So I picked up this slick little 88, manual transmission, 132k on the odo. No body rust, very minimal rush underneath. So here are the issues I've discovered so far.

- Engine runs but wont idle, previous only states it's a blown coolant seal, however, it only blows a minimal amount of blue smoke at start up. When giving it throttle it revs very slow, almost as if it's only running on one rotor. I work with a couple old Mazda techs, but they stated Mazda rarely let them tear one open, mostly long block swaps. Any help here would be appreciated.

- Stereo powers but no audio. It's factory CD/Tape/AM/FM with headrest speakers. I've read that if the speakers ground out the factory amp will shut down, I would like to know if there are any other gremlins I should be looking for.

-The top... Now the previous owner disconnected the top from the motors behind the rear seats so he could open the top manually. He never said why/how/when he did this. I don't believe he owned it very long. The switch seems to work, gives the audible beep indicating top movement. But the top is still disconnected from these motors. Before I reconnect them is there any timing I need to do to them?

I'd like to take this back to as stock as possible. From the stereo to the suspension. Everyone's input is welcomed an appreciated.

 

A blown coolant seal could lead to major problems in the future. If it was sitting for a long while could be carbon build up though. Get some MMO and pour a small amount in the trailing spark plug hole using a hose. pull the egi fuse and crank it a couple times to spread the MMO and let it sit. that should break up any carbon build up.

 

If coolant was mixing w/the gasoline then it would be hard for the engine to run properly. If the seal is damaged then it needs to be rebuilt.

 

The previous owner drove it until it stopped running properly. It's been started to my knowledge every few days. I'll get some MMO, miracle in a bottle, run it in my fuel for my ecoboost, huge help for the HPFP. I work with a guy who brought me a gift yesterday, he has a Mazda Rotary compression tester. Going to get a good baseline this weekend. Going to pressure test the cooling system as well.

 

Rotor 1 compression "using mazda rotary tool" 9.1/9.3/9.2 kg/cm2, Rotor 2 0/0/0 so I found my issue. Now it's time to yank it and swap it out.

 

My 91 had the same problem. I adjusted the TPS (Throttle Positioning Sensor) and it helped a great bit. I can't find the link, but it's pretty easy to do, you just have to have the engine warmed up to do it and a multimeter/ohmmeter

 

Rotor 2 was just wasted, so I picked up a used 88 motor from oregon, had 90k on the clock. Put it in today actually. Fired up on the first click. No smoke, runs smooth. I need a set of exhaust gaskets. The threeway is leaking at each joint. I pulled 5/6 actuators and freed them up with some BG lube. Swapping the flywheel over was nuts. Had to find a 2 -1/8" socket.