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Did you check the room fuse in the interior fuse box. That's the power to the OBD port... and the car won't start if it's blown...
I did, and it was another blown fuse!....But she is back!
Original problem huge overheating, boiling over from expansion tank after very hot run for a few moments because the cooling fan was not coming on. So she needs a new motor on the main fan, a/c fan still seems to be working and comes on with the a/c switched on. Then several months sitting as a driveway ornament while I tried to figure out why it suddenly would not start. Previously after the overheating it started fine, no oil contamination in the coolant or coolant in the oil, so hopefully the coolant seals on the overheated engine are holding up. Could not find the problem, as the rapid clicking of the starter relay could not find the ground. Later discovered by coincidence some critters had chewed the wiring ( i assumed after smelling their urine in the engine bay) but it may have been corroded connections from the car sitting largely unused in a hot and humid tropical climate. The brake pedal switch was corroded and showed an ABS fault and traction control fault on the dash panel. The PCM wasn't communicating with the OBD reader, but that came back again after some testing of the PCM by a specialist.
Next tasks, New fan 1 motor replace/refurb, clean up all the electrical connections, fix the bubbling fibreglass on the Mazdaspeed side skirts, (badly painted by the dealer) MAF sensor clean up because idle is a bit lumpy after warm up and maybe change the O2, ditch the cat, and anything else that pops up. We are still in a 8 week lockdown so plenty of time to play.
Took my ride to the main dealer here last week to replace the cooling fans, both had expired. A new Mazda OEM part cost me US$1,800 and then the dealer broke the rad, causing a small leak Gave me the car back. Said I needed a new rad but the Mazda part costs around $800! After paying the bill I drove back for about 2km and the coolant light came on. Checked the engine temp, it was around 84degC on my OBD connector, so engine ok I hope. When I reach home it was showing 102degC. Putting coolant in the rad just overflowed onto the drive, rad leaking badly, probably split. The dealer said they could repair it for $200 which seemed pointless (as they broke it in the first place), so I found online this "forged alloy" 40mm 2 row rad from someone called DD Racing.@ $120. The dealer then offered to fit this for $200! I think I will pass and try to do the job myself, because the aircon wasn't working when they gave me the car back as well, so they probably put a leak in that rad as well! When I take it apart I fear the worst of their workmanship, see what else has been damaged or left off.
Good to hear the initial problems were solved and to read the troubleshooting steps.
But since the dealership admitted to breaking the rad, I think you would be well within your rights to make them replace it on their dime. What else would they break while doing that, though?!? I can understand the desire to do the rad R & R yourself.
OK now enough of going to main dealership for help. I'm going to fix this one myself...it's not rocket science but I'm a bit skinny for this job!
The main dealer denied all responsibility for the rad, even said they didn't mess up the aircon, which is not working and wasn't when they gave me the car they "fixed" back. What the hell!
Went and bought this...
Cost me $120 delivered, a 2 row all aluminum job, with the two auto oil connectors *one in the "wrong" place, but that's later)
50% of the fastening positions don't fit!. Had to get the dremmel out and grind away in a few places to get the fan shroud, condenser mounts and body mounts to fit! This SARD product I believe is from Japan, but no idea where it was made. Not exactly Japanese precision, however it is for the Series 1 Auto, not the Series 2.
Finally got the new Mazda fan shroud to fit the SARD (the one the Stealership fitted to the old rad and pubctured it, together with the condenser I'm guessing.
The old one removed, all stuff out of the way. OMG this looks daunting heaving the fan shroud assembly together with the new rad in place, and I'm small and skinny and doing it all by myself. The condenser is probably screwed, but I suspended it with some cable ties in place just in case.The rad fasteners to the car chassis were almost impossible to adapt, they didn't leave enough space for the nuts. So more grinding my nuts away! All you guys have a laugh, like All Girls Garage. (at least I tied my hair back!)
The nuts at the back of these fasteners Here is a fun adapted mounting point...thank god for cable ties!
I hauled the fan assembly and rad (it's quite heavy) into place and about 1 hour later of manipulating the whole thing in place, job done! Leaving everything loose until final positioning is the trick I guess. I put a layer of foam board over the condenser to stop it from damaging the new rad during installation...worked a treat!
Now connect all the hoses clamps, oil cooler lines and the missing grommets and fasteners the dealer omitted to put back
Flushed everything out for an hour or so, then filled up with FL22 and checked for leaks before putting back all the trim etc. Fired her up for the first time
and checked again for leaks and did the whole thing as per coolant change. Small leak of oil on one of the cooler lines but tightened up the nut a bit and it went away.
She is back and purring like a kitten! So happy!
I have to say I am pleased with my work, it's the biggest job I have tackled on this car. It took me two whole days and lots of bruised fingers and hands, lots of cursing but with lots of determination I did it! I have to thank the dealer for pissing me off and being determined to do it myself.
After some test runs, the coolant temp was running at 89degC on the move with "spirited" driving and up to 96 when stationery and idling. Ambient temperature was a humid 32deg C I used a "Thinkcar" OBD device to monitor the temp., it's a cool device and does all the Mazda modules, not expensive!
I think this is a result....now just have to fix the aircon.
Thanks. The AC was an easy fix, the "O" ring on the "H" valve was leaking so a $5 replacement and after re-gassing. AC blowing icy cold again, thank God, in this sweltering 36C degree heat! I think I may need to evacuate all the gas and then add some oil to the compressor, since all the gas had leaked out, or was "leaked out" by the dealer's fix of the coolant fans and shroud.
Next on the agenda is the squeaking coming from the rear somewhere, probably the sway bar bushes, which has got noticeably louder. Or maybe all the bushes on the suspension have expired, the car is over 10 years old after all even tho' only traveled 24k kilometers.
Things that went wrong with my 11 year old S2, and 22,000 km to date
Coolant expansion bottle replaced, coolant level indicator expired (common fault)
Driver sun visor replaced (usual problems)
Brake switch malfunction causing DSDC ABS light to come on while driving. Lubricated several times but problem persists.
Electric window motor gears replaced (driver side), twice! Sheared off teeth, plastic parts gone brittle
Electric window motor gears replaced (passenger side), once! Sheared off teeth, plastic parts gone brittle
Engine mounts replaced (Not a good design, oil filled and collapse with age)
Coolant/radiator fans replaced (expired motors)
Radiator leaking and replaced
Battery box vent pipe replaced (dealer lost it during some repairs)
Rear suspension bushes need replacing, persistent squeaking now knocking
Front brake calipers replaced due to piston corrosion
Front discs replaced due to warping
Front sway bar bushes replaced. (All suspension bushes need attention, cracked with age)
Passenger fascia piece (with airbag) refinished due to cracking around airbag cut out. (common problem?)
Driver side Takata airbag replaced (under recall) Body work
Side steps/skirts refinished/re-painted due to "bubbling" of the GRP
Rear spoiler refinished due to bubbling of the GRP (Poor priming before paint job)
Rear passenger side back fender refinished/paint job due to manufacturing defects (under warranty)
Most of the repair work was due to age rather than use. I had to throw away 4 perfectly good OEM Bridgestone Potenza tires due to cracking rubber on the sidewalls. The engine and drive train are all in great shape, good compression still (as expected!) no hot or cold start issues. Idle vibrations due to collapsed engine mounts. Car only run on regular dino oil. 5w-30. changed every 5,000km or 6 months, whichever came first. Exhaust showing surface rust on the mid pipe and a few hangars , no rust on any chassis component (that is visible or suspect). No engine or transmission or rear axle oil leaks visible.
I would not change much on this S2, Mazda seem to have sorted out most of the early car issues, (or so I am told).
Are you sure the car has 22000km? Those sound like elderly car problems. My 17 year old 2004 hasn't had half of these.
Yes very sure. Car was manufactured as one of the first batch of Series II in late 2008, imported new from the Hiroshima factory by the local franchised dealer and sold to me on 2nd Feb 2010 with 200km on the odometer. For the first 3 years I used it as a 2nd daily driver 3 times a week, when most of those 22,000km were logged then put into storage due to overseas work requirements until 2019. During the "storage" period every month I would take it for around a 30 mile run and have the oil change every 6 months and brake service done. It is a 13 year old vehicle, and in this climate of permanent high temperatures and high humidity things seem to deteriorate pretty rapidly. Mold grows on the leather seats and interior trim every 4 weeks or so, even with natural ventilation of the interior. The car is stored under complete shelter outdoors away from the sun and rain. When you see the photos, the car is in a pristine condition cosmetically. Most of the rubber components are getting very near to their end of life stage, hard and brittle in places. The engine mounts are shot, but looks like the fluid has gone down, the rubber is still intact tho'. The right hand is the worst, next to the exhaust heat shield. After a moderately fast run the entire metal components in the engine bay are untouchable, so hot! Even the fenders! Getting this car to run cooler is hard, outside temperatures sometimes show 42C in the city. The front brake rotors warped after rusting cycles and uneven wear I am guessing. The brake judder is only apparent on hard braking from high speeds. My tech buddy said he could skim but better to buy new ones so I did.
My other cars show similar signs of wear after 13 years and below 100,000km. Common faults are rubber and plastic parts and brakes, cooling fans and a/c components.
So, after the radiator swap, I noticed some brownish crud seeping out from the ATF cooling lines that run into the lower part of the radiator....(it's an auto box). Not supposed to be that color,I thought, and the box is supposed to be "filled for life". In fact on the S2 there is no dipstick, so how to change the fluid! It's supposed to be red, or maybe with a hint of oxidation, not chocolate cake brown! With such low mileage how is this possible, no way can last for life. But the car is 13 years old. So the oxidation is happening anyway, using the car or not! It does not smell burnt and after draining the old fluid there were no signs of any metal bits in the oil.
It's not supposed to be this color....just a hint of red to let you know it's ATF
Now to replace the ATF, but only about 4 liters came out! Supposed to be 8, the rest is still lodged in the torque converter (and in the cooling pipes). I believe the correct way to do this is to suck it out, according to the repair and service manual..Since I don't have access to this method, I think I can change a few times to dilute the brown stuff left in the torque converter. Appreciate any ideas if anyone knows better!
So here are the drain plugs and "overflow" plugs in the ATF sump. Here is the filler plug and for sure it's hard to get to
So... filling the ATF with OEM "MANNOL" JWS3309 (it costs way less than the Mazda supplied one) you have to take out the overflow plug and keep filling until the new stuff overflows out. After the dripping stops, or slows down, put the overflow plug back in It sounds weird (the plug is on the bottom of the oil pan) but that's how Mazda designed it without the dipstick. Then after filling put the overflow and filler plugs back making sure the compression washer is still ok.
So here comes the hard part cycling through the gears with the engine at idle and the ATF between 39-50C and then checking the overflow, if no fluid drips out then have to fill more and cycle thro' until it it does. This is how Mazda designed it, without a dipstick. It took me six attempts, filling checking cycling until it just dribbled out a little, all the while the car up on jackstands. Then during this process the box was screeching at first, probably low fluid until the final fill, now it is quiet and the shifts are smooth both in auto mode and using the paddles. Something very satisfying about doing this myself!
Next have to repeat this process several times to dilute the remaining 4 liters of crud still left in the torque converter. Happy days!
While I was about it and the car was up on the stands, I changed out the diff oil, that was an easy one, and did a brake service changing the brake fluid and inspecting all the brake lines.
Here's the ATF I used, and no I am not being sponsored by them.It's fully synthetic and smells nice!
Does anyone know why the post sometimes diappears when you just come to the end of writing it? It says "Autosaved" but I cannot find where it disappears to! So annoying, been doing this a few times now.
08-13-2021, 02:32 AM
She's back!
