How many miles on your original Motor?

[neanderpaul]

BTW the B6 maintains the same legendary durability as the B3. Same block.

[Aaronbrook37]

No offense, those are "reasons" but those seem to be mostly "opinions", meaning you though you are stating facts, like more valves per cylinder, what is the benefit of your reason(s). Even the more horsepower/torque has a downside, doesn't it? I mean, the bigger engine you run the more your gas mileage tends to drop.

Without a doubt, anyone who wants more power should do the upgrade but if you're looking for reliability and the best gas mileage, to me, I'd think sticking with the B3 is the way to go.

EDIT: What Paul said. They aren't the top ten reasons, they're my top ten reasons.

[Aaronbrook37]

thanks for the clarification. The b3 seems like a good engine to me. I probably won't replace it unnecessarily, but it's good to know that there are other viable/perhaps better options.

I'd highly recommend sticking with your factory engine unless you feel a power increase offsets the time, effort, and money it takes to swap engines. Some people reach that breaking point quicker than others. I lasted three years with my B3.

It wasn't anybody's build or car that persuaded me to do the swap, but actually the Rocky Mountains. With a single passenger and perhaps 100lbs of gear in the back, my all-stock B3 really struggled to make it through the mountain passes. There were times on a full-speed open-road highway when I had to downshift into second gear to keep my speeds up. That was the breaking point for me: Westiva 2010.

If you're curious to see just how well your car is performing, have your compression tested and do a leak-down test as well while you're in there. Mind you, at 56.8mpg average... I suspect your engine is in tip-top shape. I know your driving habits certainly are. I highly recommend keeping it that way as long as possible!

[neanderpaul]

343,xxx and still going?

Holy crap!

Mine is about 187,xxx and going so your numbers give me encouragement!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz_Yto_-PMs

[Spike]

Agreed with you, bud. Had he not quoted me when he said it, I'd have listed those three reasons instead of my ten.

Heh, yeah.. sorry for quoting you so quickly. :p

[Aaronbrook37]

Heh, yeah.. sorry for quoting you so quickly. :p

Wasn't directed at you, Spike haha. But yes I agree with you also! Hard to say what my significant other thinks of the Festiva. Initially, when she saw it, it was super cute and convenient... then I dumped the clutch and hit boost...

[mikeyjd]

I'd highly recommend sticking with your factory engine unless you feel a power increase offsets the time, effort, and money it takes to swap engines. Some people reach that breaking point quicker than others. I lasted three years with my B3.

It wasn't anybody's build or car that persuaded me to do the swap, but actually the Rocky Mountains. With a single passenger and perhaps 100lbs of gear in the back, my all-stock B3 really struggled to make it through the mountain passes. There were times on a full-speed open-road highway when I had to downshift into second gear to keep my speeds up. That was the breaking point for me: Westiva 2010.

If you're curious to see just how well your car is performing, have your compression tested and do a leak-down test as well while you're in there. Mind you, at 56.8mpg average... I suspect your engine is in tip-top shape. I know your driving habits certainly are. I highly recommend keeping it that way as long as possible!

I could definitely see how it would be nice to have the power in the mountains. My engine's compression is actually starting to weaken a little bit, so I might have an engine swap coming at some point in The not so distant future. I have a b3 out of an automatic that has just 73,000 miles on it so I was planning to use that when the time came. The b6 swap is intriguing though. Is there a list of cars that those engine were put in? I have a long time before I'll need it, so I might be able to find a really good deal if I keep my eyes open for one in the meantime.

[mikeyjd]

Oops. Double post.

[neanderpaul]

323, tracer. Dig around in the engine swaps subforum. And here is the B series Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_B_engine

[kayweb]

my festy has 162k or so, but the transmission is in awful shape (previous owner was a teenager who didn't even realize that it had a fifth gear [gear is stripped])

[mikeyjd]

my festy has 162k or so, but the transmission is in awful shape (previous owner was a teenager who didn't even realize that it had a fifth gear [gear is stripped])

Awe that's to bad..

[TorqueEffect]

No original motor here, the original motor gave up the ghost before I bought the car, I am guessing it was around 300k miles when it gave up. Owner then dropped in a motor with 132K from an 89' (either from an auto, or a carby using the old bits off the dead motor to keep FI)

But the 5-speed is still original, so that has well over 300k miles on it. Whether or not the clutch is original is beyond me. I am willing to bet it is not, since the biting point is pretty low on the pedal.

[mikeyjd]

No original motor here, the original motor gave up the ghost before I bought the car, I am guessing it was around 300k miles when it gave up. Owner then dropped in a motor with 132K from an 89' (either from an auto, or a carby using the old bits off the dead motor to keep FI)

But the 5-speed is still original, so that has well over 300k miles on it. Whether or not the clutch is original is beyond me. I am willing to bet it is not, since the biting point is pretty low on the pedal.

very solid.

[bobbyspider]

i had 216,000 when i got it and drove it till 226 then swapped to the b6 and sold the motor and is still running from what i know

[bobbyspider]

@ fm5 my 88lx had 429k still getting 37mpg on the hwy & original clutch, it did sound like a diesel though & i entered the high mileage contest & got 2nd place, the festy that won had over 600k!!!! was that scitzz that won that?

HOLY JOKE!