Hey, it's Mr Stix (mrstix) from San Antonio, TX

[mrstix]

Hey everyone!

I have already used this forum a bunch since I have purchased our 2003 Mazda B3000 FFV. It has been a struggle finding info for this year as a lot of recommended parts have either been discontinued or changed to other parts, but I'll go into that more in a bit.

I was looking for a small truck for projects around the house and trips to Home Depot as I just got a Civic Hatchback that I did not want to rough up too bad. My price point had to be raised in order to buy it, so I used the $1k I told my son was for his first car. As a result, it is both of ours and I hope that it will be a bonding project for both of us. My reasoning was that it wasn't new enough to completely spoil him and it could definitely help "build some character."

I work as a TV/Appliance repair tech and have some background with taking things apart and replacing things. My uncle is a mechanic and when I was younger I used to "help" in the garage, but I never really got hands on or understood what I was doing.
But I do have a garage and am always adding to my basic tool collection and hope to do most of the projects with my reluctant son. He's gonna be 15...
But I have found an extremely helpful series of videos on YouTube from one ChrisFix. He has a Mazda B3000 and does a lot of informative how-to videos that my son at least can watch ahead of time.

I bought it off of OfferUp from an older gentleman. We settled at $3800. It has 89,000 on the speedometer but I don't know how legit that is. Carfax says it been to Germany... so who knows what happened to it, lol.

I did everything backwards and after the purchase used this site to look up what things I should have checked for before buying!
Luckily, it mostly seems OK, but definitely could use some maintenance. The first thing I noticed was a leak around the valve covers. It is pretty small and not enough to make it to the ground.
It is on my short list to replace the valve cover gaskets, once I find out which ones to buy. (!)

Here it is:

I want sooo bad to take the flame grill off the front. But my son likes it
...somehow I don't think that old man was the one who put it on there

I did remove a sticker decal on the back window though. At least he agreed for me to do that!

 

[sgtsandman]

It looks good! Welcome to the forum!

As far as learning what you are doing and building up tools, we've all been there.

 

[mrstix]

The first thing we did was replace the Serpentine belt and tensioner pulley assembly. There was an annoying and loud squeaking noise that had to go. My son was like, what is that, lol. He has been blessed to be around newer cars most of his life, but I feel he will learn a lot from this truck, ha!

I should have known when I looked up the belts that there was going to be some trouble finding the best recommended parts..

Every thread I read mentioned Gatorback belts. Well... that sent me down a rabbit hole that ended up with my first discontinued part, lol. The V-belt design seems to be extinct.

Nothing more frustrating than finding a consistent part recommendation only to find out that the part is discontinued.
...Maybe I need to stop using the word "best" in my searches.

Wound up using a Continental OE 4060882. That along with the new tensioner assembly got rid of the belt squeak. I bought the idler pulley as well, but didn't wind up needing it as it sounded the same as the old one when I took it off and spun it by hand.


Now I hear the infamous squeak towards the back of the engine that seems to point towards the camshaft synchronizer. But it is much quieter and almost impossible to hear over road noise.

If anyone has a part number, please let me know. There are quite a lot to choose from including the local in-store brands. From what I gather though, everyone recommends Motorcraft or Autolite branded things if they are available...and if there's a damn compatible part number!

The engine does have a shudder/stumble at idle and idles around 500rpm. The shudder is not noticeable while driving. But I think it may have to do with the spark plugs. I plan to replace those with Autolite XP104's, along with the spark plug wires, if I can find a good recommendation.
Comparing the recommended Ranger wires to the B3000 wires on RockAuto, the results are almost completely different.
For example, on the B3000 tab, they have different ACDelco wires for the Flex Fuel (9466J) vs the Gas (936W) variations.
On the Ranger tab is where they have the Motorcraft wires - WR6068. But since they aren't on the B3000 tab, I have to start another search to see if they're compatible... so frustrating

So if someone has any recommendations please feel free to give advice. Beggar's can't be chooser's so I'll take what I can.

I may make different threads depending on what I find.

Thanks all!

 

[mrstix]

It looks good! Welcome to the forum!

As far as learning what you are doing and building up tools, we've all been there.

Thanks!

I don't want to sell myself short either. I've found that a lot of the skills I have from work transfer over to many different projects. Switching from Home Theater to appliances was a struggle, but now I look at a lot of things differently and find myself tackling a lot more DIY projects.

 

[sgtsandman]

A lot of the powertrain in the Mazda trucks is the same as the Rangers. Obviously, there will be some differences, as you found out. Which can be frustrating and annoying. We'll help you best we can.

One thing you can try if the plugs look ok is running some fuel system cleaner through the truck. I prefer Cheveron Techron and run it twice a year. Dump it in the tank, fill the tank, and run it darn near empty. I'm having a brain fart on the other one. The benefit of the other brand is you can put it in the engine oil to clean the internals as well as the fuel tank. And there is a spray variety you can use to clean the throttle body. There are threads here on it as well as quite a few youtube videos. I really wish I could remember the product name. I think it's made by Gumout.

 

[mrstix]

A lot of the powertrain in the Mazda trucks is the same as the Rangers. Obviously, there will be some differences, as you found out. Which can be frustrating and annoying. We'll help you best we can.

One thing you can try if the plugs look ok is running some fuel system cleaner through the truck. I prefer Cheveron Techron and run it twice a year. Dump it in the tank, fill the tank, and run it darn near empty. I'm having a brain fart on the other one. The benefit of the other brand is you can put it in the engine oil to clean the internals as well as the fuel tank. And there is a spray variety you can use to clean the throttle body. There are threads here on it as well as quite a few youtube videos. I really wish I could remember the product name. I think it's made by Gumout.

Ah, thanks for the advice.
I'm going to start with the new plugs and wires because I haven't done it before, it should be a useful project to do with my boy so we both learn, and that way I know it's been done.

I will most likely be purchasing all sorts of clean out chemicals along the way. I've had good luck with Lucas products, but I've seen the Techron stuff around as well and wondered about it. And of course I've seen Gumout products.

 

[sgtsandman]

For changing plugs, you may need to go through the wheel well on the passenger side because of the A/C box. I don't know that for a fact since I have a Ranger with a 4.0 SOHC. It was damn near impossible to get at the plugs any other way. It was SOOOO much easier once I went through the wheel well for the back two. The rest weren't a problem.

 

[ericbphoto]

Welcome to TRS! Your truck looks great. Have fun with it.

 

[Dirtman]

 

[mrstix]

Ok, so I just purchased a good amount of stuff.

I decided to order the Motorcraft SP500 spark plugs due to finding this on Motorcraft's website (parts.ford.com):

Spark Plug Part #: SP500 (22F)Ford Motorcraft M200
Usages:
2001 - 2004, Ranger, Liter:3.0, Cylinder(s):6, BoreIn:3.5039, StrokeIn:3.1496, FLEX, Gap: .044, Plug Material: Finewire Platinum, Type - Standard
Read more
In Stock

I highlighted and bold in red the reasons why. Also, I ordered them from Advance, so if they don't work for some reason, I'll take them back and get the Autolite APP104 's.

I also ordered the Motorcraft WR-6068 along with the Fel-Pro VS 50374 R permadry valve cover gasket set from Advance as well. I will compare the wires to the existing ones and return if necessary as all websites list them for Ford Rangers only and not Mazda B3000 's

Then I ordered the Motorcraft DA2089 camshaft synchronizer and the Fel-Pro ES 72180 valve cover grommets as well.
On that note, can anyone point me in the direction of how to install those grommets? I've bookmarked a few valve cover gasket swap threads already, but just asking in case they're not covered in there...

I also could use a camshaft position sensor part number as well. Amazon is recommending a Motorcraft DU81 and that's all I've found doing a quick search, but have no idea if that's right?

Thanks again everyone,

 

[Oxxon]

Hello and welcome to TRS!!