cletus

I'm trying to make the jump from the FB to the FD. I have a very limited window on the purchase of a 93. My knowledge on the FD is a little limited. The car has 3 issues which I'm trying to see if they should be of any major concern. I was wondering if you guys could help me shed a little light on these.

The first one is it has a rattle at idle with the A/C on. As soon as you give it any throttle, it goes away. Was wondering if this showed a common problem or something, or maybe something more stupid like a loose bolt on the exhaust. I'm not really sure where it's coming from, and I realize that you probably can't help much with that limited info.

The second one is the car stalled out once on the drive. The seller told me the dealership said it had to do with the connection to the ECU on these cars. It only did that once in the probably hour and a half I drove it. Fired right back up, never came back.

The third one is the one that concerns me the most. The one work order from the dealership where it is serviced states that there is a small oil leak at the turbo shaft seal. It also advises not to do anything about it though. The seller said the dealership stated that it was fairly common, especially on one that hadn't been driven very much, and even replacing the turbos would only help for a little bit then it would reappear. I could not see any oil around there and the car did not smoke. Probably wouldn't have known about it if the seller didn't tell me. I want to know if this is something that is major and should turn me from the car, or something that can just be dealt with or whatever. Or how much would it be to swap in a new set of turbos if it required it.

Other than those 3 things, the thing is immaculate. I just need a quick response since the window on this thing is pretty limited.

Thanks a lot. Sorry for the long post and if this stuff may have been answered. Just trying to get the info quick.

P'cola FD

Problem one doesn't seem like a big deal. Problem two might not either, but the ecu connection sounds like a load of b.s. The turbo shaft seal leaking will be into the intake. You can pull an intercooler hose to see the amount of oil leaking out. Not a huge deal, but a rebuild or replacement would easily cure that problem. I also recommend getting a compression check, as well as testing the boost pattern.

cletus

It actually just had a boost pattern check which was fine according to the paperwork. It's supposedly not much oil. Unfortunately the car is 150 miles away though. I'm having the seller take it to a dealership for a full inspection anyway, just trying to feel for what's going on. Thanks for the quick response. Will appreciate more input too though guys.

Almost forgot to mention. I mentioned the stall/ecu thing to a friend who had an R1 for a while and he said the 93s did have bad grounds on the ecu a lot, but it was usually seen in a 3000rpm stumble. No idea in the real truth of that though.

spooledUP7

Sounds good, but the dealer boost check also sounds like a load of bull. The manual says to accelerate in third at 3000 RMP and feel a smooth pull... blah blah blah. But if you havn't hooked up a boost gauge, then don't take their word for it. You will have much more problems with this car than your 1st gen, but you will have about 100 times more fun owning it. Compression test is about the only good thing mazda dealers are good for.

duboisr

The 3000 rpm stumble is real and running new, better more ground wires will not fix it all the time because it is in the ecu program ,the re -grounding needs to be done for the car to have brighter lights and better starting ect.ect

Dragon

I wouldn't worry about the turbo's... If they go bad it gives you a good excuse to go single... but then again I'm biased and I hate the stock twin set up.. also the stalling could be a bunch of things, A/C was on and the compressor kicked on just as it went to idol, dirty air filters, engine wasn't fully warmed up, old spark plugs bla bla bla.. The rattle may be the A/C compressor clutch since it only does it when the A/C is on or somtimes the engine will idol a little rougher with the A/C on and it could be vibrating one of the 10 heat shields on or around the turbo's...

skunks

How much is the car gonna set you back? If under 14-15k, i agree with Dragon and say buy it and go single turbo when the stock turbos finnaly go. It really won't cost you too much.

Good luck

P.S. Did ya compression test it? Like spooledUP7 mentioned, that's all the the dealers are good for.

cletus

It's going in today. I will probably have them do a compression test while it is in there. The dealership it's going to was recommended by someone on this board, but unfortunately I think mostly because it's just the best thing around there. Other than that it pulled smoothly and strong just like my friend's 95. Motor is somewhere around 7k miles old. We are thinking the rattle is exhaust/heat shield most likely, but just aren't 100% sure. Thanks guys.

1919

dont replace the turbos right awy youll need a new ecu and other mods for reliability first the problems dont sound bad and the idle just from the power used by the a/c not a problem at all this sounds like a good car but have the dealership check it and fix any problems needed as for the turbos though you need some other mods way before you put a single on if thats what your thinking

1919

also i forgot when you test drive it make sure the boost is smooth take it for a good ride 30min then wait tell it cools another 30min start the car and it should idle at about 800 rpm right away