7th Jun 2008, 22:06

88 Mazda b2600i 4x4 June 7,2008.

I found this truck sitting on the side of the road one day. The man wanted $2000 and we settled for $1600. The body looked great, inside was OK, needs a radio, but otherwise I loved it. Drove it home at 70mph, 20 miles, and up and down the road to get familiar with the 5 speed!

Took it in for a tune-up, and had nothing but problems... drove it home and acted funny, they came back and got it that next morning. This was a month and a half ago. They can't get a spark out to the wires. They have replaced the distributor, coil, rotor button, resistor, computer, distributor again, and check fuses nothing. Someone please help!!! NEWDADDYJAN2007@aol.com

28th Dec 2009, 15:39

I own a '93 B2600i, I've been driving it for a little over a year now. In that time I have done the head gasket 3 times. Each time I've had the head professionally machined. It just rolled over 250k km so there's general wear on everything.

The ball joints and CV joints both need replacing soon.

Just this weekend I found a leak in the main brake line feeding the rear brakes. I've also been having the valve issues that everybody seems to get, but mine also seems to go through a set of spark plugs every few months.

I burn oil like it's going out of style, and while inspecting the brake system, I found two significant cracks in the frame.

The cracks are on both sides of the truck near the back of the cab, and go the whole way around the frame rails.

It was a fun truck while it lasted, but needless to say with all the problems it has, I'll be looking for a new truck in the new year.

8th Mar 2011, 10:31

I'm the OP for this thread - still have my '93 B2600i.

Today it rolled over 333333 km (1/3 of a million km)! I'm still impressed with the value I've had from this truck since I bought it 1998. At 18 years old, it has run well through one of the coldest winters I can remember in western Canada.

However, the mileage is starting to take its toll. The 4x4 freewheel no longer releases smoothly, the speedo reads very high in cold temperatures until the cab warms up and the cooling system is acting up.

It's tough to say whether the needed repairs will be cost-effective. Even if not, this truck will remain one of my favourite vehicles that I've ever owned. Fun to drive, capable, decent-looking - what more can you ask?

22nd May 2011, 13:36

Well. What can I say about my 1993 Mazda B2600i 2x4?

In December 1993, I was 18 years old, I was already working, and I wanted a new Mazda. But I did not like the new model that came out with Ford. So I started searching, and found a dealer in February 1994 that had a Mazda that had passed the year, and it was not sold with only 7 miles. So I got that truck for $2,000 less.

Now I am 36, today is 05/22/2011, and 160,000 later, and I still have my truck. Now it has a set of Mitsubishi Montero 16" wheels, a killer sound system, is 3" lower than original, has custom paint, and if I keep going, the list will never end.

I love my truck so much, that in those 18 years it only saw snow one year. After that I always have beat-up cars to pass the winter while my truck is in storage.

Now I want to find another one, but the 1975 rotary engine. Let's see what's going to happen with that project.

7th Jul 2011, 20:11

Does any one know how to set the idle speed on the B2600i 93 Mazda truck? I did a valve job, new lifters, timing chain, balance chain, new sprockets, the whole top end was rebuilt, but now it wants to idle at 520rpm instead of 770. I can't find a way to adjust the throttle body idle speed. The timing is set at 5 degrees PTDC as is called for. HELP!

26th Sep 2011, 08:25

Hi there, I've been reading your comments about earthing a wire to reset the injection, because of the engine consuming excess fuel. Can you tell me where the plug is, if it is under the bonnet/hood L/H/S or R/H/S guard or up on the fire wall some place? I'm trying to help out by bro-in-law as he has a pretend Mazda, the 1997 Ford Ranger with the G6 2600cc petrol engine with similar faults as I've been reading here. Can you help or maybe even a web address to find out? Cheers, DAZ in Aussie.

3rd Feb 2012, 09:04

The Japanese version of the Mazda ROCKS... Bullet proof... The Ford version does not hold a candle to it! Been driving the B series for almost 20 years... cannot beat the Japanese version.. I will not own Ford version, period!

15th May 2013, 09:45

OP - back for one last update on this Mazda B2600i.

Finally sold this truck yesterday with 346802 km on the odometer. I had the truck for 15 years and sold it to a guy that wants it for camping and hunting.

I'll miss it - and the new owner will probably get a few good years out of it.

12th Jan 2016, 23:47

That is absolutely comical. Those so called Mazdas starting in 94, which are a rebadged Ford Ranger are unreliable garbage. Ford bought them because they were one of the best selling mini trucks and they wanted that piece of the market and the name. I love my Mazda PUs and have owned 6 of them during my lifetime. I have currently an 89 and 92 B2600 4x4s. If you see a B2300, B2500, B3000 or B4000, don't walk, run. That's a Ranger.

Jaguar? They absolutely went into the tank and became very unreliable after Ford bought them. Ford damaged the name brand of Jaguar horribly and slowly after purchasing them in 89. The brand name has went through major changes and is slowly starting to recover their reputation recently, and after Ford sold them in 08 or 09 I believe it was. Ask ANY Jaguar owner who knows about Jags, what they think of the brand while it was owned by Ford.

13th Jan 2016, 14:41

Oh yeah, BEFORE Ford took over, Jaguars were paragons of reliability and construction quality.

Ask any Jag owner who knows about Jags.

18th Jul 2018, 02:59

Ground the single green diagnostic wire to the body. Turn the flat head screw until base idle is at 770. Chances are your air bypass screw has been messed with. I find if you screw it all the way in and then out maybe about one full turn is a decent starting point.

Also make sure your idle switch is engaged, but not so far as to put too much pressure on the switch.

Recheck your timing. Chances are your TPS is probably out a bit and your IAC is probably clogged. If you can manage to get it off, give it a clean with throttle body spray and allow to dry. I've read you can clean O2 sensors with gasoline/petrol. I can't get either my O2 sensor out or my IAC. But I have had some success by resetting the timing by ear, cleaning coolant temp and map sensors.

Also give your MAF sensor a good clean with isopropyl alcohol or MAF cleaner. Best idea to watch tutorials before attempting the MAF clean. Also the wire mesh bits are near impossible to get back on, so I just left mine off.

I also replaced my PCV and leads. Leads were actually the originals and were 25 years old.

Mine's burning lots of oil; pretty sure it's the valve seals. Probably not going to go opening up the engine as I don't think I know enough about this stuff. Best thing about owning it is, I now know a hell of a lot more about car engines and how they work! LOL. Good luck.