Took the words right off my keyboard Jinglebells!

However it's not usually the oil that kills cats (catalytic converters, not the feline variety), it's the additives in particular that poisons the cats. Unfortunately with the increasing requirements on oils and pollution the additives have been changing, some have gone quite high in certain oils and it's possible that if your car is using a bit of oil the cat's being poisoned.

Serena, do you have:

- an idea of your oil consumption, oil spec used and brand/make of oil? It might be worth investigating and trying to both reduce oil consumption (if applicable) and any additive package in the oil.
- any evidence of an internal coolant leak. Dependent on the coolant you use, additives/minerals in that can also poison the cat.
- anything else being used that could introduce a cat poison- inappropriate sealant used on the upper exhaust system/ exhaust manifold, for example.
- sure you're not using a leaded fuel or fuel additive of some sort- e.g. avgas
- sure the car's not 'overcarburetting', i.e. too much fuel which can overheat the cat and damage/destroy it.
- alternatively if it's too lean *perhaps* it is overheating the cat anyway

It may be worth, if you can, getting the damaged cat, opening it and analysing the core for what's damaged, how and/or what's on the surface of the catalyst.

Patrick

Cheers Jinglebells, Patrick

No idea about oil consumption - except that I check it regularly and it rarely needs topping up. It DOES need an oil change; a garage did the last one, which if I recall correctly was sometime in the early 1950s. I've been meaning to do it since - I even bought the stuff - but life has been hectic, and Sundance never complains ...

But,
No evidence of internal coolant leak.
Nothing else used that might introduce a cat poison.
Not using fuel additives.

S

Hi Serena,

Do the oil change- it's cheap and easy.

In Oz it's generally regarded that Japanese engines need to be oil changed religiously to schedule with the correct spec otherwise they tend to sludge up and that's the end of things. It doesn't have to be super-duper synthetic, just the right spec. That goes for everything from Mazdas to Subarus to Hondas, even Toyotas. Oh, don't forget the coolant changes too.

I think the general feeling in Oz is :

- Toyotas do seem to survive better no matter what.
- Hondas are the worst for sludging up and dying with mechanical atherosclerosis due to missed oil changes due to their 'sewing machine' nature, but looked after they run a long time.
- Subarus develop the 'Subaru tick' which is generally regarded as a terminal indication after neglect. Looked after generally the head gaskets get 'em before wear does.
- Mazda fall somewhere in between, these high-tech engines in the BA are akin to the Hondas- sweet, long lived and reliable so long as oil changes are kept up. Rotaries are the exceptions, especially rust-coloured ones

Patrick

Agree with Patrick ...
just to add that in my BA (1.5) the oil change itself is quite easy, but the filter - Oh my god!!, impossible to reach from the top, you really have to jack it up very securely and crawl right underneath! The filter is on the bulkhead side of the block; one thing Mazda got wrong with the BA. (At least in the BJ 1.5 you can just about reach it from the top.)

Mind you, I haven't tried it on a V6, you probably need triple universal joints in your arms as well? No doubt Serena will be telling us soon!!!

^^^ Ask owners of an A class Merc..
You can't put your finger arround the motor..
For the oil filter of a 1.5 BA, you can untighten it from the top, you just need skiny long arms
I did i twise, then after that i always do it from the bottom.

It WILL be done shortly - as I'm overhauling the car generally. I feel bad about not doing it sooner, no excuses


Actually it's easy on the V6 (pretty much the only thing that is!!!), the oil filter is right at the front and super-accessible. Roughly where the PAS pump is on the Z5, but a bit lower. Jack up the front, lie under the bumper and look up, and there it is, like low-hanging fruit

S

All right I take a bit of it back... I meant the oil change is easy technically if not physically. I, too, seem to purchase cars where the only access to the oil filter is under the car after removing 3 plastic shrouds and ~10 10mm metal threads (or broken plastic clips).

Of course the position is probably preferable for the mechanic who has the car up on a hoist to drain the oil anyway.

My SP23 has one of those idiotic filter cartridges (the filter without the metal can) with a plastic end cap housing with a metal drain bolt in the centre. This is behind a plastic shroud with a hole in it to access it, however the hole is too small to use, doesn't line up with the filter and so yu need to drop the shroud anyway.

Also when some numbnut mechanic cracks the plastic end cap housing through too much force, the leaking oil (litres) is trapped by the pan so you don't notice it (hardly a drip on the floor) until you drop the pan...and a litre of oil on yourself. In the meantime you've been alerted to the low oil by the tappet noise. Yes it happened.

Cartridge is so annoying there were cartridge to spin-on adaptors for the SP23 (wasn't quite game myself).

Patrick

Wow I have been missing out. Welcome to the V6 family. I'm glad you're keeping Sundance up to date and diligently trying to keep it alive.
I feel like a terrible owner as I've done barely nothing side I had my rocket. Replaced all tyres, new rear brakes and checked the front brakes which will require discs and pads when the time comes.
I always have a rather burnt oil smell when I drive it hard which I'm kinda putting down to piston rings, it is over 120k now.
The mot isn't until next may which I expect it will pass as last went with no issues.

Back on topic, I love reading the diary of all your work and I hope to see you and everyone else next time I get a chance. Hopefully the drive shafts will last until then

Sundance has developed a loud clicking noise in the clutch pedal - it's only happening on the return (i.e. when pedal coming up). Sounds like something is getting caught & springing back as pedal moves past.

I'm lying in the footwell with a torch at the moment, trying to figure it out. Probably something very minor (& pedal works fine otherwise) but I just wondered if this had happened to anyone else, & if so, what was the issue?

Cheers

S

EDIT: seems to be something to do with whether pedal is falling slightly to left or right when pushed. If I push it with slight pressure to right, it seems to get caught on something - I will have to see if I can tighten it up. It does feel a little looser than the others.

I had the same issue with another car once, it turned out to be a cracked clutch pedal mounting bracket. I didn't have much choice (or knowledge) but to araldite it up at the time. Worked a charm except come summer when the araldite softened and the clicking returned, albeit softer. Come cooler weather, the araldite re-hardened and the issue went away again!

Patrick

If this is the case, weld it.
Here almost every M6 has that problem. After welding the pedal holding case/bracket, all are good.

Cracked clutch pedal mounting bracket is very common on the BA The solution (while I've not even looked at doing this myself) is apparently a "big feck-off washer"

EDIT: Search results for "clutch washer" search.php?keywords=clutch+washer&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=topics&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

I had this issue in my first car and a "big feck-off washer" did the trick

Thanks guys, I had heard something about clutch pedal bracket issues before, but wasn't sure if this was it - from the descriptions on the other thread, it looks like it

I'd better get him up to my folks' and mended before the bracket goes completely. At least it's only a minor job.

WOULDN'T IT BE NICE IF I HAD A SECOND BA TO DRIVE AROUND IN, MEANWHILE!

*big, big sigh*

S

OK, so first I took this off: which at least got some daylight under there



Then I had to lie upside down in the footwell, but fortunately as I'm small there was plenty of room

I undid the large gold bolt in the bracket (a 12mm bolt head, I had to use a long ratchet extension) and look what fell off the other side: the captive nut from the bracket, which had sheared off:



Here's what the underside of the pedal mounting looked like (looking straight up). The bracket is out of sight on the other side of that hole, welded to the pedal mounting. You can see that the part the captive nut on the bracket was welded onto has sheared off completely, leaving a huge hole. Fortunately the bracket itself was not damaged or torn, and neither was the pedal mounting. All that's happened, is that the captive nut sheared off.



Here's what I put in, instead: an M6 35mm bolt with several "big feck-off" A2 washers, and a shouldered nut to match, that I happened to have in my spares box.



As the bracket itself wasn't damaged or torn, I didn't have to mess with it and was able to put the new bolt etc. straight in. Obviously, some of the washers were on one side of the hole, the rest on the other. That was a little fiddly, but I put the bolt and lower washers in first from underneath, then put the washers on the back of the bolt (on the other side of the hole) on one by one, then the new nut.

The result:



I did some testing on the driveway, and the pedal now seems to be fine and doesn't move as much. The real test will be this afternoon, when I go 25 miles back to my place. Fingers crossed ...

S

Well done Serena, looks like you've cracked it!

Cheers! Yes, no problems on the way back, seems to be solid - dare I say even better than before? I think it might have been coming loose for a while

S

Great work Serena, much better than araldite!

With the washers it shouldn't come loose but if you wore worried about some loosening, you could perhaps use a 'nyloc' nut or perhaps some thread locker to ensure it doesn't shake or vibrate loose.

Patrick

P. S. jinglebells: that was a pun...wasn't it? (cracked it)

I have to say, I was nerdily pleased to notice plastic tape wrapped around several bunches of cables under there, with Japanese writing. Probably the last person to look that far under Sundance's dash was a Japanese technician in late 1996

S

So Sundance failed MOT on emissions ... yet again ... and also because apparently the headlight levelling device is inoperative.

Any ideas on the leveller, chaps - are these things fixable / easily replaceable?

Thanks

S

Do they mean the manual adjuster or electronic adjuster? If it's the manual one, they're best replaced (probably easier to just replace the whole headlight, but the adjuster unit is just screwed on).

If the problem is the electronic adjuster, I'd probably try replacing the switch before trying to replace the lights

EDIT: Quick fix, just whack the V6 headlights on for the MOT

Helpfully, they haven't said which ... and it's one thing I don't have a spare for, unless I can nick THAT off the V6?



Sundance has Koitos, Butch's are Bosch ... I thought they weren't swappable?

S

If it is just one light I've had that problem, well, was a bit weird so sometimes worked and then not worked, got the cover off and found out with direct connection to exclude wiring it was dodgy just before I was careless with a jumper and it started smoking and stopped altogether lol
I found an exact replacement from Fleabay in Germany for around £15 and to change it was a bit of a challenge, had to saw off the shaft so I could pull it out of the socket and was pretty hard to push the new one back into the socket, this is for the Bosch lights that is

Ah, just seen your reply, not Bosch lol

Ahh bugger, typical They're not directly swappable without faffing with wiring. Do you not have a couple of spare headlights in the unit?

The levelling switch should be swappable between both your cars, but test the switch first - park facing a wall with the lights on and adjust the headlights using the switch, see if the beam pattern moves

Yes, but that's in Birmingham and I'm in Surrey. Without a car to get up to Birmingham.


Is the switch easy to get off?

S

Yes, clipped in, easier to push out of course if you can get behind it

Double bugger

Yeah switch is quite easy to remove, but involves removing (or at least dislodging) most of the dash binnacle!

Do a quick test of the electronic leveller, at least if you can rule out that, you'll know it's a problem with the headlight unit itself, so then you can hop on ebay and see if there are any Koitos going cheap

Why not swap? If the harness connectors are identical, nothing stops you.
The Koito headlights have adjusters with separete body from the headlights so they are screwed with (if i remember correctly) 2 screws to the plastic as Hughie said.They have plastic gears inside and tend to break.I have a dosen of them in my spare headlight parts.There is a fix, but you have to open and see if it could be fixed or not.If the plastic wheel is losened from the axis it can be glued with a locktite, but if any tooths are broken forget it.
If it's an electrical adjusting with motor inside(it still has hand adjust at the back of the motor body) so it can be adjusted.If the electrical adjust is the problem, it could be the motor itself,gears of the motor,cable breaks,loose connectors and such..
I cannot help about the bosh-koito harness connectors matching because i have only koitos on pieces.
But i think that they are identical!
I don't think that Mazda have made separate harnesses for different headlights..
I'm talking for the silver 3-pin harness plugs wich are 20cm up the wires!
From there should be easy headlights swaping.
About the gasses, again catalitic converter>??
You should check what's wrong with Sundance's engine!
Is it oil burning(smoking,smelling on burnt oil) or it's lean mixture and overheating it to self breakdown?Or maybe bad replacement parts?
I hope you get it going before moving as i remember she can handle some quite big things in the boot!
hmm.. that may have double meaning..
i didn't want it to sound like that, but have no idea how to express myself otherwise for you to understand me..
(some big things i tell you)
pics for reference:
http://i.imgur.com/CdvZgI5.jpg
Cheers!

Oh yes, that's a good point! There's a little ~20cm subharness from the car to the headlight - the headlight end of that is different for bosch/koito, but you might find the other end is the same! So you might be able to swap the headlight plus that wire over!

Good shout maZZda!