Prospective owner with questions: HELP!!!

Hey everyone!
First of all, I've always been a Honda-guy, so you will have to have some patients with me. I've never owned a Mazda before, so I'll have lots of questions as time goes on.

I'm strongly thinking about buying a MX-6 LS with the V6, but I have a few concerns about it. First of all, the electronic fuel pump is noisey as HELL when the car first starts. Second of all, the car cut out during the test drive. Ok, so here's a little more information:

I test drove a 1993 MX-6 LS earlier today, with a 5-spd and 160,000 miles on it. The engine was clean and sounded extremely healthy. The Tranny was in beautiful shape too, so I was very impressed. Now, the battery was dead and needed to be jumped. When she did start, the fuel pump sounded like it was trying to dial-up to the internet for a few seconds then went quiet. I started off on the test drive and she ran out of gas half way through it. Not a good way to start off, but not the car's fault either. We got more gas in her and went off again. Everything was going well until we got back to the lot, and she died on me again. We jumped the battery again, and she didn't want to keep running unless I would press on the accelerator a bit. If I didn't press on the gas, she'd sputter a little and die. I parked it and investigated under the hood a little closer. The positive cable on the battery was loose as can be. So that's why she needed to keep being jumped. The test drive was a little rushed, so we only covered a total of about a mile and a half.

Now, I've been a Mercedes/Honda/Ford mechanic for the past 6 years. All of my experience tells me 'replace the fuel pump, tighten the positive cable down and it's all good!' My father however, (mechanic for 35 years) is concerned that it might be the ECU. At the same time though, he wasn't there on the test drive. So I might have explained it wrong. When someone who's been working on cars 6-times longer than me says something, I listen. But I'm also curious to find out what owners of MX-6's have to say. The best way to find something out is to ask someone who's been there, right?

So tell me, what do you think? Is it the fuel pump, ECU, or possibly both? Unless the MX-6 is suppose to have a loud fuel pump, I know for a fact that that's part of the problem. I'm just hoping that is the only problem.

It is probable that the loud pump was caused prom trying to suck gas and only getting very little. Any pump like that will become louder with lack of liquid through it. Stalling like that and only running with throttle down could be a couple things. If it has a throttle position memory, with kack of power(loose cable) IT WOULD RESETand have to rebuild its memory. It could also, and most likely, picked up water or debrie from the bottom of the tank when it ran out of gas. The filter couls need replaced. A clogged filter will cause the pump to hold propper pressure before the filter but not enough after the filter unilt you force more flow with the throttle. I understand your father is a mechanic, but sometimes we all tend to forget the simplest more obvious possibilities first. Always rule out the smallest possibilities first before juming to the bigger more expensive ones. I would suggest taking another test drive, be sure to do it in the morning so you are there to start it cold to listen to the pump. Tell the dealer your concerns and that before you make a decision you would like them to replace the fuel filter before your next test drive. They will do that for a potential buyer. That way you could rule out the filter at their expense. You could also talk to anybody you might know that knows about ford probes, they are the same car. Good luck.

Thanks Tony. I over looked the possiblity that it's the filter, aswell. I haven't put any money towards the car yet, so it's not too late to back out if it is something more serious. But the more I think about it, the less serious I think it is. I'll get with the dealer this week and see about having them replace the filter. It's a small buy-here pay-here lot, so I'm not sure if they'll do it or not. But it's worth a try. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to buy the car, but I am a little leary of it. I didn't know that it has the same platform as a Ford Probe. Some of my friends have had good luck with Probes, but most people seem to have bad luck with Fords. How has your MX6 been? Has it had any major problem?

The engine and tranny are in beautiful shape, even though the car has 160k miles on it. But I'm still afraid that I'm going to buy it and have to throw $1,000+ into repairs in a couple of months.

If it is a buy here pay here lot, do not give them anywhere near what they are asking unless they are financing it for you. Typical setup is the down payment is what they payed for it. The finance price is twice the cash price. So if you finance, if you can get it from anywhere else but through them. Nearly all cars on their lots are from auctions or they bought wholesale from new lots that got it from a trade in and either couldn't sell it or checked it out and decided there were too many problems than it was worth. So check it out thoroughly and If you are serious about the purchase, put out the fifty bucks to have a mechanic check it out and put it on the computer for codes. Mine has been a good car but my 5 speed gave out recently. 186,000 and its an 89. still runs snappy though. Good luck and be careful.

Thanks again. I spoke with the dealer earlier. They're going to replace the fuel filter and possibly the battery, so she should run like a champ now. They are going to be financing it for me, but I should still be able to talk them down a little. The price is close enough to fair, so I'm not overly worried about it.