Somebeach’s speed 3

2008 Mazdaspeed 3.  Picked up from Insurance auto auctions. Surprisingly a clear title.  
 

It was listed as run and drive, but seemed to be leaking me coolant, so I just rolled it into the barn instead of trying to start it. 
 

It was an out of state title, so I had to get the vin checked by the state of Ohio to get my title. The poor DMV lady had to climb up on the trailer to check the VIN and then the battery was dead so I had to unhook my truck and pull it around to hook up the jumpers so she could see the odometer to verify the mileage  

I don't think she was impressed by the interior  either. Seems pretty dirty.

got it home and unloaded into the barn  

It was crunched pretty good on the drivers side. 
 

i need to figure out what this is. It is right behind the radiator and has a broken cap from the wreck and now I think is the source of the coolant leak. 
 

Edit: oil filter housing, glad I didn't try to start it. 

The bumper was in the back seat

i also need to figure out the paint situation, I think it is either a vinyl wrap or plastidip it. I am thinking it is a wrap. if anyone has a guess on color, or how to match color it would be good to know. As I will plan to do the same wrap to the replacement fenders and see if I can fix up the hood. 

Also looks to have a backup camera

And a hidden hitch 

It may also have lowering springs not sure but it seems pretty low. 
 

about 4.5" to the pinch seam 

might have an oil catch can already as well. 
 

Well some potential bad news. Large hole in the plastic oil filter cap. Maybe not the best spot to put it low down in the front of the engine, especially being plastic. 
 

I drained the remaining oil. Only about a half quart was left in the engine. Refilled the oil and tried to start it. It did start but idled really rough and wouldn't rev above 2k. 
 

I downloaded versatuner the free version and will use that to pull the check engine codes. 
 

The air box is messed up from the wreck so I was just running the tube with no air box or filter so I am hoping it is something with that. 

We converted our Speed3 to a spin-on filter found on Amazon....  search for "Mazda Speed6 3 5 Oil Filter Housing With Gasket OEM 1F2014310C & LF0214342"  (from my order history search).  If I remember correctly Ford Escape or Focus filters will fit...   

Gordon

In reply to ggarrard :

Thanks that looks like a great solution. 

If you go to a junkyard go to any of the Fords that have a spin on filter (or some Mazdas, like my in laws Mazda5), you can unbolt the filter housing and should be able to put it on your motor.  When I did the 2.5 swap into ours I kept the spin on filter with it rather than convert to the 2.3 canister like it had.  

In reply to Sonic :

Thanks 

Used the free versa tuner to pull codes. 
 

one seems to be throttle body related and the other I am still figuring out. It looks like the wreck bent everything up around the air box and the fuse box. Pushing in the dues box so I can get the air box back in correctly. 
 

Next step is to bend back the fender support to get fuse box back in the right spot and then put the air box back together, reset the codes and see what happens. 
 

I also have plans to pick up a parts car on Friday with all the replacement body panels I need to replace, so hopefully I can get the running good. Then should be fairly strait forward with swapping body panels and the radiator over from the parts car to this car. 

Found my issue that was causing the throttle body code, looks like the tab where the wire harness hooks up is almost  broken all the way off. 
 

Following along. 99% of these have been ruined by the Monster Energy flat brimmed hat vape crowd. Glad to see this one is being revived. 

Seems like saggy springs in the rear are common. Most of these I see for sale look like yours. 

We had the same issue of not being able to rev over 2000 rpm...   after much fiddling and cursing (it's drive-by-wire) replacing the ETC fuse fixed it. I think it's either number 8 or 10 in the fusebox?

Gordon 

In reply to ggarrard :

thanks. I will check that too once I replace throttle body. 

Picked up the parts car yesterday. 
 

Some of the extras include evo 8 wheels, 3 decent tires, aftermarket down pipe and exhaust, third brake light that says "Mazdaspeed" , rear wiper delete, some older coilovers that are not in the best shape, Jbr rear motor Mount, aem wideband. 
 

I think the seller was moving and he just wanted to get rid of it so I got a great deal. 
 

Also came with radio, ecu, wire harness, and two sets of keys 

Having a whole parts car is nice for this kind of thing. Got the damaged radiator, ac condenser, and the support that holds those things and the headlights out. 

And installed the non damaged parts from the parts car. 
 

That is a pretty killer deal on the EVO 8 wheels and attached shell :D

If they're the same as mazda 5 spin on filter parts i have them all i believe

In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :

hmm I will have to check into that and see  

Here is a better look at the broken front/side of the throttle body. 
 

the eBay throttle body I bought looked kinda crusty and I don't buy a new gasket so I ended up just switching out the side covers. 
 

Started right up with no check engine lights. 

To do list:

Fit parts car fender(need to realign some mounting holes from the wreck)

Figure out headlight wiring and if the parts car headlight will work, or if I need to get a specific "gt" headlight. 
 

Install headlight 

fit parts car bumper 

find out what color of vinyl wrap it is. 
 

take bumper and fender back off to wrap. 
 

Wow that could be great!   I was afraid when it was crashed and broke the filter housing that it just kept running and ended up puking the oil and running dry. Sounds like probably not!

In reply to jfryjfry :

I was pretty worried about that too. Especially when I changed the oil and when draining out the old oil only about half a quart came out. 
 

This is actually my first car with a turbo. I really like how it sounds I couldn't resist a few revs. 
 

Started swapping body panels yesterday. 
 

Got some nice hood struts I will probably save for another project. 
 

I am struggling the get the hood to fender gap looking good spent a long time trying to get it to line up. But still have some work to do. 
 

Got all the body panels on. Wired up the replacement head light and it works. 
 

Refilled the coolant from changing out the radiator. Tried to bleed it and ended up making a mess. 
 

I saw online to burp it you start it with the overflow cap off and then let it warm up a little then run it up to 2,500 rpm for a bit then to idle, then to 2500 again for 2-3 minutes. All went well I was trying to top off the coolant as it was going down with I was idling. 
 

However when I shut off the engine a bunch of coolant came up out of the where the cap normally would have been but I had it off to burb the system. 
 

So I just gave up for the day. I guess I will see where the coolant level is once everything cools off. 
 

Get yourself one of those coolant funnel kits. I have one made by Lisle but there are a few different brands out there. I used to always dread replacing coolant but these things make it a breeze.

Lisle kit on Amazon