My 1994 LX refuses to die, I'm the original owner. 190,000+ burns no oil, and other than regular maintanence nothing has major has gone wrong (knock on wood).

I have 2 questions that I hope someone can answer:

1. I had the timing belt changed at 100k. Do I have to change it again at 200k? Is the 16 valve, LX, engine a non-interference engine or not, in other words if the belt goes south will the engine just die or will it take out the valves?

2. The speedometer just quit working. What should I be looking for. Is this a cable actuated unit or an electrical speedo? If cable actuated any hints as to where it hooks into the tranny would be helpful.

Thanks in advance,

Doug Stewart

 

It's a non-interference engine. You're safe if the belt breaks.

The speedo is by cable. The cable goes into the tranny/gearbox on the top of it. You can see it if you look behind the engine, under and a little to the left of the brake master cylinder (looking at the engine, standing infront of the car). It's down a bit, so use a flashlight. You have to unscrew the plastic housing, and the speedo cable come off. The end of the cable might be braken. Then a 10mm bolt locks the gear housing in place. It takes a bit to pop it out afterwards. Check to see if the gears are fine. If they are, it might be the cable itself that snapped inside. Though, I haven't heard of this happening (there's a first for everything). It most likely would be the tooth on the end of the speedo cable. When you put the speedo cable back into the tranny/gearbox, make sure the rubber o-ring is in good condition and that there is no dirt anywhere on the metal or o-ring. Put a little bit of oil on the o-ring and then put it all back together again.

Hope this helps.

 

My speedo died a few years back for no appearent reason, pulled in to get gas it was working fine...pulled out and i was still at 0mph???????? I never did find out exactly the reason, but i suspect the cable or connector snapped. It happens....

 

How about if it happens while cruising at 4K rpm?

 

My kid's DX broke a cable once, we replaced it with the newer 2 piece part from the dealer, and that one broke about 6 months later. So they definately do come apart.

 

your timing belt is in DIRE need of replacement... don't wait till it blows.. cause then you're stuck on the side of the road with a car that won't start .. not to mention something ELSE could get fucked up from missing teeth on the timing belt. also, if it should come loose, who's not to say the snapping of the timing belt wont damage your timing belt cover.. etc etc. and when you say non-interference engine... don't the cams stop rotating when the cam gear isn't engaged? i don't know, WAITING for the timing belt to go is more trouble than i would think it's worth. you may also want to replace your powersteering and alternator belts at the same time.. only a few extra bucks.
peace

 

It's fine.

Kevin, stop being such a pessimist, mine went at 90,000 (sched is 60,000) and it was fine. Sheesh.

 

Saw this, thought I'd give my two cents...

My speedo cable broke a while back, and I ran without it for a little while... I found that there are two parts to the cable (of which you buy seperately from the Mazda dealership). I made the mistake and bought the first one I thought it might be, but it happened to be the other piece (the smaller of the two) that broke on me. It's a tight squeeze to get in there, but it can be done, and I replaced it just fine.

The two cables are connected together to look like one, but they can be disconnected about in the middle... that's where mine broke at, at the bottom of the top of the two cables.
Hope that helps... Good luck

~Marc