Early (Pre-Ford) Mazda Pickups

C13 · March 2002

I'd like to be able to share information with owners of the earlier Mazda-built Mazdas. I have a '91 extended cab 2600 with automatic that I like a lot. It was actually a lemon for a previous owner who I happened to meet (It's a small town), probably because the engine had been abused by a still earlier one. But before I bought the truck the engine was replaced (by yet another owner). I've had no trouble with it except for the sorts of minor things you'd expect from a 10-yr old workhorse, though the formerly erratic a/c is no longer erratic. It's totally gone.

Now I'm thinking about cleaning up the details of this venerable beast - "restoring" her as the sportscar people say - and would love to be able to ask all the stupid questions of people who have been there, or who are there now.

kentros · March 2002

Hi C13;

I've owned a 90 B2600 2wd extra cab automatic
since new. Now has 172,000k miles. It's been an excellent
reliable truck overall but have had some issues
lately.

I got stuck in my driveway last winter after an
ice storm and after gunning the motor a few times
to spin the wheels to get traction, I must have
overheated it and warped the head. Drove it
around for a few months (slight overheating)and had it repaired last Dec. Shaved the head,
new gasket set. Since I got it back from shop the temp gauge still fluctuates between normal and
1/2 up the scale, same symptoms I had after the head was warped. Coolant though has stayed clean-
before repair coolant had turned oily black-
engine oil had gotten into coolant at that time.
Mechanic insists all is well. Will see.

MY AC still works but occasionally compresser
does not engage for a few minutes when I first
turn on AC. It may be compressor clutch in your case as well. Have gone through about 3 exhausts
from cat back-They don't last long up here in the
Northeast. Also replaced HVAC blower motor.

Other then this, Truck has been great. Plan to hold onto it for another year. Already got a
2001 F-150 4X4 to eventualy replace it but
want to give myself a chance to pay off at least
half of loan before I rack up the miles on new one.

I'm a small contractor and put 25k miles a year
on my truck since moving to suburbs-longer commute.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have

Tom

jrosasmc · March 2002

My dad used to have an '87 B2200 long-bed, 5-speed. It was extremely reliable and gave us years of great service until the body rusted off.

powerman · March 2002

I had a 1984 Mazda B2000 SE-5 with the 5 speed manual transmission for sixteen years. It was a great little truck that required very few repairs and got around thirty miles per gallon. Of course, it only had about seventy-seven horsepower!

Still, it did everything I required of it and ran great when I donated it to a charity in 2000.

You couldn't ask for more from a vehicle than the dependability I got from that truck.

rfross · April 2002

My brother-in-law will be selling his '87 extended cab 5 spd that has been babied its entire life on the west coast. The best part? It only has 72,000 miles and he's selling it for $2,000!

I'll end up driving that the majority ofthe time to reduce the miles on my new 2002 Ranger extended cab.

warfish · April 2002

a long time ago I had a 1974 Mazda rotary truck. It was my bad luck, or lack of good sense, to buy the truck just before the big gas crunch when the price of gas went through the roof. The truck was a real hot rod and could blow the doors off almost any american made sedan at the time, but I couldn't keep my foot out of the carburetor and my mileage was awful. I traded it in on a '76 Toyota pickup, which got a lot better mileage but was not as much fun to drive.

Early (Pre-Ford) Mazda Pickups

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