I just bought a 91 non turbo for $1200. Car runs and drives but CEL is on and auto seat belts don't move at all.

As I was cleaning out the smelly *** interior that had been sitting for a year, I found two things that I need some help identifying.

This was stashed in one of the rear boxes:

another pic of the same thing:

and what are these wires for on the passenger side


The car has an aftermarket stereo system that really is nothing to write home about and also wasn't installed very well..

 

The first two pictures show an ignition coil. Not one off an FC though...

Second picture, not sure what it is for.

Also, your automatic seatbelts. There is a life-time recall for those. Search the forum. Take it to mazda and get them fixed for free! May want to be careful of the brittle plastic at the B pillar since a lot of users complain the dealership ends up breaking it. Best bet is to remove it yourself before taking it to them.

 

thanks..

I've seen the lifetime recall on the seatbelts, I'm just hoping my local Mazda dealer honors it when I bring it in tomorrow.

the 2 wires really look like they come from the factory. No one else has those in their car?


funny thing happened last night: turned on the brights and the switch came off in my hand!!! Lol..I had an 87 NA for years and beat on it (delivered pizza in it all thru college) and that never happened. Could it be that the later models actually had even cheaper interior trim pieces?

 

Your local dealer doesn't have an option.
If they give you a hard time, ask for the number of the regional service manager and give them a call (preferably right there in front of the recalcitrant dealer).
That'll clear it up.

 

^

 

haha

I'll let you know what happens when I bring it tomorrow.

 

There is a copy of the recall letter floating around. Take a copy with you...

 

So I sent out an email to customer service, they replied back that there are no recalls listed. I called them and gave them my VIN and they replied that there is a recall but it was already done on this car in Nov 1997. To which I replied, "Yeah but it's a lifetime recall so you can just fix it again."

The technician said he would call Mazda Customer Service to make sure, to which I responded, "oh no, I'll just call them" and he said, "why do that I will call for you and call you right back." HA

This was the original email reply I got from them:

Hi Mr. Giambrone,

I have received your service request asking for service on 7/20/10 to correct your automatic seatbelts. In checking the Mazda website we are not showing any open recalls for your car for this issue. Do you still want an appointment to correct this issue? If so is there another day we can work on your car, as we are totally booked for July 20, 2010.

Please let me know how you would like me to proceed.

Susan


They called back after 10 minutes and said, "yes we can fix it, but it's only for the rail and motor assembly."

I hope that's what wrong with my seatbelts. They just don't do anything, they don't even budge (i don't hear any motor either) and are somewhat loose in the track, especially the driver's side.

 

Find the letter (you need to search for it here)... Take it to them, they can't argue with the written word... Call customer service yourself if you have to once you get the letter...

Seatbelts get replaced whenever they fail, for the lifetime of the car...

 

Actually here you go, straight from the mouth of the safety dragon....

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...type=DrillDown

http://nhthqnwws111.odi.nhtsa.dot.go...-96V173-NN.PDF

But there is an OFFICIAL mazda letter too... that one no-one can question you with...

NEVERMIND: I found it for you in the second link, print that whole thing out and slam it in their face : )

 

Its just funny that a lot of dealerships, loaded with worthless morons, still wanna deny the work EVEN when you show them letters from Mazda AND the government.

 

oh they will fix the rail and break everything in their path at least that was my experience and it still doesnt work. i was told i needed a sb module, i changed it and still dont work.my guess is motor but im use to buckling it so oh well i'll get around to it

 

Car goes in tomorrow for belt repairs. I can only keep my fingers crossed. That being said, if this gets totally muffed up, does anyone have any S4 belts they have lying around?

 

I could be wrong, but the last picture looks like the connector for the amplified front speakers that came on some of the sevens.

 

A lot of dealerships will break everything in their way to fix the belt. This is also why just parts alone for this repair cost at least 1.1K. including the parts that they break.

so you better make sure you take photos and stuff of your interior, so they can't say "its already broken in the first place"

 

You arre correct young man!

 

You could be right...the stereo system was monkeyed with and upgraded, so I wouldn't be surprised if those are speaker connectors

So what do they connect to? What am I losing..the speakers seem to all work fine..

 

Update: They called me friday afternoon when I was at the local pub after several beers haha, and said they "checked and found out that we will have to fix your seatbelts, but the parts are on backorder and won't be available until the first week of August."


What kind of things will they break? What should I make sure to get many pictures of? Door components etc??

thanks for all your help guys..

 

All interior trim pieces, specifically the trim for the B pillar

 

The most fragile piece will be the a-pillar trim.
You might consider removing it ahead of time just to be safe.

 

I would have removed all the trim pieces necessary to access the seal belt mechanism beforehand to prevent others from breaking them and then showing no culpability/responsibilitity for the dammages incurred. It's called "headache prevention 101."

 

Yeah they broke my A pillar trim and then tried to tell me it was already broken. My advice would be to save a lot of headaches taking it back WHEN it FAILS AGAIN, and it will fail again, and just buy a set of S4 manual belts.