my 2000 millenia s third brake light bulb(up middle one) is not working, i'm trying to change that, but i cant get off the cover. is there anyone can show me how to take out the cover and change bulb step by step .thanks a lot!

 

anyway, one more thing. everyday when i start my car, there are some blue smokes come out from the exhaust for around 2 seconds, and then everything works fine. so is there any part I need to change to fix this problem? i took the car to dealer before, they said they've no idea about this stiuation. any help? thanks!

 

Most likely leaky valve guide seals. Oil drips down the valve and into combustion chamber while the engine is off. When you fire it up, it burns off the oil (blue smoke is oil, black is fuel, white is water/coolant.)

 

thanks, do i need to check or change any part to fix this problem?

 

To fix it you really need to rebuild your heads. I'd just keep an eye on your oil level, the little bit that burns up at start-up shouldn't do any harm. (Assuming valve guide seals are the root cause of the problem.)

 

you mean the oil level is too high?

 

No, meaning that if the valve seals have gone bad (which they do sometimes) you will get oil that leaks past these valve seals and drips into the combustion chamber (of a single cylinder.) The only way to fix it is to rebuild the cylinder head. (You could just replace all of the valve guides/seals, but if you're taking the head out of the car to do that, you may as well rebuild the entire head. It has nothing to do with oil level.

One truck I had started to do this after about 90,000 miles, I continued to drive it like that (blue smoke at start-up) until I sold the vehicle with 146,000 miles. It continued to run strong. I revved the living snot out of that truck.

 

Here is a little pic showing the third brake light housing. Should be able to grasp the sides firmly and pull straight towards you to release. If you have the Millenia S with the 2.3 engine then a little smoke on start up is not abnormal. Here is the notice from Mazda concerning that.

(KJ) BLACK SMOKE ON COLD START
Applicable Models
1997 - Millenia VIN Range: 000000 - ZZZZZZ;
1998 - Millenia VIN Range: 000000 - ZZZZZZ;
1999 - Millenia VIN Range: 000000 - ZZZZZZ;
2000 - Millenia VIN Range: 000000 - ZZZZZZ;


Black smoke may come out of the exhaust when depressing the accelerator
pedal after 1-2 minutes at idle in cold start. This concern may be
caused by incomplete combustion in ambient temperature conditions
between 32F and 68F which can generate excessive amounts of black smoke.

Customers having this concern should have their vehicle repaired using
the following procedure.

1. Verify customer concern occurs during cold start up, in ambient
temps. between 32F and 68F.

2. If concern occurs outside the specified temperature range above have
customer try changing fuel brands.

3. If concern is verified and occurs within the temperature range
above, inform the customer that a modified PCM is available as
a service part. NOTE: This will help decrease the of black smoke, but
will not eliminate it completely.

Note: Because of rich mixture conditions needed for cold engines to
perform properly, some small amount of black smoke is normal during cold
start, warm up conditions and should be considered normal.

Part Information:
KJY0-18-881 - Powertrain Control Module





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thanks a lot!