2000 Millenia Millennium Edition

[Graphxxx]

First i would like to salute everyone.
I'm new here and my name is John, 20 yo, live in Montreal, Canada.

Right now i'm owner of a 1996 626 2.5 auto, the car has around 140 000 miles, few things that could use some updating such as the useless cluster, maybe change the transmission fluid, but other than that, had the car for 9 months, still solid, but winter is hard on cars here in Quebec.

Anyways, on to the topic.

I have this guy selling a 2000 Millenia Millennium Edition very cheap. Thing is, it needs some repairing done to it. Possible water pump or/and thermostat. I might have to change all four rotors, rip off the 2 front catalic converters. The car is the flash red, comes with the 17" mazda wheels, but i have some 18" mazdaspeed wheels with brand new 225/40/18 so the wheels i don't care for. The car has around 140 000 miles. I'll go check it out monday afternoon, i know i have to try and check the compression on the engine, i'l also check the oil see if anti freeze hasn't been leeking from the head gasket. He says the car takes a little bit of oil, i'm thinking that the piston rings might need to replacement. Other than that, i'll try to have a look at the intercoolers to see if oil is present, if so, should i be worried that the supercharger is near finished? What else should i look for in the engine compartment? I'll check the bearings, suspension, and etc. Thing is, the car is sold at 500$ simply because he doesn't want to spend any time on fixing the overheating problem. So should i take a chance and buy it and try to fix the problems, or the 2.3 might end up costing me to much to maintain? Will it need a rebuilt soon?

I'm looking at buying it simply because i have free time and i'd like a project. But thing is, i don't want to have to spend 1500 on repairs either. Around 500 would be great.

Edit : He says the car smokes a tad at startup, but clears up very quickly and doesn't smoke one bit when driving.

[Kutcht1]

Saw your post on mazda626.net and it sounds like you are wanting a good project. Just to warn you again that if you go see it for $500 these cars a beautiful and loaded with luxury the price and looks will suck you in. That is how I ended up with two of them. It can run you easily up to and above $1500 to get that car up and running proper again since there are unknowns involved. But if you do get into in a bit you can always stop and part it out for more than you payed. But if you do all the work yourself it could be well worth it. My first gut reaction would be not to get it since he may know more than he is telling you that is why it is only $500, but for the price and some tinkering you could have a real solid car. Wait until others chime in that have these engines to help you with what to check for.
TomK

[MonoxideChild]

so many mazda626.net member's here. lol.

[bigb]

Buy 2x cars and take the parts you need to make one car. cheaper than buying replacement parts.

or... if you have a junkyard near you you can easily fix the car for cheap. parts on the 2.3 either fail totally or work great. you can usually tell very easily which category the part falls into

for example, car with dead charger might have been scrapped so go pull the cats from the junker for $50 and you're laughing.

[milly2000]

dont know if am doing this right but,,,,Hi, I have a 00 Mazda Millenia S. I have replaced the EGR valve sensor, the map sensor, the mass flow sensor, and the TPS sensor, and also the crank shaft sensor, and still it does the same thing! When I accelerate fast, it stalls, but if I let go of the gas pedal, and then accelerate slowly until it picks up speed, the car runs great, but forgot to mention no check engine light is on! Is there someone who knows what is wrong with this car? ,,,and this all happen one day when i was sitting at a stop and hit the gas hard and it stalled ooooo and if i start out in 1st gear and get the rpm up over 3k then it will take off fast am ready to shoot it its driveing me nuts