new mazda owner needs help

i think the newer ones are obd II's or III's, ours is obd I (old technology).....as best my memory can recall, there is a plug/terminal with either a green or blue protective cover next to the fire wall on the passenger side, i'm at work so i can't say for sure, also i don't know if the fuelie's are any diff on this than the carb'd models.....might could call an import service shop & they could tell you the location, they might even be able to read the code for you too....sorry i can't be any more help than that...if you can wait till tomorrow, i can check my chilton's manual when i get home, & let you know in the morning.

i tried to start it this morning & nothing. i went ahead & did a compresson test & i seam to be getting good compression, 155psi at each cylinder. when i pulled the plugs, they were covered in gas. that brings me back to running rich. when i check for spark it seams very weak & erratic.

i guess since the plugs are so bad i'm going to run & get some new ones. what plug do you guys recomend?

man this is driving me crazy!!!!!!! if i can get it running there is a shop not too far from here that will check it out for me.

I would run ngk spark plugs since they seem to run the best in these b series trucks.

if the spark is weak try changing the coil, and/or the ingition module in the dizzy, and the rotor too, when its not starting, take a test light and check to see if u have power on the + side of the coil, and to check the - side of the coil put the test light to it and have some one crank it the test light should flash repeatitly if it dosent then theres a problem with the distributor if it does flash try replacing your coil

it's FI so there is no rotor & the coil has a plug with 2 wires. i assume 1 is + & 1 is -.

also, autozone doesn't carry NGK. would delco be o.k.?

if you can't get ngk, i'd get bosch, weak spark could either be the coil or in the dizzy (cap, rotor, or ignitor module) , or the ground has gone bad.
as far as i know the dizzys are the same on the carb & fuelie engines....so it should have a rotor button, pull the dizzy cap & there is a little piece with a copper bar on it, look it over to see if there is carbon build up, or moisture in the cap, either of these can cause a weak spark of mis-fire.

update!!!!!!

i put a new set of plugs in it this morning & it started right up!!!!!!

then i drove it to my friends shop & he ran the codes for me. i almost wish it was the headgasket. LOL!!!!!
5 codes!!!!!
air flow meter
water temp sensor
intake temp sensor in manifold
throttle sensor
air pressure sensor

first i'm going to try the water temp sens. & reset the codes & see what happens.
anyone ever have problems with the other sensors & stuff?

If it is a fuelie engine,the "air flow sensor " is the MAF-the black box with a wiring harness plugged into it located on your intake snorkle.They do go bad,but u can find them on eBay all the time.Throttle sensor is the throttle position sensor located on theFI intake manifold near the attachment point for your throttle cable.Air pressure sensor is in the Maf as well (I think-not sure about this one.)All these things fail occasionally but never heard of them failing all at once unless there was some catastrophic electrical issue that cooked the entire computer.

my friend said he has never seen so many code before either. he suggested i try the water/coolant temp sensor first.

i've been doing some research on autozone.com & they sell the mass air flow sensor for like $300. i was looking on ebay & couldn't find any for the trucks. are there any that are interchageable from another mazda?

well i put a new MAF sensor on & it still runs the same & check engine light is on. i brought it back to my friends shop & we ran the codes again. this time the only code was for the coolant temp sensor. i changed that out this morning & it's still running rough, not as much black smoke though, & the check engine light is still on. any other suggestions? i'm thinking out dropping the exhuast at the cat & see how it runs.