I am considering a 1988 mazda b2600 4x4 pickup. I just have some questions about them that someone might be able to help me out with.
1. It has an automatic trans.-how are mazda trannys? has less than 100k on it.
2. What can I expect for fuel mileage with the auto tranny, 4x4, and 2.6L 4 cyl. motor?
3. This guy says the truck motor was rebuilt and has 5 miles on it, he says the owner had it rebuilt and then tried putting a different carb on it and modified the intake to do so. Well the carb thing was a disaster and I guess the owner and the mechanic who rebuilt the motor got into it and now the mechanic is stuck with this truck, but it now needs a carb and intake. He is trying to sell it for $1000 but I think he will take much less because he told me it is going to the junkyard if he cant sell it. He it just plain tired of the situation so it is for sale, says he has way more than that invested in the rebuilt motor. I have located another 1988 b2600 with a good carb and intake that I could transfer the parts from one truck to the other and have a 4x4 truck with a rebuilt motor for $1000 if I am lucky. Does it sound like a good deal. The parts truck also has a 5 speed, so if the auto tranny went out on me, I could always put the 5 speed in, correct? Just looking for opinions from people that know mazda's better than I do, thanks!

 

87-88's used a mitsubishi motor. not a hugh fan of the older ones
89-93 used a mazda built motor(g6)

if your willing to do the work then its seems not a terriable deal.
as for the tranny mines manual and its been beaten(used as a plow truck)and still going strong not sure if the auto's would stand that abuse.
mines a 91.

wait for more guys to post up.maybe someone with 87-88 will let you know more

 

Just wondering if anyone else had any advice on a b2600 from this era, as far as the motor, tranny, gas mileage, dependability is concerned.

 

I have a 90 model 2600i with an auto and my experience says they wont hold up im tring to find out if they can b converted to a manual myself. I dont know if the computer will cause problems.

 

Hey Jwilkey -
I've had my '92 b2600i with auto tranny and 4x4 for about 5 years and on the whole really like the truck. It had just over 100,000 miles on it when I bought it and ran pretty good until last winter the engine just simply self-destructed. A mechanic friend put in one of those imported used Japanese engines and it's been great ever since. He told me that in working on it he could tell that the original engine had been out of the truck and gone through major work probably more than once and the work had been poorly done so I can't blame Mazda for that. Mine is fuel injected and gets about 17mpg in the summer and around 14 in the winter, but a lot of that is because it gets put in 4wd quite a bit in the winter. It's not quick off the line but freeway driving is effortless. Mechanic friend says the somewhat low mileage and lack of hot performance is simply a function of the fact that it's a heavy truck. The automatic on mine has performed perfectly. I've never been a fan of automatics - much prefer a manual - but I have to say I like this one, particularly when driving in 4wd. I paid $3000 for mine five years ago - - - it was clean and straight and had been recently repainted (a pretty fair job). Interior was nice and the stereo/cd player worked good although I've put in new speakers. Air conditioner wasn't working and I haven't worried about it because where I live it's easy to do without A/C. Tires were fair and I went a couple of years before putting on new rubber on all 4 corners. I'd say if you can get into yours for $1000 it's probably a pretty good deal.

good luck

Rolomac