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ImpalaSSForum.com

ImpalaSSForum.com is your home for all 1991-1996/GM B-Body discussions. Topics range from engine performance and maintenance to interior/exterior, drivetrain, electrical, suspension and more. The main focus of this community is the Impala SS, but you will also find discussions on topics related to the other GM B-Body cars such as the Caprice, Fleetwood, Roadmaster and their wagon variants.

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The "concentric" transmission oil cooler on my wife's '93 Ford Tempo is still the design used on late-model vehicles built by Honda, Toyota and other car manufacturers. Sitting inside the radiator reservoir, the concentric cooler looks like it could be a small drum holding a relatively large amount of transmission fluid. As seen in the photos, the cooler is actually a hollow pipe. Transmission fluid only flows between the inner and outer (concentric) pipe walls.

Tom's Story

In December, my wife's '93 Ford Tempo spewed coolant on the floor of the parking garage at her office. Like an embarrassed puppy owner, I wiped up the Ford's mess and carefully drove it home, stopping twice to refill the radiator with water.

At home, I discovered the water was streaming out of the weep hole in the OE water pump. A small stalactite of gunk below the hole indicated the pump seals had probably been slowly leaking for a long time before they finally gave out. That explained why it had been necessary to top-off the Ford's radiator once a month!

I bought my 2004 Mazda 6 wagon back in March of 2015. I searched long and hard for one with all the right options, in good shape, at a reasonable price. Overall, the car was everything I wanted: manual transmission, clean body and interior, seemingly well kept. It did have a bit of an oil leak and a couple odd CEL codes, but I was so excited about the overall condition, and seemingly great price, I just went for it.

On the way home (~50 miles), my friend who followed me back said that he saw a pretty decent amount of oil smoke each time I took off from a stop. When I got home, I took a look at the oil dipstick... It was dry. The car did have a major oil leak, so I filled it up and continued my inspection. The oil leak appeared to be a valve cover seal, and sure enough the leak went away after installing a Fel Pro gasket set I got from RockAuto. But the oil loss and smoke did not stop there.

I drove the car a few days, checked the dipstick after 100 miles or so, and it was down at least two quarts. Ouch. This engine was probably shot. Now I see why the car was $2700. But I still loved it, so it was time to get it back in order.

After some research, I discovered that the Ford Duratec V6 in the early Mazda 6 was prone to catalytic converter failure. Bits of the ceramic break up in the converter and get sucked into the engine over time. Sure enough, the converters in my car were a rattling disaster, so at least I had figured out the cause of the engine issues. I also learned online that a V6 from a 2006-2009 Ford Fusion will fit into a Mazda 6 with a little bit of adaptation. I obtained the Ford engine and went about swapping over the intake, timing cover, oil pan and other miscellaneous items that were Mazda-specific, all the while replacing seals and components as needed.

I also got the rest of the car in order thanks to RockAuto. Brakes, wheel bearings, shocks and struts all-around, a couple control arms and an engine mount later, my neglected wagon was ready for the road.

Since then, I have put about 12,000 miles on the car and love driving it more each day.

Thanks for the great deals on all the great parts!

James in Michigan

kevm14 wrote:http://www.rockauto.com/Newsletter/?a=N ... rLinkEmail

Check out the Ford 302 funkiness. I forgot about that.

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