hey rice rocketters 92 323 lacks power
 

OK here's the scoop my 2nd eldest has a mazda 323 1.6 ltr 5gear and it starts good idles nice but when u put it in gear and takev off it seems to lack get up and go .We did plugs, wires, rotor,changed 02 sensor,(borch) way cheaper than jap one, took the haynes manual and checked mass air, coil, and any other sensors we could find info on ,frankly we're totally confused so any help would be appreceated. Sorry about the ricer crack NOT just kidding later bake

Did you check the cat? It may be plugged, I've seen those same symptoms, and it turned out to be a plugged cat.

The cat-back has been hogged out no back pressure there thanx Bake the problem seemed to get worse after #2 son changed the air cleaner which is under the mass air filter .Checked out ma & it seemed ok .Could the computer have gone south?

have you serviced the mass air flow sensor? The mass air flow should be serviced on a regular basis, but should not cause this abrupt of a problem. Now are there any codes ? Also when you mean it lacks power does it feel more like a ignition hesitation or a fuel? I am just trying to get you started on diagnosising this properly as throwing parts at it is never the cure.

323
 

No ther are no engine codes ,we hot wired the cpu & got nothing We put a new fuel filter ,fuel pressure was within speces .What kind of service do u do to the mass air ? Now this turns out to be a gradual loss of power .Did a comp test and the 2 inside cylinders were down about 25 lbs compared 2 the other 2.When u give it hard gas it doesn't pick up that well especially inthe higher gears, if u very slowly give it gas and shift at higher rpm it rolls along not to bad . Going up hill power drops off ,Also at idle if u give it gas at idle it seems to hesitate a sec and then pick up.Hop this babble of confusion helps later Bake

I am not sure what style ignition system you have buy almost sounds like an ignition hesitation to me, but i would have to be there to fully say that. With the car compeltely off and keys out of the ignition and with the car cold unbolt the top plate of the MAFS. the MAFS should come out and you will see it as almost as small as a light bulb filament. Take a Q-tip and VERY GENTLY clean off the excess dirty on the sensor. Do not break the filament or do this with the car hot or with the key in the on position. The sensor must be strictly cold and will cost you a good penny if you break the sensor.

Also questions about the ignition system. Does it have an external coil pack? One per cylinder? or 2 for 2? or is it a distributor.

Another thing that would be good to check is ignition timing and engine timing. Pull back the cover to make sure it did not skip a tooth and would also be good to inspect timing belt aswell.

I have yet to come across this car in my work so i appologize for my unfamiliarness, but i will try and help you the best i can in a general diagnostic state of mind.

323
 

The car has about 200,000 k on it .the boy and i did the timing belt about 30,000 k ago .The coil system is a single external coil that is connected to the distributor cap which in turn is bolted to the over head cam .Iwill check the condition of the belt just to make sure alls good.Will clean ma and take it from there. Thanx a million for all the info Later Bake

let me know how it turns out :thumbsup:

Took off the ma & tore it apart ,could not find any sign off a filiment .The ma had a dirty throat so i removed the bottom and cleaned it all out . Took off the top and all there was a printed cuircut with a sweep arm .This was attached to a swing gate in the ma i didn't touch any thing here cause printed cuircuts can be delicate .Put everthing back together &gave it a quick roll over but it did n't fire .Haven't looked at it any closer cause the big melt is starting & the water is running allover the yard & my poor garage is flooding Later Bake

your not looking hard enough, that all comes apart and there is sometimes a sheild for the filament, basically looks like a small resistor. Air is exposed to this filament and small amounts of dirt can affect the accuracy of the sensor and cause such problems as your saying.

OK at the very front of the throat of the ma is a small about 1/2 in long sticking down from the top of the ma could this be part of it? Also the only other place this filiment might be is some where under the circut board but i don,t think so iwas pretty sure i had it pulled right apart .If i had a camera and necesary hardware it would be alot easier to explain myself .Also could it be that the filiment is gone and that's why i don't see it? Once again thanks for putting up with old blind guy Later bake

It doesn't have a mass air flow sensor. It has a Vane Air Flow meter, which rarely need servicing since they are mechanical.

I would check ignition timing and then timing belt tension. If the timing belt is loose, it's possible that the cam timing is off a tooth. The SOHC 1.6 engine is a breeze to work on.

That's not the problem. Put it back together before it gets broken. The guy giving you advice thought the Mazda had a hot-wire type MAF and not a VAF like it actually does.

Have you tried cleaning the fuel injectors?

thanks for the information, i have never had experience with these cars so like i said i can only give general advice.

Once again thanx 4 the advice.Just got back from two back to back shutdowns so haven't looked at car 4 acouple wks. Whats the best way to clean the injectors, take them to a diesel shop or is there a way to do this at home .Iam fairly tooled up so any direction would be appreciated.talk to u later Bake

The only way to flush the injectors at home would be to run a few tanks of inj or fuel system cleaner through the car. However this doesn;t seem like an option for you and is obviously not as effective as taking to a injector service/testing facility. There is some fuel injector flush kits out there, but require air line hook up. You block off the return and feed line or loop them and then hook up a canister with a cleaning solution. You then set pressure with the regulator and start the car and let it run until it dies. However taking the injectors out and being sent for service is around 100 dollars from my memory and i only know of one place in burlingtion called eurodrive.