Just got car running, only with the help, of the good people here. Thank you so much ! Next problem getting a horn, car runs good, but no indication of oil pressure on gauge

 

Bad oil pressure sending unit? I think there's a test for that in the FSM.

 

Is this after a rebuild or for whatever reason after removing the front cover? If so you might have missed the o-ring that seals the oil path from the pump to everything in the motor that needs oil.
http://mazdatrix.com/faq/oring.htm
If that is indeed your problem, read that page very carefully. I screwed it up the first time and had to do it all over again. That was a very long day.

 

Might also just be the wire from the gauge to the oil sending unit under the oil filter. Mine was disconnected when i changed the oil cooler lines and i didnt notice till after i starte dthe car and had a similar incident.

 

the stock gauge is notoriously bad. get a stand alone gauge.

 

to add on to everyone else here...

if the gauge is sitting at -10~ then the gauge itself is probably toast (like mine). If it never goes below 0 then it's something someone else has mentioned above.

 

well wasn`t a very good day, is it possible that i have no oil pressure, car starts and runs, but over heats ( white smoke billowing under hood) was in the process of flushing coolant, car gets got in like less than two minutes, maybe water pump

 

Yikes. That sucks.

 

you have serious problems, and i would not run it any longer untill i found out why its doing what its doing.

 

yeah really sounds like you have no oil pressure. First idea for that is the front cover as mentioned above.

 

gonna pull out coolant thermostat, maybe is causing the coolant to boil, and someone said on the oil pressure i could ground the plug that connects to sensing unit and gauge should peg out if it is working, is texas and like 100 degrees outside right now, gonna let it cool off a bit

 

grounded the wire off oil pressure sender, gauge peged out, so bad sender or i really have no oil pressue
So if no oil pressure could it be a oil pump ? ( oil dip stick checks good) only 110k on motor, can you change a oil pump without removing motor? goona pull sender out tomorrow see if oil shoots out hole

 

am i the only one who also noted that you said you hear a "horn"? this indicates that your oil level sending unit is also not registering any oil at 1.5 quarts or lower in your oil pan.

you did actually put oil in the car i hope?!

 

oil level is fine, horn is for coolant level in this case i believe

 

ok pulled sender out, this unit must be bad, my left hand engine compartment is preserved with oil now that i motored over, i think my radiator is partially plugged, gonna do a flush tomorrow, car still runs a little hot with thermostat out. Oil sending unit is 49.99 at autozone but they have to order it, have a extra 87` gonna pull one out of it make sure its the sending unit

 

He worded it pretty poorly... Seems I'm not the only one who missed it.



Anyway, OP, if you hear a buzzer there should be an indicator light illuminated on top of the dash telling you which issue it's whining about, unless it's from revving too high, I don't think there's a light for that that comes on the same time as the buzzer.

 

another cheap and dirty (and slightly messy) way to check for at least some oil pressure is to pull the INJ fuse (so your car doesn't try to start), loosen up your oil filter a bit, and have someone crank the engine while you watch for oil seeping from the filter. If you get seeping oil, then you know you're getting some sort of oil pressure in the system. Certainly isn't the best way to check, but is a way none the less.

 

there is a buzzer for redline with no light indication, there is a buzzer for coolant level at the radiator top with a light association and there is a buzzer for oil level with a light association. the clock/idiot cluster commonly fails also, or the bulbs simply burn out(less common than cold solder joints in the idiot cluster though).

 

Gonna jack rear end to day, it was siezed up when we treid to get the car to move at the junk yard, or maybe was the rear rotor, had to drag the car about twenty feet to get the rear end to break free

 

ok rear brakes were stuck pretty hard, this car sat for 3 years, guess that would do it, took some sand paper to rotors gonna buy new pads tomorrow, transmission acts up a bit, that will be a new battle, i should post some pics i guess

 

Umm..... what happened to the oil pressure issue?

 

changed the oil + filter, still no indication (bad sender) , but overheating issue went away went i took thermostat out, moving on to drive train now, rear brakes were dragging bad

 

so did you replace it with a working one or what?

 

holding off on replacing oil pressure sender, 49.99 at autozone, fixed rear brakes car rolls alot easier now. Some time in the future gonna have to retap holes for the cap that holds shifter **** to top of tranny, not sure how they messed that up, looks like tranny is made of alumminum there, or is whole tranny alluminum