As you might as well know i am very new here. i have a 94 touring with 146,000 original miles. my question is should i try to salvage what i can with this motor and start changing the intercooler, radiator, AST ... etc. i already found a motor id want from ebay for 2900. was thinking of just getting that and building it till this motor dies on me. what do you guys think? trying to save on labor and where ever i can.

 

whats wrong with your current engine?

 

no paper work to prove but they said it was rebuilt. but the turbos are leaking. i ppi'd it at mazda and said the compression test showed 5.5 (not sure if they did it right) rear main is leaking pretty bad from what i saw underneath. but with all that ive been commuting with it still pulls strong. no smoke. idles fine. so thats where i am a little stuck.

 

Likely oil pan leak and not rear main. The engine has been rebuilt, believe that. I doubt Mazda performed the compression test correctly as the car would really struggle to hot start with that compression. If it runs good just enjoy it. Upgrade the IC, install water/meth injection and start replacing coolant and fuel components.

 

Great thank you! been wondering what route to take for the last couple days. i really want to keep this thing on the road as much as possible.

 

just one more question. if my turbos are leaking im hearing people just buy a new motor than to replace the turbos. not sure whats the best choice in my situation.

 

Don't listen to idiots.That's like saying if you had a broken window then replace the house.

Get a proper compression test done if you are worried about the engine.
If the turbos are leaking then address the Turbos.
You are in Cali..so there are lots of members that can help you.Try to avoid the dealership,they like your color of money but not your choice of 20 year old car.They will overprice your parts but they still don't like working on a rotary..it's ancient in their eyes.

 

Ya i totally agree with you. the dealership was the last place i wanted to ppi the car. but seeing that the area the seller was in i really had no choice. but ok sounds good. thanks for the advise.

 

I would stay away from ebay when buying motors . LoL Look for a reputable seller on here even if its a bit more expensive . but atleast you will know what you're really getting .

But I agree that you should enjoy the car . get some reliability mods and just drive it .

make sure you have AAA or towing service included in your insurance coverage .

 

as for the turbos , they are a bit annoying to replace because of the confined space . BUT its not ALL that difficult . take a weekend , and buy a downpipe so you can replace the OEM twin cat downpipe while you're at it .

if the turbos are leaking OEM turbos are dime a dozen you can also go with upgraded turbos , but then you gotta look into getting an ECU , and a tune .

I believe you can keep the stock ECU with 99 spec twins .

But you can usually find good stock twins for 200 I sold mine for 150 and they were in perfect shape.

 

I totally agree on replacing your turbos. I did mine last fall, first night I dropped the oil and coolant, labelled all the hoses, removed all the intake and intercooler piping, and soaked all the nuts and bolts to be removed in penetrating oil. Second night I removed the down pipe and turbo assembly. Third night I installed the new turbos and put everything back together. The only issue I had was an air lock when refilling the coolant. If you take your time and label everything its not bad at all. You can even find the factory service manual on this forum for a step by step instructions. I spread mine out over three nights but one good Saturday should do it.(as long as nothing breaks

 

thanks ya im still debating whether to just replace it back with oem save the money and replace all the cooling or just upgrade the turbo's and everything and get it done with.... would you be able to reccomend a good replacement turbo?




thanks for the reply. this looks like i job i would be able to do. but with my time restrictions i think it would take me a lot longer...