Hi, new to the forum. I wanted to tell somebody about my recent experience with a 1996 Mazda B2300 Pickup.
I bought this truck from a guy at work. I went to look at it, and it was beautiful! Clean and dent free, new tires and alum alloy rims. Motor started right up and idled like a dream - it showed signs of being replaced and or rebuilt. But when I went to drive it away...it stumbled and shook, and just ran like crap. But the price was too good to be true ($300), so I bought it.
Drove it home, (no brakes - the front brake line going to the right caliper was rusted through) slowly, bucking and shaking.
Eventually, I discovered the transmission had a problem. No drive gear. 1st and 2nd worked great, but Drive just didn't want to go in without some coaxing. Ran the codes, which turned out to be solenoid related - and was a false indicator.
After getting myself mentally prepared, I pulled the tranny out to find out what was wrong. Turns out, the forward clutch discs were shot, as was the forward drum and center support (this is a 4R44E Ford automatic tranny). After spending around $200 in parts, put the trans back together, and repairing the broken brake line I took it for a ride. The stumbling continued and I spent hours staring at the engine to determine what if anything was disconnected or missing.
After a while, with my head in my hands, looking at the engine, my arm hit something next to the fender wall. A metal tube with a piece of rubber on it! Appeared to be a vacuum hose of some type. But having no manual, and nothing available online to consult, I continued to stare at the engine hoping for divine intervention.
I finally found it! I went on the driver's side of the motor, under the intake runners, and hooked up to a canister that was mounted on the fender wall. Hooked it up and the motor seemed to run smoother, but after a quick ride, I found that wasn't really the source of the problem.
I went back to staring at the engine. Then I got the bright idea to check the spark plug wires and found two wires crossed. After switching them out, I took it for a ride, and viola! Cured!!!!
This is my take on this:
Previous owner decides to replace engine, does halfway decent job, but motor doesn't seem to run right. Only way to get truck to move is to rev engine, and slam into gear. I believe this is how the tranny was blown. Motor didn't run right because backyard mechanic didn't hook up vacuum hoses correctly, and hooked up spark plug wires wrong.
All it took was a little hard work and diligence and now I have a great truck!
Just needed to tell someone.

 

yea u will lose your money mazdas dont do good on resale

 

That is the common story with most mazda trucks I hear. Had problems or needed mainenance, person tries to fix it themselves or takes it to some wanna be mechanic, truck never runs again, they decide to sell it, buyer finds dozens of little stupid things wrong and the have a half way decent truck if the seller was too inteligent to be dangerous. lol.