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Craig's Rotary Page: World's fastest rotaries

Opinions are like - guess what the last word is??

...And the facts say it all.

My neighbor has the fastest street legal rotary in the world - and will race anything that isn't a 250k++ Porche GT for titles; which would include any Corvette. And as stated before; using nothing more than handtools and elementary mechanical knowledge, anyone can purchase a factory Mazda RX rotary and then upgrade it to a top end Class A - easily capable of taking any Corvette, also most (but not all) Porches.

2013 Mazda RX-9 Coupe - Top Speed

And some might wonder how a 1600 engine could outdo the Corvette largeblock V8. Quite easily

[mccarvindh]

With a bit of searching you may be able to dig up a copy of the Mazda shop manual for your MPV on a forum. I was able to download the service manual for my Mazda 3 and at nearly 3000 pages it gives in depth troubleshooting and repair procedures for most of the problems that are likely to occur with the car.

A few forum searches, the manual and a code scanner (which cost less than $100) and I was able to diagnose and repair a bad connection to the spark plug on cylinder 1 for less than it would have cost to have a mechanic pull my car into the garage.

If you are lucky cleaning your O2 sensor(s) will take care of your problem. Having a code for both banks of a V6 come up at once suggests that the problem is with a sensor that monitors both banks or with another system like a PCV valve or a vacuum line that would cause both sensors to have bad readings.

Not sure as to what extent the sensor warnings would be with the Mazda MPV, but... At least it's not on the Mazda RX-8 or any of the other rotary series; as that would mean something as simple as a rather expensive fix - or even irreplaceable damage to that rotary engine.

It's ironic that a Wenkel two rotor engine of that size is able to perform those kinds of stats. The car still widely considered as one of the top ten world's cars. And with a rather minor modification with off the shelf tools; one could easily outdo any Corvette or most Porche's.

With an engine lean condition in both banks, look first for a loose hose in the intake area and have the MAF sensor checked. Don't throw parts at it. You need to have the car hooked to a scanner that can read the values of your sensors while it's running. It might be something as simple as the air cleaner being loose or a hose off. At 100K miles, changing the O2 sensors might not be a bad idea but it may not correct the problem. I had the same problem on my GMC Canyon truck last year. It ended up being a MAF sensor that was borderline out of range and only did so after the engine was warm and idling in drive. You probably won't hurt anything driving it, especially on a highway trip. You could easily drive 300 miles just to get all the monitors to reset. I ended up taking mine to a shop. It cost me $350 but consider that a scanner will cost you $2500 for a cheap one.

Fountain Avenue in Brooklyn used to be a popular place for drag racing.
In the late 1970's/early 1980's there was a guy who raced a Mazda RX-2 there.
He always blew away everything. Everything.

Chris

Craig's Rotary Page: World's fastest rotaries

Opinions are like - guess what the last word is??

...And the facts say it all.

My neighbor has the fastest street legal rotary in the world - and will race anything that isn't a 250k++ Porche GT for titles; which would include any Corvette. And as stated before; using nothing more than handtools and elementary mechanical knowledge, anyone can purchase a factory Mazda RX rotary and then upgrade it to a top end Class A - easily capable of taking any Corvette, also most (but not all) Porches.

2013 Mazda RX-9 Coupe - Top Speed

And some might wonder how a 1600 engine could outdo the Corvette largeblock V8. Quite easily

Thank you Steinback and reeftool for your suggestions. For now I think i will just take this to the shop. I will definitely download the manual and educate myself so I can do some basic repairs by myself.

Chris and MFP, thank you for the interesting stuff on racing!

[pingflood]

Rotaries are fun. I almost bought an '83 RX7 (with limited slip and rear discs) but ended up with a '83 928S (euro version so 300hp stock, mine has ported/polished heads, large cams and full custom exhaust so a "bit" more) instead. In retrospect the RX7 would definitely have been cheaper to maintain... but a highly tuned Porsche V8 screaming towards the revstop is quite something.

[Tom S.]

Craig's Rotary Page: World's fastest rotaries

Opinions are like - guess what the last word is??

...And the facts say it all.

My neighbor has the fastest street legal rotary in the world - and will race anything that isn't a 250k++ Porche GT for titles; which would include any Corvette. And as stated before; using nothing more than handtools and elementary mechanical knowledge, anyone can purchase a factory Mazda RX rotary and then upgrade it to a top end Class A - easily capable of taking any Corvette, also most (but not all) Porches.

2013 Mazda RX-9 Coupe - Top Speed

And some might wonder how a 1600 engine could outdo the Corvette largeblock V8. Quite easily

Physics don't lie.
Mazda 300 Hp @ 2755 pounds = 1hp per 9.183 pounds
Corvette 638Hp @ 3353 Pounds = 1hp per 5.255 pounds

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Physics don't lie.
Mazda 300 Hp @ 2755 pounds = 1hp per 9.183 pounds
Corvette 638Hp @ 3353 Pounds = 1hp per 5.255 pounds

Physics do lie when you do not disclose all of the facts; because only half of the facts make a lie.

One seems to be forgetting I already disclosed the fact that using simple upgrades with off the shelf tools. Oops

Plus did I mention how much of the Vettes power is lost in the transaxle. Also how flawed the vettes transmission is??

[Tom S.]

Physics do lie when you do not disclose all of the facts; because only half of the facts make a lie.

One seems to be forgetting I already disclosed the fact that using simple upgrades with off the shelf tools. Oops

Plus did I mention how much of the Vettes power is lost in the transaxle. Also how flawed the vettes transmission is??

Then dispute my facts with at the wheels hp. How flawed can a manual trans be? Enough to make up 4 pounds per hp? Sorry, sell that to someone else because I'm not buying it. Simple upgrades? Yep, they are available for Vettes too, and I have all the tools in my garage to install them, so oops to you. BTW: the number I quoted are facts, not half facts. If you think I left some facts out, bring them on - not just your usual supposition.

[pingflood]

Then dispute my facts with at the wheels hp. How flawed can a manual trans be? Enough to make up 4 pounds per hp? Sorry, sell that to someone else because I'm not buying it. Simple upgrades? Yep, they are available for Vettes too, and I have all the tools in my garage to install them, so oops to you. BTW: the number I quoted are facts, not half facts. If you think I left some facts out, bring them on - not just your usual supposition.

Yeah, don't the ZR1s dyno around 540rwhp stock? That would put it at around a 15% drivetrain loss which is pretty much right in line with most manual transmission cars...

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Any (even) intermediate level mechanic would also know that adding any modification to most any Vette would take it out of legal street status in most states - but not all of them.

Plus according to the leading Corvette techs at some three different dealerships; there are rather major mechanical problems with the last three model year Vettes. There are also grave issues with both cooling the engine properly and also even cooling the trany. It also has one of the worst suspensions of most any sports car.

What's really great is watching someone such as an american serviceperson bring a nicer Vette overseas and then try to use it on a place such as the Autobahn. It ends up being a rather costly error rather quickly.

[Tom S.]

Any (even) intermediate level mechanic would also know that adding any modification to most any Vette would take it out of legal street status in most states - but not all of them.

Plus according to the leading Corvette techs at some three different dealerships; there are rather major mechanical problems with the last three model year Vettes. There are also grave issues with both cooling the engine properly and also even cooling the trany. It also has one of the worst suspensions of most any sports car.

What's really great is watching someone such as an american serviceperson bring a nicer Vette overseas and then try to use it on a place such as the Autobahn. It ends up being a rather costly error rather quickly.

Tell it to Motor Trend - you obviously know more than they do. That 'worst suspension' set a track record at Nuremberg. Still waiting for the numbers from you for at the wheel hp. That's ok, though. If you can't provide proof, you can keep trying to change the topic.

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Also tell it to General Motors which has numerous Technical Service Bulletins on quite the variety of Corvette's. Cannot begin to state how much they've lost in warranty repairs.

Of particular interest is to go to most of the dealerships that sell new Corvette's and then talk to their lead techs and parts department managers. Nothing worse than having a Corvette in warranty and then having the engine block go - only to be replaced by a non matching numbered block.

As for the Nuremberg track - which I used to live quite close to... Wouldn't that be the same track that has almost all of it's records set by vehicles such as the GT-R, Subaru sti, and other numerous four bangers??

[Tom S.]

Still waiting for those numbers....

[pingflood]

Tell it to Motor Trend - you obviously know more than they do. That 'worst suspension' set a track record at Nuremberg. Still waiting for the numbers from you for at the wheel hp. That's ok, though. If you can't provide proof, you can keep trying to change the topic.

Mr "Pro" seems to be stuck in the early 90s.

[Colbyt]

I don't know what those codes represent. I put about 100K miles on a Nissan 4 banger with a check engine trip on the O2 sensor. If you are not running in safe mode (limited rpm's ) then you probably are fine.

I just had a full fail on the mass air flow sensor that was forcing me to safe mode so I have lost my night light on the dash.

YMMV, pun intended.

[jeffkrol]

A bit old now but thought I'd throw my 2 cents in (having recently experienced o2 sensor problems myself, a bit more on that later)

Possible causes
- Intake air leaks
- Faulty front heated oxygen sensor
- Ignition misfiring
- Faulty fuel injectors
- Exhaust gas leaks
- Incorrect fuel pressure
- Lack of fuel
- Faulty Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor
- Incorrect Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) hose connection
Help with this
Tech notes
If the P0171 is combined with the P0174 code, it's very likely that the problem is caused by an intake leak. If there are no intake leaks, the next step is to replaced the air filter and clean the air flow meter. If the problem persist the front oxygen (O2) sensor may need to be replaced.
Help with this
When is the code detected?
- Fuel injection system does not operate properly.
- The amount of mixture ratio compensation is too small. (The mixture ratio is too lean.)
Symptoms
- Engine Light ON (or Service Engine Soon Warning Light)
- Excessive Fuel Consumption

Read more: OBD2-OBDII Engine Light Trouble Code P0171 MAZDA - Lean Air/Fuel Ratio Bank 1 | Engine-Codes.com
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[jeffkrol]

O2 sensors going bad is quite common for all vehicles, especially when you get north of 100,000 miles, and even more so in the northern climates that use salt on the roads in the winter. Depending on the vehicle, they can be easy or a pita to replace. I've never worked on a Mazda, so I have no idea as to their difficulty.

doing some research on O2 sensors it seems that they don't "go bad" as much as you may think.. But they can get dirty..
Oxygen Sensor Information

Getting back a bit to my experience w/ my truck.. the first time it threw an o2 sensor fault code it turned out it was mainly caused by a cracked hose in the vapor purge system.
Unfortunately after fixing that (and clearing both codes) it eventually came back again....
Now it is intermittent (I can clear it myself) and can disappear for weeks at a time. currently I suspect some blowback from my exhaust (replaced it w/ a SS aftermarket system but I've got a minor clamp problem right after the CAT)
is causing it to go "high" for long enough to set the code. I'm not fighting w/ this till spring though to verify. Now to be clear this one is AFTER the Cat (which is not normally critical for the computer system to start mucking up your ratios).
I'd be more worried if it was the "before cat" one..... which will throw off your gas mileage and/or smoothness and possibly stall the car.

Point being.. codes are not always right as to causes and some things can be checked and cleaned w/out replacement.. barring time and ambition..

As to the poster.. yep take it in.. and pay the price ..

for the mechanically inclined:

Testing O2 sensors on the workbench.
Use a high impedence DC voltmeter as above. Clamp the sensor in a vice, or use a plier or vice-grip to hold it. Clamp your negative voltmeter lead to the case, and the positive to the output wire. Use a propane torch set to high and the inner blue flame tip to heat the fluted or perforated area of the sensor. You should see a DC voltage of at least 0.6 within 20 seconds. If not, most likely cause is open circuit internally or lead fouling. If OK so far, remove from flame. You should see a drop to under 0.1 volt within 4 seconds. If not likely silicone fouled. If still OK, heat for two full minutes and watch for drops in voltage. Sometimes, the internal connections will open up under heat. This is the same a loose wire and is a failure. If the sensor is OK at this point, and will switch from high to low quickly as you move the flame, the sensor is good. Bear in mind that good or bad is relative, with port fuel injection needing faster information than carbureted systems. ANY O2 sensor that will generate 0.9 volts or more when heated, show 0.1 volts or less within one second of flame removal, AND pass the two minute heat test is good regardless of age. When replacing a sensor, don't miss the opportunity to use the test above on the replacement. This will calibrate your evaluation skills and save you money in the future. There is almost always *no* benefit in replacing an oxygen sensor that will pass the test in the first line of this paragraph.

OH BTW to the OP.. best to stick w/ targeted auto forums.. much more fun ..
http://forum.mazda6club.com/3-0l-v6/228758-cel-code-p0174.html