3rd Mar 2007, 11:42
Well, my Mx-6 is coming up to 187000 miles on its original transmission and engine, so the 4EAT can't be that bad.
Something to add to your links : they refer to the oil cooler in addition to the radiator heat exchanger. What is not so clear is that this is downstream of the exchanger. The exchanger brings the fluid to engine coolant temperature (around 85 C) and the oil cooler knocks about another 10 degrees off this, before returning the oil to the gearbox.
The cooler will only work well at highway speeds, and not as well in stop start traffic, which is unfortunately where the transmission evolves the most heat.
It's good to know my advice has been useful.
14th Apr 2007, 15:11
Something else (assuming you're still following this).
You said that the caster / camber settings are frozen. This is not quite correct. You can rotate the top of each front strut top mount to give you four different castor / camber settings, although as far as adjustment is concerned, it's a matter of trying all four and seeing which one you prefer.
26th Feb 2007, 10:02
I live in the US, and rechecked on the tyre prices, and couldn't find anything cheaper than $70 per tyre. As against a Camry, which you can get for $45 a piece.
As regards to the mileage, if you compare the Camry and Accord models, you are right that V6 models give the same mileage. BUT if you consider the weight, torque and horsepower, you will see that the Camrys and Accords are much heavier, and provide higher torque and horsepower than the Mazda. And based on these they can support their lower fuel efficiency, but not the Mazda.
You are right about the water pump drive, my fault, it is actually driven off the second auxiliary drive-belt, and it is only because it sits behind the timing belt; it complicates the replacement procedure.
It is also a pain to test the alternator for faults and replacement, and the replacement is not for the faint hearted.
The 4EAT is better than the CD4E, but it also suffers from the same problem of overheating, and is a cause for concern. Apparently the problem with both the transmissions is the "low pump volume" causing overheating, torque converter failure etc. Also these transmissions were made for smaller cars like the Ford Escort, which is not a helping factor in this situation.
Please find below an interesting article by a Mazda V6 owner.
http://www.nabiki.com/sstalker/626_tranny.asp ----> V6 owner article and suggestions.
The suggestions and constructive criticism in the previous comment are educative and is appreciated.