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However, there is no excuse for building crummy auto transmissions at this day and age. Ford has been making auto transmissions long enough to have them perfected - however, what they are doing instead is trying to make them cheaper, not better. I have a 1967 Ford Thunderbird with the original C6 heavy duty transmission that has never been rebuilt and still shifts perfect every time. How is that for comparison? The car is 36 years old! Seems to me that Ford could make great auto transmissions even better today. However, using computerized controls will not make up for substandard materials used to build a transmission.
Larry
The following quote from the Haynes manual # 61042 may be of interest to you:
Valve clearance check and adjustment (1998 models) every 60000 miles or 48 months:
"With the camshafts installed it is not possible to adjust the valves without a unique special tool set that, at the time this manual was written, is available only from the manufacturer. Aftermarket valve adjustment tools we tried in our shop did not work because of the tight clearances around the lifters on these engines. However, since the recommended replacement interval for the timing belt is the same as for valve adjustment, the do-it-yourselver can carry out routine valve adjustment without special tools by removing the camshafts while the timing belt is off."
I have a V6 engine and do you know what this means:
1. There are four camshafts on top of this engine.
2. To access the rear head (transversely mounted engine) camshafts, one must remove the rear valve cover, which is not possible without first removing the entire intake manifold and all kinds of sensors and the throttle body.
3. To remove the timing belt, one must place a jack under the oil pan (with a piece of plywood to protect the pan) to support the engine while removing the front engine mount so that one can slip the timing belt off and on.
4. To adjust the valve clearance you need to buy an assortment of shims from the dealer.
5. Removing and reinstalling four cams involves loosening and tightening dozens of bearing caps and then carefully torquing them to precise torque in a methodical sequence.
6. Once you remove the intake manifold and valve covers, you will need three gaskets to replace.
7. If you take the cams out, you might as well replace the cam sprocket seals. Also replacing the front crankshaft seal is a good idea at this time.
8. Because water pump replacement necessitates removal of the timing belt, I would be tempted to replace the water pump as well as a precaution
9. Replacing the timing belt tensioner would not be a bad idea either at this time.
10. And since all the drive belts have been removed to access the timing belt, it is a good idea to replace all drive belts at this time too.
Doing all this must be pure joy. No wonder the local Mazda dealer wants $ 525 for a timing belt change and valve clearance adjustment (this does not include belt tensioner or water pump replacement, or accessory drive belt replacement) And they have the special tools which eliminates the need for camshaft removal. If they had to do that, and replace the water pump, belt tensioner, and all drive belts, the service would probably cost $ 1000. I wonder how much the special valve adjusting tools cost.
My '00 has been making a hollow knocking sound in the rear end for the last 2-3 months on bumpy roads, so I had the dealer take a look yesterday. They replaced the bushings on the sway bar links (no cost). Don't know if it's just wear and tear (hope not, because it's only 3 yrs. old), or if something caused damage. Unfortunately, the mechanic that did the work was not available to discuss it when I picked up the car.
Possible causes:
1. Defective ignition switch itself - making contact intermittently in the START position
2. Battery cables corroded or loose. Check not only the cables at the battery, but also the positive (red) cable connection on the starter itself. If that connection is loose or corroded, you may have a problem. Also, check the negative battery cable connection to the engine block or the chassis, whichever is the case. The battery terminals must be crimped properly onto the cable and the connections must be clean and tight. On some vehicles (e.g. Mercedes Benz 300 SD) the negative battery cable is grounded to the inner left fender. There is a grounding strap beween the car body and starter itself. If that ground strap was loose or broken , chances are the car would not start. Your car probably does not have this arrangement, but we aware that proper terminal connections are extremely important.
3. Starter motor. You mentioned that you had your starter checked. did they check the starter solenoid for proper operation? Defective starter solenoid can function intermittently and pull in only occasionally. the solenoid pulls and kicks out the starter gear which engages the flywheel. When that happens, the starter motor is also actuated. A had defective solenoids on starter motors before, and the symptoms were sometimes just like you described. Another possibility is the defective starter gear drive linkga. If it binds, the starter would spin free without engaging the flywheel. You would know this becuase the sound of the starter would be different. it is not likely that you have this problem.
This has happened in the past a couple of times when I disconnected the battery, but never lasted more than a few minutes ... this has been going on all day.
HELP!
Also, check all ground locations inside the engine compartment. These are the points where engine wiring harness negative wires are attached to the car chassis. To get a list and location of these grounds you really need a Mazda shop manual. But if you look carefully, you will see some wiring terminations attached to the car cahssis under the hood. Make sure that such grounds are clean and tight.
Now if I only had a solution to the steering wheel noise....
I'm having a few problems with my car(40,000 miles) and would appreciate any help.
(1)Jerking: Not sure if the problem is technically classified as jerking but here is what happens. Try to accelearate the car gently(from about 10-15mph to 15-20mph) in slow traffic or in a parking lot and the car kind of jumps. Happens only in a small speed range(10-25mph) and for very gentle accelaration. Normal acceleration works fine. Am I doing something wrong or is this a known problem? This issue is an irritant if nothing else, now I'm just used to not accelerating in a certain way at certain speeds in order to avoid the jumping.
(2)Hesitation: At times if I really push the gas hard(I'm at about 30 and push the pedal all the way) it appears that the car almost pauses(as if its flabbergasted) for about a second before taking off. I don't usually do this too often but is this the expected behavior for the 626.
(3)Dosen't start: This has happened about 7 times in about 40,000 miles, again, an irritant. The engine just refuses to start. Usually if I change the gears and restart, works fine. Only once did I have to jump several hoops to start the car(shifted the gears several times, removed the keys, applied the key about 4 times before the car started)
Thanks.
Inspect all plug wire boots for any signs of carbon. Need to pull these off the plugs gently by the boots. These V6 engines are supposedly susceptible to "carbon tracking". There were several posts on this topic. If you see any carbon deposits, the best remedy is to replace the plugs and plug wires.
Buy several bottles of Techron fuel system cleaner (Wallmart sells it) and pour into your fuel tank (one per tankful of fuel following the instructions on the bottle). If this does not help I would consider having the injectors and the throttle body professionally cleaned by the Mazda dealer (about $ 100).
Car refusing to start: Does this mean it will not crank? If so, you have an electrical problem somewhere, possibly corroded battery cable connection at the starter, or perhaps alarm system interlock intermittent problem.
The problems you described are not normal for a V6 Mazda. I have a 99 V6 and do not have any of these problems. I had some minor hesitation at higher speeds, but this was cured by replacing the plugs and wires at 60K miles and using Techron in my gas tank.
Final recommendations:
You could repost your problem on the following site: network54.com/Hide/Forum/15854?it=1
There is a Mazda mechanic who responds to a lot of inquiries on this site and from what I have seen he is quite knowledgeable.
What kind of fuel are you using in your vehicle? I have found out that this engine does not perform the same with all fuel brands. Recommend use only brand name fuel such as Chevron or Mobil. Stay away from nondescript gas stations. I have had good experience with Chevron midgrade octane gas in my car.
There are several reasons for engine pinging noise:
1. Heavy carbon buildup on tops of pistons and valves. The carbon will glow red when engine gets hot and causes preignition - hence the pinging noise
2. Nonfunctional EGR valve. I have experienced this myself on an American car. The EGR valve introduces calibrated amount of exhaust gas into the intake manifold and by doing so lowers the combustion temperature in the cylinders a small amount.
3. Base ignition timing that is advanced too far
In general, pinging can be stopped by going to high octane (premium ) fuel in most cases.
I do not use regular gas in my 99 Mazda 626 V6. Mazda recommends premium in this car but I found out that premium fuel is a waste of money. Mid grade octane works best. Never had a problem with Mobil mid grade. I tried also regular gas - there never was any pinging. I believe that these engines have a knock sensor which will respond to pinging immediately and back off the ignition timing to eliminate it.
Many experts recommend Techron to clean out and decarbonize your engine and fuel system. I had great luck with the GM product called "GM top engine cleaner". This was liquid that your poured into carburetor with the engine running and it would effectively clean out the carbon buildup in your cylinders. I do not know if they sell pressurized canisters of this stuff for fuel injected cars. But this product worked great.
Any advice will be very helpful and appreciated.
Thanks.
It is amazing that when a major manufacturer installs a lousy auto transmission in one of their vehicles, they come up with this ridiculous maintenance schedule, like changing fluid every 12K miles, as if this was going to somehow improve the lousy transmission performance and durability. And of course, it is always the customer's fault if the transmission breaks and they do not follow that schedule.
The V6 does indeed have a knock sensor, and will adjust itself to octane lower than 91 with, they say, a "slight" reduction in performance.
I have an L4 626 with the dreaded CD4E ATX, which is a far poorer tranny than the one in the V6. Having no record of what the previous owner had done with the tranny fluid at 68K miles, I had similar reservations about changing the fluid or not. After I took a dark brown, acrid smelling sample out of the slushbox, I realized it was going to die if I did not do it, so I did it. However, here's what I did:
Took and oil extraction pump and sucked fluid through the ATX fill tube. Got 3.5 quarts that way. Filled with new fluid. Wife drove the car to work the next day (20 miles total), and I repeated the process. Did this five times. By then, 85%+ of the fluid was new (remember that the ATX holds ~8 quarts, but you only get the stuff that is not in the torque-coverter). My fear was to 'shock' the tranny with fresh fluid all at once, which could happen with one of those fluid-flush machines. I have had no problems since (it's been 10K miles since I did it last May). I plan to repeat this later this summer.
In your case, you have a pan to drop and a filter to change. If I was you, I would do the 'suck-and-fill' process (I know, it's a bit cumbersome and you need the $40 pump), and after the 4th cycle I would drop the pan and change the filter. Again, this is what I would do, but you may want to get other opinions...
G.
Any other suggestions, anyone?
I bet that nobody with any technical ability would advise you to leave the old fluid in the transmision and forget about it. Incidentally, how does the existing fluid look? Is it brown in color and does it smell funny? These are further indications that you need to change the fluid.