I'm honestly impressed at the fact that this thing still runs LOL A Mazda 626 with 233k in the state of New York? That's got to be a record of some kind...
About 20 years ago,, I gave my younger brother my 85 626 5speed with 390k miles and he drove it another year before it died. But he's also killed a dodge,BMW and Acura so I don't blame the Mazda.
You know what Eric, if you want a more powerful smoke machine, you should buy this Mazda, plug the exhaust holes and pipe the output to whereever you need smoke... It will give you a lot more pressure and visible smoke :D
Fun fact 2 million of those cars were made. i watched the last one roll into the plant show room beside the first one made. Ford Cougar was made in the same plant. Then we ripped all of the equipment out to produce the Mazda 6 and Ford Mustang. Now only the Mustang is produced there. Flat Rock Michigan
First car I ever got was made in Flat Rock on October 11, 1994 by AutoAlliance International. Ford body and Mazda engine and transmission. Fun cars to drive. Mine has 213,000 miles now.
@@gillesthibault429 Got a '06 Mazda3 Sport (2 litre, UK) that's fine body-wise but there's a few age-related things to be done come spring - new 'stat, looks like there's a small PS leak somewhere and I got an advisory on a brake hose ferrule last MoT (annual inspection).
@@Graham_Langley I had a '12 Mazda5GT 6MT for 6 years (Aug. 2011- Nov. 2017) Trans mounts corroded through, as well as a rear suspension bar, and the engine mounts were about to go. Floor pan was 100% covered with rust, with a 2-3cm hole under the spare tire pan. Mazda refused to cover any of the damage. Plus the GD thing sucked gas like a big V6! I also have a 13-year-old Honda Accord (242 000 km so far) and the '18 Honda Civic Hatchback I traded the Mazda for (77 000km so far), and both of them together have cost less in out-of-pocket repairs in those 13 years (in fact under 1000$ total) than than Mazda in 6 (93 000km when traded in).
@@gillesthibault429 Wow. From the $ and km I presume you live in Canada so road salt is the problem? Here in the southern UK (Surrey) it's not. FWIW I've just realised the '3 is now the oldest car I've owned and currently I see no reason to start looking for a replacement. Hope I've not jinxed it.
Look at the data, go thru the the evaporative emissions checkoff list. Gate by gate. Check the supposed faulty part before making a recommendation. Eric's trouble shooting algorithm, with all the needed steps and no short cutting, while taking a few minutes longer delivers a close to unassailable conclusion. Thank you for having instilled this disciplined thought process in us. It has made us better for it. I've gotten to habitually flow chart the diagnostic steps to solve the problem. Spend less money on stuff I don't need. Stay well.
Absolutely, 16 was a very bad year for my families only car. The old furry would turn off while in gear and reignite when you turned the key on again. Cherry bombs became a necessity . Each time would ripe the old one in half, with an explosion heard all over town. Ah, those were the days.
Yep some of us southern folks don't have thousands to fork out for these new fangled pollution free cars, parking lots where I live are full of oil leak spots especially Advanced Auto this is how we roll.
Oh that thing was SWEEEET! HAHAHA! Brought back vivid memories of me own '85 Monte Carlo in the day. I had the same glass pack muffler, complete with coffee and beer cans, plus copious use of wire coat hanger. Never had 2nd gear - it used to skip right over. You'd have loved it! I bought it for $600 in '93 - thing had hit everything but the lottery, as the junkyard guy with whom I had to argue to get my $100 from for driving it there, coined it. I could take sweeping right hand highway turns with no hands on the wheel - I used to demonstrate this frequently, and take in the reactions of severely anxious passengers. Ahh what a gem she was! Never let me down, though! Went to the mountains of NH a few times, NYC, and everywhere in between. Drove straight through the Bronx with it - I fit right in, HAHAHA! Mine failed emissions at 2,7xx PPM of hydrocarbons, HAHAHAHA! The guy couldn't even cheat that by yanking the sniffer out early - was too high! So I grabbed 4 bottles of Christy Dry Gas, dumped them all in a 1/2 tank of gas, and drove around in 1st gear for a while. Brought it back in later that afternoon, and I got her down to 190 PPM, HAHAHA! The inspector was wide-eyed, "WHAT DID YOU DO???" Told him I fixed it! HA! She was snot green, and had " Sex, Drums, Rock n Roll" etched in the quarter glass by the previous owner, LOLOL! I still have VHS-C video of me driving that thing around in '93. Good ol' days!
I got a truck like that. Very leaky head gasket. 35 gallon tank. It'll go 350 miles on a tank of gas, but only 150 on a quart of oil. No need to change the oil, just the filter every 5000!
Finding an honest competent mechanic is golden. When I moved to Colorado Springs it took me a while but, by luck, I was directed to shop run by a man and his sons. Signage for his shop was minimal but he was very, very busy because of his reputation.
LOL XD When I was younger I thought that an old model of Lada had a two-stroke... but nope! Good old Mother Soviet Union went all four-stroke like in the 1960's and East Germany was left to deal with the two-strokers, they only upgraded to 4 stroke for the last production years of Trabant, 90-91 and Wartburg, 88-91. My maternal grandfather owned a Trabant until 77 and a Wartburg until 81. It was not then thought of as a political decision, but when USSR produced Ladas gained grip in the early 80's, many saw it as a political choice. They were, though, fairly inexpensive and reliable cars, plus easy to repair, which was likely the more prominent motivator than leftist views for most owners. In the first few post-WW2 decades there was this thing nicknamed "suomettuminen" (finlandization maybe?) that involved keeping superficially pro-Soviet politics even though we have been a sovereign country since 1917.
I've seen the end results of a loose battery. One guy had a chevelle and it's battery got away from him and went into the radiator fan, what a mess! Battery acid everywhere. The engine compartment was liberally soaked in sulfuric acid and the radiator was toast.
i bought a 250$ 19yo cavalier from a demolition rally (before they starting modding it) and after fixing like 20problems on it ive been driving it for 4years now.
@@ford300rippergarage not everybody is interested in committing felonies and intentionally ruining air quality for others. Plus, this is an NY car, that would NOT pass inspection and I believe you would also risk getting your vehicle towed if ever pulled over by police (I know Mississippi is a state notorious for this apparently)
OMG you sneezed all over that pristine car, it's now contaminated and HAS TO GO to the scrapyard !!!! 😄😄😄😄😄😄 Just the force of the sneeze probably cracked that rusty frame !!! PS-- just saw the tail end of the video, you are so trusted even THE POLICE send their cars to you for repair !!!! Congratulations !!! What happened, the State fleet repair garage couldn't figure out a weird problem ???
I watched this on the big screen, HDTV and all that, surround sound...the experience of burning oil was not fully immersive until the subwoofers took hold...I swear I closed my eyes and the room filled with blue oil smoke...then I remembered I left my old Ford F150 with a straight six running in the garage. Your video smelled familiar!
I think it’s hilarious that some people think there gonna pass inspection with codes, not to mention a catalytic converter that’s coated in oil. You gotta love it......
Actually Mazda engines of this era were good for 300K IF you took care of them. I had a 1st gen Ford Probe with the Mazda 2.2. Car went 260K miles and was scrapped because of tin-worm infestation in the body which was fed by New Jersey road salt. Engine still ran fine when I had it junked.
@@MrSloika: Very nice. I got 412k miles out of one Ford 3.8L Windstar engine & trans and 350k out of another before water-in-oil disease. Removed tool boxes and scrapped them.
I feel bad for people in this situation. I remember the day when I drove a car that had everything wrong with it and couldn't afford to get a better car. Great video as always!
Hell yea I was just doing the same thing last night with a protege5. I did everything you did Eric to verify my pending P0421. It’s a good feeling to see that watching your videos does help me be a more knowledgeable mechanic. Hours of watching does pay off. Thank you Eric
Its amazing the difference between different states and how well the emission laws are enforced. Here in Mississippi the recently did away with any type of vehicle inspections. Pretty much if you pay the registration fees your good to go. Whether it has CA emissions or not, or whether it has all the properly working parts, or just straight pipes from the engine they dont care. Something like that 626 would be welcomed with open arms down here. Even when they did have the vehicle inspection requirements here it was completely seperate from the DMV. You could still get a tag with or without the inspections sticker. The only one that bothered you about the inspection sticker was the highway patrol, but if you knew someone at an inspection station and could slip them a couple extra bucks on top of the $5 they charged for the inspection, the would just give you a sticker. So now it doesnt matter if your ce light is on, has massive evap leaks, massive oil consumption, bald tires, cracked witnshield, or non functioning safety equipment, as long as you pay your reg fees then your good to go. Alot different the CA emissions I was use to dealing with. In CA if the smog inspection station brands your car as what they call a Gross Polluter, then your pretty much sol on being able to drive it anywhere or register it with the DMV.
@@Graham_Langley yes. And I have a 93 mazda 626 with 299912 miles on it RightNow and only thing it's wrong is valves. It smokes when I start it in the morning then goes away.. it's a 5 speed same clutch from mazda and I did the timing belt one time. Still running strong fast. The engine are good if you keep up with maintenance some people are lazy and procrastinate that's why a lot of Mazdas are not on the streets today will the old school ones. But I'm doing a OVER HALL NEXT KEEP THE CAR. HAS NO DENTS BODY IS AWESOME NO RUST.. SO MAZDAS ARE GOOD CARS .
Oddly enough, I had (my wife had it before we got married) a 1996 Mazda 626 with a vent valve problem. The system was to a Ford engine/tranny system. I fixed the valve by uncrimping the valve body, taking out the plunger, adding blue silicone to it (wrapped it in a small sandwich bag to make the sealing surface smooth) and re-assembled. I was soooo proud when that check engine light went off by itself. the whole fix cost me the price of a tube of blue silcone. That car had other issues and sits in my father's yard to this day (dang rust belt claimed another one!) but ran all the way there (no check engine light). Great video, it even brought back memories of happier days.
Well south of the rust belt here but still running Protegés are very rare. Saw an absolute cherry pristine Protegé last week. The BG 89 to 94 version. I mean this was in showroom mint condition. So used to seeing them dragging parts and fluids on the ground and all the paint peeled away but not this one. The driver left before I could ask him how in the hell he had managed the impossible.
Lol... you said it! If you get 20 years out of a vehicle before major rust sets in you've either garaged it, or been religiously BATHING it in fluid film. Got to say that those rust inhibitors that use a small charge actually work! **Make sure your grounds are good and hook them up as you're supposed to** I've seen quite a few that have survived outside for 20 years without anything but surface rust underneath and no paint boils or rust through! But up here you really need to garage your vehicle and wash it regularly... salt is a cruel mistress and with our 6 month winters lol... nothing will last outside without serious investment over time.
Is this a common thing in America these days or does it depend on the State? I was born in IL but have been in Australia since 1999, the idea of 'environmental police' parading around here is laughable. We have no mandated EPA emissions standard/they haven't changed since the 80s, if a car/truck has a DPF, EGR, DEF, etc that's fine, some companies or state agencies might require them, but if you pull them off you'll face no strife and the DMV doesn't care. Crazy to think of 'environmental police'.
@@Senkino5o fairly common in most states. not my county, but other counties in my state has exhaust emissions testing required as a part of annual inspection.
After living most of my 63 yo life in FL and CA, still shocks me to see these rusted out vehicles. I have regularly bought, sold, and driven (and never has anyone but me worked on them) 10-20-30 yo cars and trucks with hundreds of thousands of miles on them. None of them were ever as messed up as the typical SMA customer's. *feel blessed* 😎
Same here. I live in Queensland Australia. My daily drives are a 98 Ford and a 97 Lancer. I occasionally take out a 1960 Series 2 land rover. All registered and going great
- Glad it wasn’t the 2.5 V6 engine version being junked, Those engines are in demand and very rare now, for those in the know. Great channel and video.
My 1996 F150 has the p0421 code. Convenient that I clicked on this video. Mine only has 124k miles on it. Runs great and doesn’t burn oil. Sounds like my catalytic converter is just toast. It doesn’t have an exhaust it was cut off a few feet behind the cat.
@@emkayusa Inspections don't always check safety. Ohio used to have them and all that was checked was the engine light codes. Saw a truck with no rear brakes that passed because it ran well.
I had a 03 Mazda P5. Same engine. When I got it it was burning so much oil it was leaking out the exhaust gasket, flushed the engine out a couple times with fresh oil with half a quart of diesel fuel. It tremendously helped.
I had a 2002 Kia Rio, both of my kids used it to learn how to drive. It was the only car that they could not destroy. They grew up and moved away, I continued to use that car for many years in upstate New York, drove like new. I loved that car, it finally rusted so bad that I had a evap leak, broke my heart to see her go to the junkyard, I'd buy another Kia in a minute.
@@THEACERASPIREMAN yea I’ve seen some bad cars that shouldn’t be on the road but it’s gonna be another cash grab by the state. I’m surprised illinois hasn’t gone down that road.
@@THEACERASPIREMAN Ohio had inspections in most of state years ago then just in Cleveland area. This car would have passed with just the valve being replaced. Spend $300 and didn't have to fix anything else. Inspections were just a money grab by the state. Blew up a lot of cars too running engines at max RPM for two minutes to run the test.
@@FishFind3000 Illinois politicians: Soon.... I'm waiting for them to legalize prostitution for the tax revenue. Everybody sing! "Illinois, where ex-governors go to jail!"
I had a 98 Mazda 626. When it blew the head 2 years ago I had to let it go. Drive it till the wheels fall off or not worth repairing. I drove it for over 17 years. Got my money's worth I dare to say
years ago way before emissions testing, a guy came in for inspection. When he put the care in gear we noticed it flex between the drivers door and front fender. HUH? do that again. Front unibody completely gone. we never even looked further. Northern Ny car. another victim of mr salt. we envy you guys down south.
@@robertl.fallin7062 that's fine when you have a functional rust bucket to take what you need from it lol. I know it's a fairly common thing where someone will bring a car up from down south and replace the interior with a rotted out car from up here to eliminate mold and such. Flood damage is a lot more fixable than cancer
Whoa calm down there buddy. We all know someone that has been a mechanic for 600 years that knows everything better. I can hear him screaming from Texas right now.
@@CubasAutomotive well I‘m from an completely different continent so there might be a insider which I‘ve missed lol.. do you mind telling me who he‘s thinking about?
love your honesty. We have those cars over here. Normally decent enough car but we don't really have a rust belt. At the end of the day if the car reaches "end of life" then the junk yard is the place for it.😀
I thought this was a remake of Cheech and Chong : Up in Smoke 2 ! That battery may give the driver a surprise when going over RR Tracks and the positive terminal pokes through the insulation . Fourth of July 💐 comes early !
Had my CAT stolen last month - being in wonderful California it did cost an arm and a leg to replace (CARB compliant) - but have to get to work and that was the cheaper option. $3,400 donation to my favorite mechanic.
@@mctag1756 Was yours a Prius? I ask as they do have more precious metals in them than most everyone else, and are now being stolen by crooks and given to the scrap metal dealers for the $$$ they command and it's likely everywhere now, even here in Washington State. I don't have a Prius but have heard about this from members of Nextdoor that have them, and their cats stolen, in come cases more than once.
Any LEV and especially ULEV cars have a valuable converter. I saw miatas cats go for over $1k. Honda accords with a slanted o2 sensor can go for $700-900.
That's funny. I love Steve Lav's videos also. If you haven't already you should check out Andrew Camarata his vids are as good as South Main and Steve Lav.
I'm always up for a good recommendation... I'll check him out. Thanks. (Steve Lav. is awesome! Love his attitude... anywhere from surly to sweetheart. I admire his business model and attitude too)
Been binging on your videos the last few days and this is my new favorite channel. Noticed in one video you had, I believe, a pair of Cobra pliers from Knipex (not a sponsor). Then I think I saw a set of diagonal cutters and combo pliers from them as well. I really dig the set of pliers wrenches I have from them. Really saved my butt from time to time.
Well Eric, you are a Gentleman among-st men. Taking the high road and calling out a stinker before the parts canon gets fired up. I guess 233 k miles is the expiry period on the old Ford Fuzion /626 platform. They had a good run. Now it's R.I.P. ! Good call. Where's all the snow, . . and don;t say, " I don't SNOW ".
@@ford300rippergarage - I want to take two 6-cylinder outboard motors, combine them together to make a V12 two-stroke, then put it in my 07 Chevy Silverado 1500 4 x 4. 😁 That would be fan-friggin-tastic. 😄
I absolutely love your channel, I get a kick out of your humor but honest comment and the fact I have learned stuff from your channel that has help me fix my own vehicles. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and keep those cameras rolling!
A single penny spent on that heap is literally throwing your money in the bin, Done over 200k miles, its fit for retirement its lasted a good run, And you can see with the amount of "it'll do" work done to it so far whatever work happens will be a cheap bodge and will prob break in less time then it takes a coffee to go cold Eric o, you da man 👍
Hello, Eric!! Hey, when did you send that NY weather to Oklahoma? It's 25 degrees and dropping for the next ten days!! BRRR! Thanks as always for the video!
