt anyway, so I'll probably do that anyway. The S4 alts bolt right up without modification, right? Thanks.

~brian

 

Hey Brian,

It Doug Purcell checking back in with you about your Mazda, with maybe some help. (Yes, a big part of me wishes the car was still mine!)

The squeal happened the summer before I sold it. I'm pretty sure it is the alternator belt and here's why:

Sometime during the life of the car, somebody (I think it was my brother, who has the "when in doubt, force it" mentality) partly stripped the head on the bolt holding the alternator to the support bracket. I never did get around to changing the bolt and it makes it difficult to keep the proper tension in the belt as you tighten the bolt. Last time I tightened the belt to get rid of the squeal, I was using a vise grips, and didn't think it was tight enough. Sorry!

As for the oil leak--true confession time--I knew about that one too. It's the rubber gasket on the oil pan. After 21 years, it just needs to be replaced. The oil is just slowly seeping out around the pan. That's one of the maintenance items that I knew was pending if I chose to keep the car. It's not a difficult job, just very, very messy, and I no longer had a good place to hoist the car up on jack stands (actually, I no longer HAD jack stands) to get under the engine.

I'm 90% sure that these are the answers to your two questions, and I still believe that my, er, your Mazda is in great condition for its age. I hope you enjoy driving it as much as I did.

Best of luck to you in this New Year.

Doug

 

Hehe, thanks doug. I'll try tightening the alt and the alt belt. Yes, the oil leak is from the oil pan gasket, but it's a ton of money in labor to fix, so i'll just let it dump oil until I rebuild it. The car is getting a turbo soon, so a rebuild will be in order first Thanks very much for the info, hope everything is going well for you. I now drive a mazdaspeed protege daily driver and the rx-7 is the project, and yes I do still love driving it Thanks again.

~brian

 

You're welcome, and good luck with the turbo!