What years of the Mazda 929 were the bad ones?

Hey guys,

I remember reading on here that there was certain years of the Mazda 929 that were nightmares when it came to wiring issues. What vintage were these? Were the wiring nightmares similar to the cold solder joints on the second generation RX-7's? Can anyone tell me about the 89 vintage RWD cars?

Chris

Mazdax605 wrote: Hey guys, I remember reading on here that there was certain years of the Mazda 929 that were nightmares when it came to wiring issues. What vintage were these? Were the wiring nightmares similar to the cold solder joints on the second generation RX-7's? Can anyone tell me about the 89 vintage RWD cars? Chris

I don't really know to be honest, but here's what i DO know: Overseas, the 929 could be had with the F2 motor.

Sooo.... logical to stuff an F2T in there, obviously.

It has a 3 litre V6 in it now. Would that be better than the F2T?

Any idea what else the 3 litre V6 would be mounted in? I am guessing it isn't the same as the 3 litre in the Ford Ranger.

Mazdax605 wrote: It has a 3 litre V6 in it now. Would that be better than the F2T? Any idea what else the 3 litre V6 would be mounted in? I am guessing it isn't the same as the 3 litre in the Ford Ranger.

Nope. The 3.0 in the Ranger is the lame duck Vulcan.

The JE engine in the 929 was only shared with the old MPV minivan in the USA.

The late '80's 929's I saw as a Mazda service manager had a nasty habit of cracking heads. I'd be more concerned about that than solder joints.

The JE engine in the 929 was only shared with the old MPV minivan in the USA.

I believe the 929 could get either the sohc or dohc but the mpv could only get the sohc. Thus making the dohc a rare (i.e. difficult?) motor in USA.

Rockauto lists a SOHC 3 litre in its online catalog for the 89 model year,and a DOHC for the 90 model year S model. The 90 model that is the base has the 3 litre SOHC listed. SO I guess this 89 I am interested in has the SOHC engine.

The DOHC is also shared in the later 929.

BTW, The 929 makes an excellent drift sedan.

Slap the JE-ZE in it. (DOHC version) Makes 203hp, and really wakes up with breathing mods.

I know of a guy that put a JEZE in an FC RX7 and then sprayed the hell out of it. Apparently it had traction problems at highway speeds.

I was looking at a newer one in a junkyard...do they have passive rear wheel steering? Almost certain they do, otherwise that's a really screwy suspension set-up!

Twin_Cam wrote: I was looking at a newer one in a junkyard...do they have passive rear wheel steering? Almost certain they do, otherwise that's a really screwy suspension set-up!

They probably do.... a lot of mazdas in that era did.

Early HC body 929s (the boxy ones) could be had with a 5-speed. Uses the same transmission as the RX7 Turbo II with a unique bell housing. I always have wanted to get a nice one of these and do a 5-speed swap (real 5-speed cars basically don't exist anymore). These things look great on Turbo II sawblade wheels.

That bell was on MPVs as well. And those are actually not rare.

Good tip, I forgot about the manual-trans MPV, and that they use the 929 drivetrain. Thanks.

Friend of mine had a 90 (I believe) MPV with the 3-liter. Put near 300k miles on it. After owning the thing since new, he finally opted for a new vehicle. Biggest issue it had was leaking valve cover gaskets.

I just found this one on ebay,and have been lusting over the JDM VIPness of it. I know I am strange.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mazda-929_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZalgoQ3dLVIQ26ituQ3dUCIQ26otnQ3d1Q26poQ3dLVIQ26psQ3d63Q26clkidQ3d7408893766194480132QQ_trksidZp5197Q2em7QQcategoryZ6321QQitemZ200580730596

Mazdax605 wrote: I just found this one on ebay,and have been lusting over the JDM VIPness of it. I know I am strange. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mazda-929_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZalgoQ3dLVIQ26ituQ3dUCIQ26otnQ3d1Q26poQ3dLVIQ26psQ3d63Q26clkidQ3d7408893766194480132QQ_trksidZp5197Q2em7QQcategoryZ6321QQitemZ200580730596

I like the boxy ones better, these just always looked like stretched 626s to me. The interior/dash is pretty awesome, though.

I think they are just stretched more-luxurious 626's. Still cool though,and this appears to be RWD which makes me happy.

The fact that they are rwd kinda shoots holes in the stretched 626 theory.. unless you just meant that they kept the same bland style and just fattened it.

^Yep, i meant style-wise.

I prefer the older boxy ones...

But then again, i think Cressidas are beautiful, so YMMV.