Never thought I'd be here... Need advice on what to do. Fix or Sell.
 

You know how when one thing goes wrong...everything seems to go wrong? Well that is what is happening for me. And before I spend lots of money... i just wanted some input from you guys.

First off... i dont know how things have been here lately but i remember the "search plz" hostility from a couple years ago. I know all the drills and i know what to attempt to do to my car. I just need some second opinions from people who know this car (i am alone among family/friends when it comes to this car). I was going to email Charles from BHR and ask his opinion before i send him some money but that is not his responsibility so I will spare him my issue.

If my engine has low compression and caused all these issues then im going to sell the car. I dont have the money to fix that right now.

So here is my issue. I have a 2004 6 speed with 63K miles on it. Always ran fine and always took care of it. A few months ago my check engine light came on randomly. I got the code pulled and it said downstream airflow sensor. Car drove fine before and after. Found out my uncle when i asked him to do me a favor and add 5w30 to my car when i was away added "high mileage oil for engines with carburetors" by accident. I freaked but I figured i drive it and maybe it will clear itself. No misfires either.

Well i forgot about it. Being so damn busy and being strapped for cash i never got around to fixing the issue. Then, battery trouble. The terminals went bad and the battery refused to charge. So...bad start/dead battery = couple times it flooded. I replaced battery and all that jazz and she starts better. But the GPS stopped working...and.. well.. the power is slacking. She doesnt pull to 60 as fast...id say 1 to 1.5 seconds longer in second gear than usual and i have much lower torque on the low end than usual. Still, 99% of the time idling is perfectly fine. I have the BHR ignition kit but the plugs have about 30K on them already. So they need to be changed. Coils im sure are fine.

Last week i got an oil change. Car ran fine (as fine as it has been the past 2 months) and i drove it home and parked it. 2 days later i start it up during a cold morning and she barely held idle. Constantly correcting itself. Also...i feel i should mention the past 6 weeks she has been starting very hard on hot starts. That "free spinning" sound (i know this is bad and what it prolly means :tear: ). Anyway, that morning she couldnt idle...i let it go as long as possible and kicked it into gear. I didnt get down the driveway before CEL started flashing indicating massive misfires. Exhaust sounded horrible...like hallow and very very deep. Like it was choking.

I was late for work so i parked it, shut it off, and hopped into my sisters car. Came home later and used her car with jumper cables to help start the 8. Got it started and same issue happened. I let it warm up and gave it some gas to blow it out. Well it worked and she revved like she is supposed to and sounded right. So...i figured it maybe the cat clogged and that is what is causing this...and bad plugs from all the flooding and fouling and the accidental oil months ago. Looked under the car after getting it started and the cat was glowing orange.

So the cat is clogged and i wanna replace the plugs. Also wanna do a decarb. I was going to buy the BHR midpipe with catalyst but now im thinking about just the midpipe because what the hell. I know the old clogged cat could be the source of all these issues and it becoming clogged could be from the misfires and the frequently flooded engine (it happened a few times in the past few months) and also that wrong oil. But tell me if im correct in assuming the the cat could just be another symptom. A symptom of a failing engine.

My list of parts and things to do was this: BHR midpipe, new plugs, clean MAF, clean ESP sensor, decarb engine.

I dont wanna do any of this if the engine is bad...as it wont solve anything. I know replacing all of these could absolutely fix the problem. Bad plugs and bad starts and flooding and wrong oil could cause the cat to go bad which could cause the other problems. Or bad engine could cause all of it.

I need opinions on what to do. I will take to mazda for compression test... but will a failed cat affect the test readings? If so... maybe ill replace with midpipe anyway. Also... if the readings are barely below normal but still technically fail.. would replacing all these things (and midpipe no cat) help the engine last much longer anyway?

So either i fix it all, or sell it. The nearest rotary shop for a rebuild is in Jersey an hour and 45 minutes from my house. And i hear reman's are a nightmare. But i dont have $2800 to dump on this right now.

Thanks in advance.

A severely clogged cat can affect compression readings, since the engine still moves air during cranking. A severely clogged can can also damage the engine itself. The hot start issue sounds pretty telling that your compression is going, but you will really need to get that tested to be sure. A local member to you (NYCGPS) has often offered to give people compression tests (he has the Mazda tester) for less than the dealer prices, so you may want to PM him.

The rest of the issues certainly sound like they are caused by a clogged cat, and your theory on the deflooding is certainly viable. But, your compression could be down anyway, and that could be what is clogging your cat. Yes, a clogged cat can damage an engine and a failing engine can damage a cat. It's one of those cascading failure things.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely that an engine with failing readings, even borderline, will last more than 20k or so (at a rough ballpark guess). The greater the compression loss, the greater the combustion gas blowby, which will accelerate the wear faster and faster.

If you are on a budget.... And, if it were me...

Pull the cat, would have to anyway for a mid pipe, and if it is plugged, hammer it out. If not, re-install and continue.

Add coils to the list for tuneup, ahead of plugs it were me, just the autozone variety. Go ahead and clean the plugs. Then clean all the sensors. If she now idles, feed Lucas fuel treatment through the gas. Then Seafoam. Then see what you have.

Ok so ive been driving my sister's car for the week cause i refuse to drive the 8 with a clogged cat. It'll only do more damage. Ive decided that im going to drop the factory midpipe, hammer out the cat, do a decarb, and change the spark plugs. Then im going to bring it to Mazda and have them run a compression test. I would message NYCGPS (i believe he lives in Queens?) as i used to live in the Bronx but ive been living upstate in the Hudson Valley for a lil while now. It would be cheaper to just bring it to Mazda by me then drive all the way down to the city.

After i get the readings (hopefully they are OK) i will decide what to do. If the readings are fine then im going to replace midpipe with BHR's pipe and rejoice. Do a carwheel, have a few beers, etc. Then change tranny fluid, differential fluid, and figure out why the GPS stopped working.

If the engine has low compression, i have to decide either to sell the car as is (hard without a cat), replace with BHR with catalyst and then sell, or drive the car until the engine fails and then either replace the engine or get it rebuilt. If i sell the car now with a new cat i can prolly get $8K for it privately. Karma will be a bitch since the next owner will have that issue. Then i have to see what i can get for 8K that wont give me issues anyway. At least i know the deal with this car (and i reaaaallly dont want to part with my girl).

If i decide to keep it and get engine work done later on, i hear a whole new engine is cheaper than rebuilding one. But i also hear reman's are a nightmare. Either one would be cheaper than getting a new car altogether. Any opinions on that would be great...

Thanks guys and thanks you two for the help so far. Will let you all know how the tests and all that turn out.

Remans have the problem of being hit or miss; now with a sticker price of over $3000 for just the engine. If you're willing to do the engine pull and installation to save a bit of money, you could be in around the $3000-4000 mark from a reputable builder. Note "could". It really depends on how useful your core is and there is a lot of variation. Goopy Performance is located in Stony Point, NY; right in your neck of the woods. Might as well give them a call.

So while i was at work my father surprised me and dropped the exhaust and gutted the cat. He took pictures. Im not entirely sure how a bad cat is supposed to look but when it was all hooked back up the engine sounded better, felt better, and throttle response was superb. He said the first half (closer to the headers) just disintegrated when he touched it. Here are the pictures...

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But when i got home i gave it a test drive. Couldnt feel the catch point on the clutch. She moved but it felt weird. Drove it and every gear slipped. Im talking, rev it in 3rd doing 25mph and watch the rpms go to 5500 while we creep to 30mph and then feel the gear slowly catch before never really fully catching. I left the car working but my father gave it a test drive before i got home and he is...let's say... rough on the transmission. He still thinks it's the 1970s in a Chevy pickup. Although... maybe it was just coming sooner or later.

So.... any ideas? Clutch isnt completely engaging the gears. Could it be the bracket? Or are the plates literally shot. After a short cruise you can smell the metal.

Also...if i need to get this repaired...what am i looking at in cost? Im really hating my life right now. This is why financially strapped people stay financially strapped.

Thanks in advance.

Also...figured i should mention... my father said he found fluid leaking under the car. A somewhat clear fluid running down the side of the transmission. Not a lot...more like a very very slow drip over time. And at one point or another the clutch pedal squeaked every now and then. Went away most of the time though. Didnt think anything of it.

Is it possible that it could be something a bit more simple instead of the issue being the clutch plate, pressure plate, or throwout bearing? I dont see how the whole thing can work without any noticeable issues and then after a couple small burnouts my father did going no higher than a 5-6K clutch dump could totally screw this up. But the fact i can shift easily into every gear makes me nervous because a hydro or bracket problems usually means hard shifting. I have a feeling this job is gonna cost me upwards of $800 if i have to replace the whole assembly. And i dunno any shops by me that would touch this car. I am confident i can do the work with my father helping. I have just about every tool i would need including impact guns (with the exception of i think the 54mm socket although i dont think i would need to use it). I just dont have a lift or something to rest the transmission on when disconnected. Is it at all possible to get this done without a lift?

Could be coming from your clutch hydraulics; air near the secondary cylinder may keep the clutch from fully engaging.

Or the fluid (transmission, clutch line, etc) is leaking onto the pressure plate, causing the slippage.

I will be checking it out today and tomorrow (or whenever i get the chance...work is killing me). If it is a leak onto the pressure plate then if i plug it and fix it the remaining should eventually burn off i guess.

If anyone else has any suggestions or ideas id be happy to hear them. Thanks in advance. And thank you tpb7463.

"So either i fix it all, or sell it. The nearest rotary shop for a rebuild is in Jersey an hour and 45 minutes from my house. And i hear reman's are a nightmare. But i dont have $2800 to dump on this right now."

Where is Jersey is the shop?
I need to see if I can find alternatives to dealer...I can't put $2K into my own situation.

There is another place in NY but i think they just work on the engines as in...deliver it to them. No installs. Could be wrong though.

The place in NJ is IRPerformance | 55 Prospect Street, Metuchen, NJ 08840 Tel. (732) 662-1794

Update. Got the clutch installed. I bought the OEM off of BHR and man do I love them. Shipped to my house in 2 days and was cheaper than any other place I could find. Such an awesome supplier. That kind of stuff is the reason I buy most of my stuff from them.

With the new clutch I can finally test out the difference between original and gutted cat. First impression? Holy crap. Much faster revving and it pulls harder. Feels almost as new. Low end torque is back which is nice. This weekend I managed to get off from work. I have seafoam and will run that through and then put all new spark plugs in.

I'm getting that warm fuzzy feeling guys lol. Tell you one thing... Not having my car for 3 weeks was depressing. Driving other cars in the mean time really get you to understand just how spoiled we are with the way this car feels to drive. No wonder ya'll switch to Cayman's after this haha

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Oh umm.... when I got the car back, the clutch catch point is nearly on the floor and the mechanic said he actually raised it off the floor. I would love to get it raised like another inch. Is there a way to do that? Is it doable on the pedal itself?

Also.... new clutches are such a crisp feel.

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Use the workshop manual (new owner's thread has a link), clutch pedal adjustment procedure. It works.

Thanks RIWWP

Im also gonna cruise around the FS forum and see if anyone is selling a series 2 starter... the N3R3.