Suparslinc

This is going to be quite a list. If I can get one of these issues resolved, with someones help then thats a start.

#1 My car will not function when the choke is pulled. I can slip the clutch and get it going, but the second i give it some gas it sputters, lurches, and blows smoke

#2 I CANNOT SET MY TIMING!!! I've tried everything. A timing light, by ear, making the idle ~750. I just can't get the timing light to line up on the pulley.

#3 Most of the time, when I have the choke pulled, the low oil light comes on too. Once the low coolant light also flickered. The car is not low on oil and it is not low on coolant, so I have a short or something somewhere...

#4 Rough idle. I've used a couple cans of carb cleaner, and I'm fairly certain that I have a leak at the intake manifold. I'm going to buy some new o-rings and a gasket and take it from there.

#5 My car runs extremely hot. I don't know why. I've replace everything from the radiator to the coolant to the thermostat. I put the skid plate back on because I heard it affects the path of air at higher speeds. It still gets alarmingly hot at hiway speeds. None of my other motors ran this hot. Maybe I need to get a genuine Mazda thermostat? I'm drawing a blank on this one.

#6 My battery leaks. Its eating the engine bay away. I should really get that replaced.

#7 I miss my series V. All that was wrong with that was a bouncy cold-start idle and an idiot light.

Redwood

2 - Are you sure the marks are visible even when off? I know that on every rotary I've looked at, the marks are worn away. If this is the case, melt a little colored wax into them and try again.

5 - The genuine thermostat is a good idea, since they have some bypass or something. For me, I use a 165* one made by a company called CST and it is phenomenal. I think it's also possible that the clutch fan could be the culprit. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it possible for those to just kinda stop working right?

6 - Optima red-top battery behind the passenger seat!!! Makes the engine bay a lot simpler.

7 - I hear that. I miss my series IV, but I'll get another one someday (although I could get at least three 1st gens for the price of one 2nd gen).

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

how long have you had the car? is this something that it just started doing?

1 - do you know if the distributor was taken out at any time? if you know that it has not, then refer to number 4

2 - do like redwood said, check to make sure the marks are visible. i asked you about if the distributor was taken out before because i know that there are two notches (other than the correct one) where the engine will start, but produce virtually no power. so check it for yourself.

3 - are you saying that this only happens when the choke is in use, or does it happen at other times as well? could be the sensors ... just something to consider.

4 - if you're that sure you have a vacuum leak, then fix it before you start mucking with anything else, because you can move something out of spec, thinking that you're fixing it - when your problem is really caused by a vacuum leak ... and yes, that goes for the timing as well.

5 - "None of my other motors ran this hot" ... well, how hot is hot? yes, definitely use the Mazda thermostat! if that doesn't change your heating problems, then since you had mentioned smoke before, check to see if the water O-rings are going bad. is the car hard to start when cold?

6 - take that battery out and toss it as far away from yourself and the car as you can. neutralize the acid with baking soda solution, (AND MAKE SURE YOU DRY EVERYTHING AFTERWARDS, or it will continue to corrode even after the battery is out of there - might not be a bad idea to throw some paint in there, too) ... then replace it without something that does not leak.

7 - no comment ... see sig!

hope at least one of my responses is useful

Suparslinc

I've had this car since '96. I've blown two motors, and yes the dizzy has been removed. My dad and I tried to set the timing, and hes a better than average mechanic. We even tried putting a bit of duct tape on the mark to make sure we weren't missing it, still could not line it up.

Also, my trailing ignition is apparantly getting no vacuum. I can't even begin to figure that one out.

It could be the sensors, but thats a big coincidence if both the oil and coolant sensors went bad around the same time.

I'm pretty much stuck on what to do. I've got a battery charging in the garage that might still work, and I'm going to make an order from VB to replace some the things I've mentioned. But i still don't understand why my car floods when the chokes pulled.

nimrodTT

#2 Re-stab the dizzy, make sure you set the engine to TDC before you stick it in.

#4 Check the vac. hose that runs from the back of the air cleaner to a valve on the intake manifold right along the firewall, it is about a 1/2" i.d. and tends to split open from exhaust heat soak.

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

Turn the motor by hand , its the same socket as the plugs Turn the motor over with a wrench with the car in neutral, looking for the indents in the pulley... When you find them, take a small file or part of a hacksaw blade and make them shiney and then place appropriate color paint on them (yellow-leading, red-trailing)

Spieder

Ah, so you had my problem with the distributer. If you can't adjust it enough to match the mark then here's probably what's happening and how to check.

Switched coil wires, one tooth off or bad ignitor.

First, check both trailing and leading to make sure they are firing.

2nd, are you using one off those clamp over the pulg wire timing lights? If so they are unreliable (all over the place). I finally bought a really cheap one that hooks between the plug and wire, worked great.

3rd. If both trailing and leading are working then make sure the coil wires on are properly. You might try switching them,

4th. You may be a tooth off. Turn the engine over until the leading mark on the pulley is lined up with the pin. Take out your dist. and rotate it until the indent on the gear is aligned with the indent on the dist shaft housing. Now put it back in and it shoudl be set correctly.

Let me tell you my problem:

Car ran like crap, idled badly, choke made the car run even worse.

This was my problem:

Had a bad ignitor, previous owner switched coil wires and set the dist. one tooth up so the car would run.

I found it because no matter how I put the dist in, I could never adjust the dist far enough to put the mark on the pin.

Suparslinc

thanks spyder

that is the most informative and interesting lead I have had so far.

I'll check it out and post back here with any more questions.
And yes, I'm pretty sure the timing light hooked up the plug wire, right where it fastens over the plug. Is that bad?

Question: Do both the leading and trailing fire at all times? I thought the trailing only fired at higher RPMS.

I'll try switching the coil wires, if that doesn't help I'll follow your instructions on setting the dizzy and post back here later.