My oldest son just bought a 1991 MX6 c/w F2 MPFI motor 260,000Km.

The car ran perfectly, no smoke, good idle, lots of pep. Nice car. After driving for about four hours it conked out and wouldn't start. After about 2 hours of sitting it started and ran fine.

Then an hour later it conked out again.

The next morning I started it - first try, runs perfectly. After 30 seconds the engine stalled quick - as if the key was turned off.
It started again and 10 secs later, died again, after which it wouldn't start.

On a point of interest - the cooling fan goes on as soon as the ignition is turned on. The engine is cold ..?

Anyone with any ideas?

also--------

My youngest son has a 1992 MX3 V6. He overheated while driving through the mountains, pulled over and turned the engine off Glycol sprayed over the motor. Couldn't get the motor to fire. Towed home, changed points, plugs, dist. cap, rotor...TO NO EFFECT. absolutly no piston explosion. Checked: Gets fuel, gets spark, but will NOT fire.

Any idea?

1. sounds like a pinched wire. i saw a 93 mx6 with a wire pinched in the fender so bad it melted into other stuff and the fan ran constantly

2. alot of times these mx6 distributers themselves go bad from what i understand, in fact i helped a friend change one twice already

Have you checked to see if you are loosing spark on the Mx6. Sounds like you might be having an ignitor failing. Give a check to see if you have spark either to the plugs or out of the coil. As for the fan is it a manual or automatic. Two different systems.
How badly did your younger son overheat the Mx3? Too badly overheated and you may have lost some compression which is the third thing you engine needs to fire outside of fuel and spark.

Thanks for the feedback.

I had thought maybe a loose wire or a bad connection as it started intermitantly. I will trace the fan wire to see if I can find a problem with the wire. On initial checking, when I disconnect the coolant sensor the fan still stays on, and the temp gague still shows medium temp. I am thinking, could it be a problem within the Electronic Control unit (ECU)?


I don't believe it is the distributor itself as that should(?) have no effect on the engine coolingfan.

- z

Thanks, BabyHuey

I will check to see if the spark on the mx6 is ok. The cooling fan is electronic.

I'm not sure how badly the mx3 overheated, he says there was glycol spraying everywhere, but also states he pulled over and turned the engine off - it was still running, and didn't stall.

If I can't figure these out soon, we'll have to resort to expensive shop rates..


I will post the conclusion though and let you know.

- z

As far as the cooling fans there is two sensors, one for the gage, and the other for the computer. The one going to the computer might be faulty. I wouldn't think the distributor itself might be bad, just the igniter module inside it. I'm not sure if this test works for mazdas like it does on hondas, but look at the tachometer. On hondas, (with a good igniter) the tach will "jump" during a normal start up. The tach will not move at all while trying to start when the igniter goes out. Electronic parts that are borderline condition are very sensitive to heat and movement.