Faults:

The only thing that has gone wrong with it was that it started overheating.

When it is cold, it idles fast.

If you don't run the engine every day it makes a tapping noise for a while. One person told my that it was a tap-it which means the engine is adjusting itself.

General Comments:

I bought the truck from my mechanic. I didn't like it at first glance, but after the test drive I decided to buy it.

My mechanic had rebuilt the engine just before I bought it. The reason that it was rebuilt was because it had a cracked head and it had very low compression.

The truck runs great. It's great on gas mileage and the oil consumption is moderate.

My only worry is that it idles fast when the engine is cold, but the idle does slow considerably after running about two minutes.

The seats are uncomfortable, but there's nothing a little foam rubber and seat covers can't fix.

When I took it in to get a chassis lube they told me that the suspension was sealed and that there was no way to get grease into the suspension. The lube tech told me that the suspension was greased at the factory.

Due to the sealed fitting, when the suspension gets too noisy for me to handle, I'll have to replace the suspension.

All in all, the truck has great power, it gets great gas mileage, and it is very reliable.

Faults:

Engine used to smoke a lot during warm-up.

General Comments:

If your Mazda Truck smokes a lot during warm-up, you might want to read my other article entitled "I like it so far and think it will be a great little truck".

I'm happy to report that it is a great little truck. The only problem I've had is getting it to pass emissions since I rebuilt the engine. The carbon monoxide output is over 6 percent, which is 3 times the limit. Hydrocarbons are also high, but just barely under the limit. The first time I tested it, though, the HCs were over by 10.

However, at that time I didn't replace the camshaft at the same time that I rebuilt the engine and I haven't had the emissions retest since I finally replaced it. Perhaps now it will pass the emissions test. I did rebuild the carburetor and it had no signs of being excessively worn or dirty or gummed up. In fact, the carburetor's interior was virtually spotless except for the floor of the float bowl, which is typical.

The new camshaft made a world of difference in the running quality of the engine. When my neighbor recently went to Home Depot with me and I started the truck as we were leaving the store, he asked me if it was running at all, which it was. If you stand 20 feet away, you can barely hear it running.

I'm getting about 20 mpg with normal daily driving which for me involves about ½ in-town and ½ highway driving. A recent trip across PA (Route 30) produced 26 mpg. It has plenty of power and I drove up the Tuscarora Mountains in PA with 800 lbs. of equipment in the bed, and that trip was driven with the old camshaft still in the engine. I'd like to see how it would do with the new cam.

I'm curious as to the mileage that other owners of the carbureted 2.2L engine are getting. Also, I'd like to know if others had similar emissions failures and what was the cause. Please email me at webmaster@cowpensvets.org.