Hi everyone. I purchased an FD.
I drove it home for 130 Kms (I live in Canada, it has been around 12 F here for the last little while). Needless to say, I took it easy on the way home, parked it in the garage.
The car is entirely bone stock with the exception of the tires (245 on stockers) and the Downpipe.
The car ran and starts/idles very well. I however noticed that the temp gauge sits slightly higher than in the dead middle. It doesn't travel in any direction, but it does move up to that point before sitting there. I have been in touch with JConn2299 from these forums and he's been greatly helpful in giving me feedback on my newbie questions. I decided to put a thread up simply because I don't want to harass him with 1million questions.
I started the car today and let it warm up for about 8 minutes. During that time, I put the air on as I was told, to keep the compressor seals lubricated.
When the car starts it smokes a bit, nothing major, but certainly more than my piston powered cars. I know it is common and it is condensation (most of the time). I have no coolant smell and the little droplets from the exhaust are not of coolant. I checked the champagne bubble test and there doesn't seem to be anything there.
I don't hear the fans coming on, even with the air and I believe that in my other cars they always come on as soon as you punch the air on. I don't understand if there is something here I am supposed to be worried about, I would expect that, even with this weather (car was in the garage and warmed up 1/2 way out of the garage), after 8 minutes of idling the car should be warm and the fans should be coming on. Especially considering where the needle goes.
I have been reading these forums for a long time (at least 1 year) and so I am aware (from reading experience only, however) of all the issues/problems related to cooling system and overheating. The car has coolant sitting a somewhere above the 1/2 point between full and empty. It has the stock AST and the stock radiator. It has been maintained very well for as far as the last owner has had the car (about 5 years). He's always serviced it at Mazdee's in Pickering (Toronto) and I purchased it from Dave, the owner of Mazdee's.
Do you guys have any ideas/suggestions/scary thoughts?
I just want to make sure I don't run into problems I could avoid.
I am planning on installing temp/boost/(maybe) air-fuel ratio gauges, but right now the car doesn't have any of this.
Apology for the long post.
Anticipated thanks,
Gio64

 

Didnt you guys just get 60 cm's of snow? thank god i live in toronto!

 

Unless you get a wideband, there's no point in getting an air-fuel gauge. Boost is a must, I would say that's your first purchase. After that, do the reliability mods such as AST, radiator, and the like. From what you're describing, I don't think there's anything going on that you need to worry about. The stock temp gauge isn't accurate in the slightest, so don't worry about it sitting a little higher than someone elses, it simply can't be relied on for anything other than illumination. When it starts to rise past that point, THAT'S when you should worry, as it's probably too late by then. So enjoy the car and welcome to the FD owner's club, I'm sorry for your wallet.

 

The typical AFR gauge is worthless and unnecessary. Just get boost and water temp gauges and you are good to go. It's entirely possible for your fans not come on after 8 minutes if it is 12 deg out! But until you get a water temp gauge, it's pretty difficult to tell if you have a problem or not.

 

Hey man........everything you mentioned is perfectly normal.....the paranoia gets all of us at first, but then u get used to the car.

And yes the higher than 1/2way temperature needle & smoke for 1-3 min at startup are both normal (As long as it goes away afterwards). My fans wont come on either with just idling for 8 min, you gotta actually drive hard and then come back and let it sit, then they'll come on. That stupid needle will always read high, until you get an aftermarket one.

Which car did you buy from Dave, U got a pic ? Post it up.

CB

 

I once measured warm-up time, ambient temps were about 60F.

It took about 8 minutes to reach ~180F, which is the thermostat opening temperature. At 11 (3 minutes after the thermostat opened), the temperatures rose to 185F and continued to increase. The fans turned on after the car had been running for about 16 minutes.

Since it's colder where you live, your car might need 20 minutes before the fans activate. If you're worried about temperatures, install a coolant temp gauge.


-s-

 

ha ha thats funny. because i just had some reliability mods done including a coolant temp flush and the guy was like "yeah since i just did the coolant flush, keep your eye on the temp", so the whole way home i kept looking at to see if it would move. you hear so much talk about if it overheats then the rotors warp and thats a new engine. but at the same time i am suprised that mazda kept making this car. anyway i plan on more reliability mods like the downpipe, ast, braided radiator hose, etc....

 

OK, thank you all, first and foremost.
A few quick responses:

You're exactly right. And if you add the drift, it added up to about 4 feet in front of my front door and about 5'6 against my backyard fence



I understand the air/fuel gauge-wideband need. I guess this is not the place to discuss that extensively... I am in the process of planning the gauges upgrade, when I'm ready to go, I'll search first. I guess the wideband has to substitute the regular sensor?
And thanks for the simpathy towards my wallet, I hope I won't need it? I imagine you're all laughing right now, aren't you?
Don't plan to mod like a maniac and won't do more than 6K kms a year. I hope it'll help my wallet
BTW... Has anyone ever attempted to purchase extended warranty for these cars? Just thought about it...


Pheew...! Thanks for the response. I believe he only had one for sale, which is the one I bought. It is a red 93 touring (like I said, with DP and 245s). It seems to have been incredibly cared for, which is why I decided to take the plunge...
I wanted to post pics yesterday, but I ran out of batteries in the camera. Possibly sometime today, but you'll have to bear with my incredibly squalid garage.


I feel much better now.
Thank you all.

One more thing: there is the infamous little oil pan drip. Suggestions? I read that to remove the pan you have to jack the engine up? Should I go to the dreaded Mazda dealer and have them reseal it? Some other action instead? It doesn't seem to be a major thing, but I'd like to keep the thing as mint as possible...

Thanks again boys, I'll post the pics tonight

 

DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR TO A DEALER EVER!

Gotham racing has a great kit to fix your oil leak issue.


http://www.gothamracing.com/catalog/...oducts_id=1076

Good Luck

 

Got it...
Thanks, sounds like a good idea... Still need to move the motor up to install?

 

Nope, you just have to drop the front subframe, makeing sure to support the engine by jacking up the tranny.

Post pics when you can, there is a thread stickied at the top devoted to pics!

 

Im on my 3rd reman Mazda engine right now....they all let some oil out of the pan. As far as your warranty question....i don't think i've ever heard of anyone offering a warranty on these cars...if they did you would deffinately pay for it.

congrats on the purchase and good luck with the wallet!

Drew

 

There used to be a lot of aftermarket warranties available but the car is too old now. I bought a 3-year warranty when I bought mine....I paid $1800 and got about two times my money back....

 

If you're interested in DYI oil pan sealing, look at this thread:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...easier+oil+pan

Dave

 

Congratulations on the purchase! You're a brave man to drive an FD for 130 kms given the road conditions we've had over the last few days.

 

Well, thanks for the compliment, but I don't deserve it at all. I went on Monday and the roads were perfectly dry and clear from Mazdee's garage door to my garage door.
Just out of an **** fit, I went to wash the car, but all I could see was just a slight bit of white powder behind the wheels.
Had it been Tuesday or Wednesday, than I would be a bit more than a brave man, I'd be completely insane!

 

Just want to congratulate you on your new purchase Gio.

Looking forward to seeing pics.

Did you ever find production numbers for Canadian FD's?
Just curious as to how rare they are.

Regards, John

 

Thank you. I am willing to post pics, but between snowstorm, weather in general and work (together with the lack of batteries) have prevented me from doing this. I am going to post this weekend, I'll move the car out of the garage in the snow-covered driveway.
As far as production numbers in Canada, no, I haven't, but I remeber reading something somewhere, I'll go on a hunt.