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    300zx's MX-3 work log

    Well I bought a 92 MX3 GS a while ago that is in excellent shape an inside and out with a bad engine. I planned to fix the car and then my parents were going to take it but they are kinda on the fence right now if they still want it. Either way I have been working on a KLDE to swap into the car and decided to make a work log for what I do even though it may be short lived. I will post pictures later.

    The day I brought it home: and yes those monster truck tires will be replaced
    Last edited by KAinjection; 03-03-2015, 06:34 PM.
    92 Mazda MX3 GS> For sale, $1750 OBO
    94 Escort wagon--BP swap coming, VF10 Turbo, COP, EVO ECU, 03 ZX2 front end conversion
    "Hold yourself accountable before you are held accountable"
    EV14 330cc@3Bar injector kits available.
    EV14 GT500 injector kits available for the BP. 610cc@3Bar.
    EV14 925cc@3Bar injector kits available
    BP Forged H beam rods available now
    KL Forged H beam rods available now
    K8/KF Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
    FS Forged H beam rods
    awaiting test fit
    F2 Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
    FE3 Forged H beam rods coming soon
    Mitsubishi 3.8 MIVEC rods coming soon
    Aluminum CAS/Distributor caps
    BP oil jet eliminators
    EV14 fuel rail spacers
    More stuff coming soon.......

    #2
    Added a picture to the first post and here are the rest of them so far: I will summarize what I am doing after the pictures.







    The K8 had been overheated due to a failed water pump by a previous owner (not the people I bought it from). The people I bought the car from were Mazda people and so they had a spare K8 and a KLDE from an MX6 sitting around. I bought the engine from them when I picked up the car but they told me it needed new stem seals and some fresh seals. In my curiosity I decided to tear down the K8 and see what happened to it and I was amazed at how clean the engine was inside and out just like the rest of the car and the KLDE looked like an oil slick in comparison and was very dark inside the valve cover due to poor oil change habits. My imagination ran wild about swapping the K8 heads to the KLDE block and if anybody had tried it out, with the typical answer being "the compression bump is not worth it and the valves are too small and you will lose power" blah blah blah. Well it turns out after some serious internet searching the 2.0 170HP KFZE uses the exact heads and valves as the K8 while the lower powered KFDE had bigger valves. Myth Busted!

    I sent the K8 heads in to be checked and milled since the engine had overheated and one of them had to be heat straightened and both of them cleanup milled. After getting all the valves polished to a nice mirror finished, heads grooved and new plugs installed I did a CC of the chambers and it came out to 31-32cc with my method. I didnt do it the correct way but for this experiment it will be close enough. Compression should be around 10.5-10.7 according to an online calculator I used. I installed the KLDE cams since they have more lift than the K8 cams and will be adding a Millenia intake on top of that which I did the knife edging on as well. Considering the displacement bump with the compression bump I anticipate this will be an interesting experiment and it obviously cant have any less power than a normal KLDE.

    The car will also have phenolic spacers, Millenia MAF/ECU conversion, Intake, and possibly some Ebay headers/bigger exhaust, but that depends where or who this car ends up with.
    Last edited by KAinjection; 03-03-2015, 07:01 PM.
    92 Mazda MX3 GS> For sale, $1750 OBO
    94 Escort wagon--BP swap coming, VF10 Turbo, COP, EVO ECU, 03 ZX2 front end conversion
    "Hold yourself accountable before you are held accountable"
    EV14 330cc@3Bar injector kits available.
    EV14 GT500 injector kits available for the BP. 610cc@3Bar.
    EV14 925cc@3Bar injector kits available
    BP Forged H beam rods available now
    KL Forged H beam rods available now
    K8/KF Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
    FS Forged H beam rods
    awaiting test fit
    F2 Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
    FE3 Forged H beam rods coming soon
    Mitsubishi 3.8 MIVEC rods coming soon
    Aluminum CAS/Distributor caps
    BP oil jet eliminators
    EV14 fuel rail spacers
    More stuff coming soon.......

    Comment


      #3
      300zx's MX-3 work log

      I have the engine back in the car now, phenolic spacers and millennia intake manifold all hooked up, but I hope it's worth it since its kind of been more hassle than I wanted to deal with. I can't use the stock intake with it and so I have ordered some extra pipe and couplers to allow me to use the stock air box and I am currently waiting for that to arrive. I also bought some used eBay headers so I will be installing those along with a cork sport axle back exhaust, and finally install the MAF conversion after I make sure it is running correctly. I am currently putting in a new heater core while I wait for parts.
      92 Mazda MX3 GS> For sale, $1750 OBO
      94 Escort wagon--BP swap coming, VF10 Turbo, COP, EVO ECU, 03 ZX2 front end conversion
      "Hold yourself accountable before you are held accountable"
      EV14 330cc@3Bar injector kits available.
      EV14 GT500 injector kits available for the BP. 610cc@3Bar.
      EV14 925cc@3Bar injector kits available
      BP Forged H beam rods available now
      KL Forged H beam rods available now
      K8/KF Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
      FS Forged H beam rods
      awaiting test fit
      F2 Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
      FE3 Forged H beam rods coming soon
      Mitsubishi 3.8 MIVEC rods coming soon
      Aluminum CAS/Distributor caps
      BP oil jet eliminators
      EV14 fuel rail spacers
      More stuff coming soon.......

      Comment


        #4
        The car is running but I am currently waiting for a passenger headlight to arrive before I can put the bumper all back together and drive it out of the garage and hopefully get this thing to pass emissions, clean it up and sell it.
        92 Mazda MX3 GS> For sale, $1750 OBO
        94 Escort wagon--BP swap coming, VF10 Turbo, COP, EVO ECU, 03 ZX2 front end conversion
        "Hold yourself accountable before you are held accountable"
        EV14 330cc@3Bar injector kits available.
        EV14 GT500 injector kits available for the BP. 610cc@3Bar.
        EV14 925cc@3Bar injector kits available
        BP Forged H beam rods available now
        KL Forged H beam rods available now
        K8/KF Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
        FS Forged H beam rods
        awaiting test fit
        F2 Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
        FE3 Forged H beam rods coming soon
        Mitsubishi 3.8 MIVEC rods coming soon
        Aluminum CAS/Distributor caps
        BP oil jet eliminators
        EV14 fuel rail spacers
        More stuff coming soon.......

        Comment


          #5
          how well does it run??
          ---Has ClubProtege helped you in someway? show your support by Contributing--- Click Here---

          1992- project FE3..... 313 WHP @ 9.3psi




          I pet my dash when I get into the car..."good car"
          he actually has a mazda tree, parts grow on it

          Comment


            #6
            300zx's MX-3 work log

            I didn't put the MAF swap on just yet since I wanted to make sure it ran correctly before I added another variable. It's also still on jack stands till I get the headlight and put the bumper back on so I haven't driven it yet, just revved it and let it fully warm up checking for any leaks or potential problems, but it runs fine with no hiccups.
            92 Mazda MX3 GS> For sale, $1750 OBO
            94 Escort wagon--BP swap coming, VF10 Turbo, COP, EVO ECU, 03 ZX2 front end conversion
            "Hold yourself accountable before you are held accountable"
            EV14 330cc@3Bar injector kits available.
            EV14 GT500 injector kits available for the BP. 610cc@3Bar.
            EV14 925cc@3Bar injector kits available
            BP Forged H beam rods available now
            KL Forged H beam rods available now
            K8/KF Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
            FS Forged H beam rods
            awaiting test fit
            F2 Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
            FE3 Forged H beam rods coming soon
            Mitsubishi 3.8 MIVEC rods coming soon
            Aluminum CAS/Distributor caps
            BP oil jet eliminators
            EV14 fuel rail spacers
            More stuff coming soon.......

            Comment


              #7
              Ok I got it all back together and took a short test drive. It felt a little rough while idling and then when I took it out on the street it hesitates and misfires pretty bad until about 4k rpm then it seems to run better, but the power doesn't feel likes its there either. The car came with 3 spare distributors and this one was the only one that would even start the car. I am kinda thinking this disty is also bad and that this is an ignition issue since it only does this under load and seems to idle fine.
              92 Mazda MX3 GS> For sale, $1750 OBO
              94 Escort wagon--BP swap coming, VF10 Turbo, COP, EVO ECU, 03 ZX2 front end conversion
              "Hold yourself accountable before you are held accountable"
              EV14 330cc@3Bar injector kits available.
              EV14 GT500 injector kits available for the BP. 610cc@3Bar.
              EV14 925cc@3Bar injector kits available
              BP Forged H beam rods available now
              KL Forged H beam rods available now
              K8/KF Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
              FS Forged H beam rods
              awaiting test fit
              F2 Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
              FE3 Forged H beam rods coming soon
              Mitsubishi 3.8 MIVEC rods coming soon
              Aluminum CAS/Distributor caps
              BP oil jet eliminators
              EV14 fuel rail spacers
              More stuff coming soon.......

              Comment


                #8
                Just for piece of mind and to eliminate any possible causes for the misfires I decided to compression test this thing and Ohm out the plug wires. I actually did the compression test on a cold engine since I dont like working on a hot engine and in my experience cold numbers are usually about 20psi lower than hot numbers anyway. Anyway the cold numbers are impressive and the wires spec out good vs their length.

                1--163psi
                2--175psi
                3--170psi
                4--175psi
                5--175psi
                6--175psi

                1--8.8K
                2--6.6K
                3--6.9K
                4--4.4K
                5--6.1K
                6--5K

                From looking at the above numbers and the fact that this engine also has brand new KLDE spec NGK Iridium plugs, I am really leaning toward this car having a bad distributor.
                92 Mazda MX3 GS> For sale, $1750 OBO
                94 Escort wagon--BP swap coming, VF10 Turbo, COP, EVO ECU, 03 ZX2 front end conversion
                "Hold yourself accountable before you are held accountable"
                EV14 330cc@3Bar injector kits available.
                EV14 GT500 injector kits available for the BP. 610cc@3Bar.
                EV14 925cc@3Bar injector kits available
                BP Forged H beam rods available now
                KL Forged H beam rods available now
                K8/KF Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
                FS Forged H beam rods
                awaiting test fit
                F2 Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
                FE3 Forged H beam rods coming soon
                Mitsubishi 3.8 MIVEC rods coming soon
                Aluminum CAS/Distributor caps
                BP oil jet eliminators
                EV14 fuel rail spacers
                More stuff coming soon.......

                Comment


                  #9
                  typical KL problems
                  ---Has ClubProtege helped you in someway? show your support by Contributing--- Click Here---

                  1992- project FE3..... 313 WHP @ 9.3psi




                  I pet my dash when I get into the car..."good car"
                  he actually has a mazda tree, parts grow on it

                  Comment


                    #10
                    That sucks. If you had a lab scope you could reference an old diagnostics post I did when I had distributor issues with my old kl

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by crazycanadian View Post
                      That sucks. If you had a lab scope you could reference an old diagnostics post I did when I had distributor issues with my old kl
                      That would be nice. Its actually been years since I have used an ignition scope TBH so I would need help to even understand what I was looking at. Did yours have hesitation/misfire issues?

                      I went and bought a GM HEI module from O'rielly so I will do the HEI mod on this thing to see if it makes any difference. I will just settle for using the internal mazda coil since I kinda doubt an external coil would really have much benefit as far as spark output, unless its bad of course.
                      92 Mazda MX3 GS> For sale, $1750 OBO
                      94 Escort wagon--BP swap coming, VF10 Turbo, COP, EVO ECU, 03 ZX2 front end conversion
                      "Hold yourself accountable before you are held accountable"
                      EV14 330cc@3Bar injector kits available.
                      EV14 GT500 injector kits available for the BP. 610cc@3Bar.
                      EV14 925cc@3Bar injector kits available
                      BP Forged H beam rods available now
                      KL Forged H beam rods available now
                      K8/KF Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
                      FS Forged H beam rods
                      awaiting test fit
                      F2 Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
                      FE3 Forged H beam rods coming soon
                      Mitsubishi 3.8 MIVEC rods coming soon
                      Aluminum CAS/Distributor caps
                      BP oil jet eliminators
                      EV14 fuel rail spacers
                      More stuff coming soon.......

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I had a very odd missfire issue, that could have been related to a bad distributor. Turned out my issue was related to the timing belt being out 1 tooth on the front bank and the distributor being miss timed.

                        If you looked up the post though I had a bunch of pictures showing what was going on. It might be under my build thread.

                        You could try the internal coil, but both the coil and the module are common problems. Whats the number on your distributor/pin configuration? I might have a good one sitting on my shelf from my old KLDE

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Well as if it couldnt get any weirder. I got the HEI mod done last night using the internal coil and fired the car up and it was worse than before. I rechecked everything and all my wires were in the right spots. I did some reading today and other people said to cut the orange signal wire going to the 6 pin plug on the disty. After I disconnected that wire from the harness plug to simulate this it seemed to run a little better but not much. I pulled the car into the garage and went to restart it, now it wont start at all. I have a Blaster 2 coil sitting in the garage so I pulled the coil wire off the MX6, drilled a hole in the distributor cap to fit the coil wire and ran the +- wire from the blaster to the HEI module just like in the instructions, tried to start the car and still nothing. I then reconnected everything back on the distributor like stock with the HEI and Blaster coil still hooked up, and the car starts and runs pretty good, but it only lasted about 30sec and then it died and would not restart again. After trying a few different things, I disconnected all the HEI and blaster stuff and went back to the stock disty. Car starts right up and is running like it did before I tried the mod.

                          Between the Millenia I have here and now this car, I am really beginning to hate Mazda K powered cars.

                          This car is a 92 so its the same as the 93-94 KLDE disty
                          92 Mazda MX3 GS> For sale, $1750 OBO
                          94 Escort wagon--BP swap coming, VF10 Turbo, COP, EVO ECU, 03 ZX2 front end conversion
                          "Hold yourself accountable before you are held accountable"
                          EV14 330cc@3Bar injector kits available.
                          EV14 GT500 injector kits available for the BP. 610cc@3Bar.
                          EV14 925cc@3Bar injector kits available
                          BP Forged H beam rods available now
                          KL Forged H beam rods available now
                          K8/KF Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
                          FS Forged H beam rods
                          awaiting test fit
                          F2 Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
                          FE3 Forged H beam rods coming soon
                          Mitsubishi 3.8 MIVEC rods coming soon
                          Aluminum CAS/Distributor caps
                          BP oil jet eliminators
                          EV14 fuel rail spacers
                          More stuff coming soon.......

                          Comment


                            #14
                            It might not be the same as the 94 dizzy. You gotta be careful with the electronics and make sure they match.

                            It's to bad you weren't closer I am sure I could figure out what's wrong.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Success!

                              Fist of all I went and dug the 2 other disty's I had out of my scrap metal pile and started to look them over. I didnt understand at the time when I fist tried to start the car that there were different disty's depending on car/year so thats what prompted me to go take another look. When I bought parts for this car on Rockauto I bought the cap and rotor for a 95 MX6 since thats what KL I was swapping in the car. I combined that with the cleanest/newest looking disty and of course it didnt start the car since the coil was never connected to the cap in this config so I thought the disty was bad, next up was the 95 MX6 disty + plus new cap and car still would not start, again I thought it was a bad disty but it was due to the 95 being different internally. Last I tried the nasty looking MX3 disty with a good cap on it. of course it started the car and I presumed it was the only good one of the bunch. Fast forward to today and I took the nice clean disty I had initially thought was bad and put the CORRECT cap on it. The car started and seemed like it ran much better but now I still seem to have a pretty rough idle which seemed like a misfire. I decided to pull the fuel rails out and swap them with another set in case I had something up with the injectors, but first I decided to bench test the ones I removed and it turns out I had one injector that was not working when current was applied from my injector machine. No noises--nothing. I removed that one and stuck it in the ultrasonic cleaner while the machine tried to pulse it at a simulated 6K RPM and finally after about 20min of this it started working again. Reinstalled the injector in the rail and put it back in the car. The car idles smooth now and on my test drive it pulls from low RPM and wakes up at about 3K and pulls nicely to redline with no stuttering or breaking up.

                              For some reason the brake warning light came on while driving it and it seems like it has an oil leak coming from the back of the pan thats pretty significant but at least its running and running well. Since I have to drop the exhaust to reseal the oil pan I may as well install the headers and downpipe I have here for it while I am at it.
                              92 Mazda MX3 GS> For sale, $1750 OBO
                              94 Escort wagon--BP swap coming, VF10 Turbo, COP, EVO ECU, 03 ZX2 front end conversion
                              "Hold yourself accountable before you are held accountable"
                              EV14 330cc@3Bar injector kits available.
                              EV14 GT500 injector kits available for the BP. 610cc@3Bar.
                              EV14 925cc@3Bar injector kits available
                              BP Forged H beam rods available now
                              KL Forged H beam rods available now
                              K8/KF Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
                              FS Forged H beam rods
                              awaiting test fit
                              F2 Forged H beam rods awaiting test fit
                              FE3 Forged H beam rods coming soon
                              Mitsubishi 3.8 MIVEC rods coming soon
                              Aluminum CAS/Distributor caps
                              BP oil jet eliminators
                              EV14 fuel rail spacers
                              More stuff coming soon.......

                              Comment

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