Just bought an 87 NA FC, some concerns.....
While on maiden cruise, I came off a tight on-ramp with seams quickly and she stepped out and started beeping. I noticed a warning light go off but didn't see which one it was. Also, although she is my first RWD car, I don't think she should be as unstable in the rear as she is. Any creases, bumps, seams, etc in road surface cause her to jump/body roll/bounce around. Any ideas? Suspension issues? My ventilation system doesn't work at all. No fans, no nada. Read about the ECU issue at roughly 3800 rpm, mine does it @ 3750 rpm, but only under load. Under very soft acceleration, it will increase past 4000 rpm. Is it still the same problem with the solder?
Took car to Mazda dealer to get it checked out, should hear back from them tomorrow. They claim to have 4 tech's that have been there since the FC was new and are throwing one of them at my car.
Any suggestions or should I just take the sledgehammer to my head? Thanks for the assistance.

 

Your probably low on washer fluid :-p.

Now chances are you controls are malfunctioning or the blower motor wore out.

Parts are easy to find, and its not that hard to work on em.

Im sure someone more knowledgable then myself can give you a better suspension diagnostic.

 

was there a buzzer along with the warning light? If you just caught it out of the corner of your eye (no noise) it could've just been something like low wiper fluid.

Yeah, if your Rx has single piston caliper front brakes, chances are you're rolling the stock suspension which isn't very stiff.

Maybe a fuse is out for the vents? (maybe not though)

I'd be wary of the Mazda dealership... If I were you, I'd ask around in your 'local' section to find a reputable rotary specific shop.

Oh, and if you decide to take a sledge-hammer to your head, make sure you film it...

 

There was definitely a buzzer along with the light, they came on simultaneously. Yes I am low on washer fluid. LOL.

 

If i take the hammer route...I will of course be sure to film AND post it. so there.

 

I checked around and there are no reputable rotary shops in the Upstate NY (Albany) area. Closest I've heard of is in Mass. not too far, but still far enough. If anyone knows of a good shop within a hundred miles, I'd appreciate it

 

There is a forum memeber named NYT- he is in ny from what I remember.

Super smart dood- knows everything and anything.
He probably can hook ya up with a shop.

 

Thanks will do.

 

Does it matter that the car revs fine in neutral, but in gear the dreaded 3750 rpm bucking ensues?

 

There are alot of cases of cars hesitating in this rpm range. The most common is just leaky secondary injectors. These injectors kick in this rpm range, and will hinder performance severely if they are bad. Your secondary injectors are on the passenger side of the motor, and they will be the only visible injectors you can see without taking the intake manifold off your car. But before sending them out to a shop, check the connections on them to see that the plugs are seated firmly on the injectors.

 

About the 3750 slight hesitation.....as we all know, Mazda addressed this in a factory service bulletin years ago. Their fix was to add a second ground to the pressure/boost sensor. Specifically to the black or in some cases the brown/black wire at the boost/pressure sensor and to ground that additional wire to the water filler neck. Go to ALLDATA.com and subscribe and you will see all the service bulletins.

IF as you said, the service rep has been there since the first FC's, then he should know this without thinking about it. Personally, that did not fix my car. The only thing that fixed my car was adding additional grounds to the ground wires AT the ECU itself. Pins 2R, 3A, and 3G. I can remove this NEW set of ground wires and make the hesitation come back at will. On the other hand, others have tried this and it has not worked for them. This has squat to do with cold solder joints.

The no fan is best addressed by doing some trouble shooting as looking for the busted fuse. No busted fuse? Then go to the front page on this forum and go look at one of the beginning threads that is called something like FAQ or buy a logicon out of the junkyard and try it. A fellow named Icemark also repairs these logicon devices. He's a member of this forum. Personally I'd buy a fsm and look a the schematics and get a meter out to see if your getting power/grounds where they should be, first.

 

I'm in Syracuse, drive on over here and I'll help you fix it up.

 

SonicRat, I'm working thursday and friday, but it seems saturday is open. Will that work for you?

 

Sonic Rat
I've got to work thurs and friday, but sat. looks open. Is that good for you? I may bring a friend along to follow me out. I just don't feel good about driving her so far.

 

exactly! the buzzer was your washer fluid.

suspension is probably shot, just like the wiring in the logicon. so your heater controls dont work. pull the unit out and re solder where the plugs attach to the circuit board.

 

I'll have to check and see what I've got going on. I don't have any tools here though sadly.

 

Make sure your oil level is full. Last time i knew the buzzer does not go off for low wiper fluid, only coolant and oil.

- Pat

 

Sonic, I have tools in car, anything in particular I should bring? Let me know what you've got goin on Sat. I'm suppossed to be heading to montreal on Sunday for F1 race.

 

Well, the basic set of wrenches (10,12,14,17) and sockets to match work great, since that'll take apart about 1/5th the car. Some wire crimps, spare wire (there's a few hardware stores near where I'm at, so we can always go get some stuff) My saturday looks to be pretty open, I don't have anything scheduled. I can also tell you if you've got a bad shock/spring, since I've had many before. You can also come for a quick spin in my GTUs and see what brand new stiffer than imaginable suspension feels like (AGX/Eibach pro springs). We can pop the logicon out and jumper some stuff to see if it's just a bad logicon as well. Chances are your oil or coolant level is a bit low, which caused the buzzer to go off. If you want hit me up on AIM, my nickname is SonikRaT, I'm almost always on.