Boring Daily Build

Yeah, you could have tweaked the unibody where the control arm attaches to it.

The steering rack could have a bent tooth on it making it "notchy" and it's probably right near the center of the movement when it hit the curb.

It sounds like something you can live with as long as you don't drive 150 m/hr. Lol
 
... So I think the right thing to do would be to replace the strut and the then the steering rack if still no steering return. That's the right way. I'm not gonna do anything... but at this point, I'm not putting any unnecessary money into it...


At some point, you've gotta say "good enough".
I do it all the time with my car.

You're aware of the issues and I'm sure your car is still safe.


I remember back in 1980 a guy from auto class drove over to my place.
He didn't have a steering wheel on his car.
He had a vise grip clamped to the top of his steering column.
He said the vise grip fell off on his way over and he nearly had an accident. Lol

I wouldn't personally call something like that "good enough". Lol
 
Wonder if an alignment shop can get it back into spec with camber bolts or camber plates. Camber bolts being the cheaper solution.
 
That's a good idea!
I kinda think the strut's OK, but the control arm (and it's connection point) got pushed in.

He might still be OK with the way it is, but maybe get uneven tire wear and maybe control issues at speed.

He could probably install camber bolts himself. They would probably be maxed out anyway.







 
.. When/if I get it registered I think I'll try some Lucas slip fix on the off chance it helps.


If you just want to pass a safety check, I don't think they check alignment? (but you may want to get it done anyway.)

I'm guessing that your engine may have lost power, especially if you had gas in the oil.

I'm guessing that a slipping trans would be more dramatic, but a $10 transmission treatment might be worth a try.
 
The only thing stopping me from getting it registered right now is the P0172 system too rich bank 1 code
*Pending code
 
The only thing stopping me from getting it registered right now is the P0172 system too rich bank 1 code
*Pending code

It's possible that your engine is so worn out that it can't help but throw extra gas in it to keep it running.

I'm guessing here but if you drive your car nice and gently, it might clear the code so you can pass the test? Then drive it hard. Lol
 
It's certainly worth trying. I've got to go half-fill it up with gas next time I drive it and I"ve got seafoam to put in then as well.
It's worth mentioning this is a new code, as far as I know, it wasn't there when I sold it or when I bought it back.
 
Yeah, there are so many causes it makes it hard to narrow down. The first time I saw it pending was when I had the confirmed misfire code so I was opening that was the cause, but I put new plugs in (which are probably fouled out again) and it's still there.
 
Seafoam in the gas may help.
It can clean your injectors and help with clearing the combustion chambers.

Fouled injectors can use more gas.



Seafoam in the fuel system is a lot less risky than in the engine oil.

You may be right on the cusp of throwing that code.

The seafoam may be just enough.
 
Today I changed the oil out and put a quart of Lucas in, they say up to 60% for badly worn engines so I'm thinking I should've gotten more than 1 quart but oh well. So we'll see if that will work any wonders on the cylinder walls.
 
I was wondering if it was you that replaced your VICS solenoid valve with this...





bob850 wants to know if that solenoid works.


 
The more I think about the camber bolts I think that's a good next step, I'm not sure which ones would be best for getting back to negative camber or if they're all the same. Also not sure how many degrees I need.

I just started it up to see how long it'd smoke and it smoked for about 45ish seconds which is much better than the minutes it would smoke when I first got it, but I'm thinking that is probably as good as I'm gonna get it. I let it sit and warm up and it idled great. Normally I get in it and go before I smoke out my neighbors and it'll idle at like 300 RPM and not be happy, but letting it warm up it idled great. When I held it at 2500 RPM it got smokey and started to get a misfire from the oil on the plugs so some non-foulers would likely help.

The last three days I've been taking the Mazda on about a 10 mile drive on back roads and despite the condition it's in I still really enjoy driving it, which is making it hard to decide my next step. I'd love to keep putting money into it and give it the things it needs but I may be getting another car soon which would mean I'd have to sell the Mazda so I have to keep that in mind when tossing money at it.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: pcb
... it got smokey and started to get a misfire from the oil on the plugs so some non-foulers would likely help.


I'm just guessing but I kinda think anti-foulers might make your engine run like crap.
The anti-foulers will add volume to your combustion chambers, and raise the spark up out of the combustion chambers.

I think our engine is so fussy that it won't operate properly with them?



I can't see any reason to not try it though.
I don't think that you could wreck anything?
 
The more I think about the camber bolts I think that's a good next step, I'm not sure which ones would be best for getting back to negative camber or if they're all the same. Also not sure how many degrees I need.

It looks like they are all +/- 1.75 ° but if you replace all of the bolts you increase the range to 2.5°.





It looks like you would need two bolts. One for the top and one for the bottom.

It kinda looks like 1.75° per bolt is the max you can get without thinning the bolt too much or not be able to feed the wobble through the strut and knuckle.



 
Last edited:
I think I'm gonna get the set of bolts next time I make an order. I had the same thought about the non-foulers but others seem to have had luck so I may still give them a try at some point.
 
The bolts are cheap and easy.

I just figured non-foulers were for 30-year-old lawnmowers and snow blowers. Lol

(except for our non-fouler trick for the downstream O2 sensor.)
 
Keep this in mind too...











I'd hate to see you get rid of your car.
I had my hand in getting you to buy it back.

You would miss it if you got rid of it.
These cars are Fun!!

I forget what's involved with installing the ZE in our car? I think it's just a bunch of sensors to be swapped. I believe the ZE has more horses too?
 
Back