The downside of low-volume old vehicles

"jminer" (jminer) 08/19/2020 at 14:30 • Filed to: None

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So I’ve got a 1990 B2600i 4x4 which is a pretty uncommon vehicle to see nowadays and they also never sold that many of them new.

It’s a pretty solid little truck that I’ve put a good chunk of time and labor in but every once in a while something breaks th at requires a good deal of sleuthing and parts hunting to fix.

The engine in this guy is a Mazda built fuel injected 2.6 that shares almost no parts with the Mitsubishi 2.6 it replaced and this engine was only used in the B2600i (89-93) and some trims of the MPV over a similar time frame.

I took it to get inspected a couple weeks ago and the line was already crazy long and I got there 4 minutes after they opened so I turned around and went back home. About halfway there the steering got heavy, really heavy. I realized the power steering pump was no longer working. First thought is that I lost a belt and couldn’t remember if it was a serpentine or V belt setup right then so I kept an eagle eye on the gauges checking for batt and temp indicators.

Home was about 5 miles away so I figured I’d risk it and go for broke as it was still charging so it seems I only lost one belt. Man is it a lot harder than I remember to wrestle a vehicle with busted power steering, especially from a stop!

So I got home and popped the hood and was greeted with the shredded remains of the power steering belt. Took a trip to Oreilly’s for belts a couple days later and got all three (PS, Alternator and A/C). Under $20 for all belts so not bad at all.

Other things took priority and since this is a third vehicle it wasn’t pressing. Last night I decided to crack it open and replace the belts. Expecting an hour to get all three done I got started.

The first few minutes were spent both noting routing of belts and looking for tensioners or other leverage points and came up short with the latter. Back inside for some googling and looking through the parts manual.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

This is the tensioner/idler pulley for the Power Steering belt, it has a bad bearing so I had to get unbolted but also lets me show you the strange to me design. The system instead of being spring loaded uses a nut and bolt which moves the pulley up and down to increase or decrease tension. The system works pretty well and is decently easy to set but is not one I’ve ever seen before.

Well next comes the parts hunting and I can’t find the pulley anywhere locally so I have to order it and it won’t show up until next week. The Mazda sits idle a bit longer now but hopefully this’ll put her back in fighting form.

The Mazda has been a pretty neat little pickup but there have been several things like this that just seem strange and parts can be hard to find along with very little information on it out there. I’m feeling like it’s nearing time to sell it and buy a Toyota...

dogisbadob > jminer 08/19/2020 at 14:34

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nice to see a real Mazda truck and not the lame-ass Ford rebadge

jminer > dogisbadob 08/19/2020 at 14:37

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Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I bought it - but the uniqueness has also become kind of a pain as I dig further into it.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > jminer 08/19/2020 at 14:37

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Want some fun? Try to track down parts for an early Subaru SVX.

I defy you to find glass for one.  It was a cool design, a breakthrough design, but man are they a pain to keep on the road.  it’s been years since i’ve seen one running.

jminer > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 08/19/2020 at 14:41

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Oof - no thank you.

I do have a Scout II as well which also has a lot of parts that don’t exist anymore and it’s either used (if you can find it) or make something else work.

Mine has a heater core from a 2010 Taurus in it.

nerd_racing > jminer 08/19/2020 at 14:42

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Depending on location, I’d be interested when you go to sell it.  

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > jminer 08/19/2020 at 14:43

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Yeah, I figure that the Scout was crude enough and “off the shelf” enough that a creative fella can improvise from some body else’s parts bin.

jminer > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 08/19/2020 at 14:44

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Most of the mechanicals were already someone elses with Dana Axles and Dodge Transmissions and a Carter Carb. It’s the electrical and body that’s a problem.

jminer > nerd_racing 08/19/2020 at 14:44

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I’m outside St Louis

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > jminer 08/19/2020 at 14:49

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Weird. I always assumed the electric wiring diagram was identical to an International Harvester 560 (pictured below). Those are probably easier to get parts for now, frankly....

fintail > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 08/19/2020 at 14:51

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Come to Seattle - they all wound up in the PNW. I swear I see one at least every few weeks.

My brother wanted one years ago, but every one he looked at had transmission or suspension issues.  Same with XT6 (now those are rare even here).

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > jminer 08/19/2020 at 14:58

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The 3.8 liter V6 pre-facelift fox body mustangs have a similar style of tensioner. They are the only variant of fox body that ever had a manual tensioner like that. Finding information about it was like pulling teeth.

jminer > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/19/2020 at 15:07

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I pulled out the shards of the first belt and then looked for a tensioner and found an idle pulley and couldn’t find the tensioner. It just a strange 10mm bold on the top of the pulley bracket.

First I figured I had to tension the units themselves but found them all solidly mounted and then just stared at all for 10 minutes before going inside to do some googling.

It ended up there’s a lock nut on the front of the pulley that loosens the tension bolt. It’s effective but strange!

I am just very glad that nothing was stuck due to rust

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > jminer 08/19/2020 at 15:13

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Even though my Isuzu pickup is old and rare, it’s the same basic chassis and mechanical that they use for both the rodeo and trooper of the same era. Thank god, parts are still relatively cheap and easy to find. Keep the Mazda, keep driving it, it’s worth it. 

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 08/19/2020 at 15:16

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The cool thing is that they use a 4EAT. Transmission blew up? Pull one out of literally any Subaru made before 2002. Bolts straight up.

jminer > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 08/19/2020 at 15:18

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I like it, just so much of this truck only existed on this trim of this truck for only 4 years making a lot of parts pretty hard to track down and information on it nonexistent .

Overall it’s a solid truck but seriously contemplating selling it and upgrading to something like a GX 47 0 or Sequoia. I don’t really need the bed very often at all and have a trailer for when I need things outside the cabin.

A lot of the decision is to reduce my vehicle quantity from 4. Sell the sportwagen, Mazda, Scout (the perpetual project) and maybe even the Mrs RAV4 since we’re not going to be commuting for a good long while yet.

I still haven’t made up my mind on it, but liking the sound of a smaller fleet right now.

Boxer_4 > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 08/19/2020 at 15:19

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Surprisingly, you can still get the windshied. The side glass is another story.

I still see them every so often. I’d love to own one, but very thorough research into parts availablity has me convinced otherwise. And even the stuff that you can get, I wonder for how long. I think it could be somewhat doable, but I honestly think I’d be too scared to drive it any amount. That doesn’t sound like fun.

If I was looking for something strictly for car shows, that might be the ticket.

Pickup_man > jminer 08/19/2020 at 15:28

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I’m dealing with that with the latest bike I just bought, 1983 Yamaha RX 50. Only 2000 of them ever made scattered across the world. I have yet to even find a service manual for the bike. Thankfully, like pretty much all UJM’s, Yamaha shared a good amount of parts so things like brakes, controls, and engine parts are easy enough to find. Specific parts though like body work, gauges, seats etc are near impossible. 

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > fintail 08/19/2020 at 15:28

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I knew a woman once with an XT6 and she seemed to like it... i recall the flat-6 as being remarkably gutless though

Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > jminer 08/19/2020 at 15:29

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Never drove a 4wd one, but regular Mazda B-trucks are the most civilized of the 80's japanese trucks. They drive like a J apanese car of the 80 s instead of a Japanese truck of the 70s

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > jminer 08/19/2020 at 15:30

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The parts availability thing only matters if you only have one vehicle you need to rely on... or if you’re fine with renting a vehicle from time to time.

It’s one of the reasons I decided to get rid of my Saab 9-3 years ago.

jminer > Pickup_man 08/19/2020 at 15:39

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This is why for bikes I almost exclusively buy and rebuild old Honda’s. Their documentation and parts are always easy to find. I can still buy individual gaskets for my 1971 bike straight from Honda.

Good luck with the RX 50 though!

jminer > Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer 08/19/2020 at 15:40

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It does drive nicer than Rangers 10 years newer than it

jminer > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 08/19/2020 at 15:40

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I definitely couldn’t daily it.  I had dreams of doing that early on but those hopes were rapidly dashed...

Dead_Elvis, Inc. > Pickup_man 08/19/2020 at 15:56

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I’ve got a Yamaha parts cross-reference listing on an old disc somewhere. It’s not foolproof, but it came in handy figuring out what parts from other, more common models would work when I had a ‘76 XS500. Looks like your RX50 is on there:

http://www.zedder.com/msg9.htm#models

If I can dig up the disc, it’s yours for the cost of shipping if you want it. LMK.

DipodomysDeserti > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 08/19/2020 at 16:06

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My 2013 Forester XT still had a 4EAT in it.

fintail > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 08/19/2020 at 16:11

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Cool design anyway, I remember being taken aback a little by those when I was a kid, especially by the interior.  They were trying.

I think most engines of that era could be tepid, to be fair - if 0-60 was under 10 seconds even with a manual, I’d be shocked.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > DipodomysDeserti 08/19/2020 at 16:30

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I’m pretty sure they made a revision in the early 2000s that got rid of the “power mode” trick that works with the SVX.

DipodomysDeserti > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 08/19/2020 at 16:37

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It had a sport mode, which I’m sure did the same thing, but without the cool dash light.

Pickup_man > jminer 08/19/2020 at 16:37

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I’ve never had a problem with any of the Yamaha’s, or Honda’s that I’ve owned either, even the old somewhat obscure ones . The problem with this bike is mostly that it’s a really rare, but not desirable bike. They were a single production run promotional item, meant to be raffled off or given away. No dealership got more than one, and some dealerships didn’t get any. The info may be out there, I just haven’t found it yet. 

Pickup_man > Dead_Elvis, Inc. 08/19/2020 at 16:38

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That would be incredibly handy, if you find it I’ll gladly pay for the shipping. 

Dead_Elvis, Inc. > Pickup_man 08/19/2020 at 16:42

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@ outlook.com

dead_ elvis

shoot me a note. I’ll dig around for it later.

jminer > Pickup_man 08/19/2020 at 16:50

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That’s rough - but an interesting bike

onlytwowheels > jminer 08/19/2020 at 16:56

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That tensioner is very similar to the one my used on my old 1984 Toyota with the 22re.  Don’t replace the pulley, replace the bearing in the pulley.  It presses out/in. 

jminer > onlytwowheels 08/19/2020 at 17:11

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This one is pretty mangled and looks like that’s happened before. I can get a right spec one for $25 which is fairly expensive but worth it to me especially since this one is loose between the bearing outer sleeve and the pulley.

ranwhenparked > jminer 08/19/2020 at 18:36

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The camp I worked at in college had one of those donated in the early ‘00s, the ranger used it as a run around for maintenance work, since it was small and nimble enough to fit places F-250s wouldn’t. Eventually, it needed a head gasket, they towed it off to a shop that ran into financial problems and folded with a bunch of customers’ cars in the lot, and it got mixed up into some of that crap and never came back.

I remember in 2010, I think it was, I had to take somebody to the hospital in the middle of the night, my usual Suburban was on fumes, and the maintenance yard where the gas pumps were was locked up. The guy was so lazy, didn’t want to get off his ass and drive up there, so he tossed the keys and said take the Mazda, it’s full. I just stared at him - it hadn’t been registered f or road use in 9 years, and the hospital was 45 minutes away, wasn't happening. 

jminer > ranwhenparked 08/19/2020 at 20:16

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Oof - no thank you!

nerd_racing > jminer 08/20/2020 at 07:15

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I need to get out that way sometime to pick up a Ford Aspire SE  

NojustNo > jminer 08/21/2020 at 03:41

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Sounds similar to toyota Camry alternator bracket. See about 1:25 here