400,000 km

[PJungnitsch]

My truck turned 400,000 in October.

Have to say I'm well pleased with it. 1987 Mazda B2000, bought in 1993 with 230,000 km on the clock.

[safristi]

 Woo Hoo....tell me MORE about the PeeCup........what are it's weak/STRONG points and any Pics........I'm contemplating one for a Winter Beater...Golf runaround ..Beer Hauler !!! when wifey snags the Millenia...have a line on a couple but haven't pulled the trigger yet....1997/98 Models ( also Ford Ranger same vehicle NO?).....the ones i have seen have low 200,000s on them and I'd be OVER THE MOON if they went 400K KLICKS...

[mrthompson]

Congrats on the milestone.  What condition is the body after 20 years?  The most I have mustered on a vehicle before selling thus far is 322k.

[Railton]

Congrats!
Railton

[UmroAyyar]

Hey, the Odo says 400002.   

Congrats, I can only dream of that feat, I am not that patient. Too greedy perhaps. 

[AVToller]

Congratulations!    Let's see - at my current use rate, I would need to keep the Yaris for another 27.5 years.     The car may make it, but I sure doubt I will. 

[y2chuck]

cripes, that impressive! Another 100,000 and maybe Mazda will give you a free one! 

[PJungnitsch]

Woo Hoo....tell me MORE about the PeeCup........what are it's weak/STRONG points and any Pics........I'm contemplating one for a Winter Beater...Golf runaround ..Beer Hauler !!! when wifey snags the Millenia...have a line on a couple but haven't pulled the trigger yet....1997/98 Models ( also Ford Ranger same vehicle NO?).....the ones i have seen have low 200,000s on them and I'd be OVER THE MOON if they went 400K KLICKS...

These are what is called the 2nd gen B-series. Mazda built in Japan from 1987 to 1993. After that all Mazda trucks in North America (including what you are looking at) are rebadged Rangers, totally different, designed by Ford and built here.

[PJungnitsch]

Congrats on the milestone.  What condition is the body after 20 years?  The most I have mustered on a vehicle before selling thus far is 322k.

It's pretty rusty. Spent about half it's life on gravel roads and another good part sitting outside university in Saskatoon covered in road salt. Really kick myself I didn't get it one of those oily rustproofings done occasionally, but I never thought it would keep running so long. Luckily it's body on frame. I actually pulled the bumper off with my hands last winter.

[safristi]

 We'll need to start a SHOW & SHINEOLA section....... ..c'mere Rusty good boy..now don't roll over and play dead until 500,000..........................

[SiRCivic]

Nice!    Dunno what it is, exactly, but there's something very satisfying about a owning a vehicle forever & driving it into the ground.

I was hoping to get half a million kms out of my '87 Pathfinder, but sold it in '99 with only 380,000 kms on it. 

I've currently got 250,000 kms on the Civic, but I'm already starting to feel the new-car itch. 

[PJungnitsch]

It was getting pretty scrappy looking. And then it quit on me, first time ever. Luckily in the parking lot, but at 399,500!

So that was back in March/April, and here in Lethbridge that's motorcycle weather, so I just rode my bike all summer. I assumed I'd be working again in a few months, get a new vehicle and be able to call the wrecker and haul the old girl away.

The carb was what was giving trouble, and the late electronic carbs are a b*tch to fix, very complicated. Plus the clutch throw out was making noise (not unreasonably, still stock). All in all expensive stuff to fix on a vehicle that old.

[PJungnitsch]

So it got to be the end of the summer, I still had a few months to go on the thesis, and needed something for the winter. With no job buying new was out of the question.

And looking at cheap vehicles $1000 to $2000 didn't seem to get me much more than I already had.

So I decided to throw some money into the truck (plus it seemed wrong not letting the faithful machine get to 400,000!)

Looking around on the net I found a good resource for these trucks at Mazdatruckin.com, and the best idea seemed to be just replacing the old carb totally with a Weber conversion kit. So I ordered one off ebay and bolted it in.

[Wolfe]

Love the stripes! Congrats on the milestone.


Didn't that generation of the B-series have the same manual transmission as the Miata?

[tpl]

And?     It now does 100 mpg at 100 mph , uses no oil and has less emissions than a rollerskate ?   

Webers are indeed marvelous things tho'

[articsteve]

Those manuals trannies from Mazda in the time period are stellar.

What did that carb kit cost ya?

  The carb was what was giving trouble, and the late electronic carbs are a b*tch to fix, very complicated  

Was the choke electronic and a sealed unit?    

[PJungnitsch]

Love the stripes! Congrats on the milestone.


Didn't that generation of the B-series have the same manual transmission as the Miata?

Heh. I bought it off my parents way back when, and when they bought it new my mother said 'There's no way she's driving a plain white truck'. The middle one is very reflective and saved my life once when a nervous gf made half a U turn on the highway.

No idea on the transmission. Very sweet shifting unit though, even now with so many km on it.

[PJungnitsch]

What did that carb kit cost ya?

  The carb was what was giving trouble, and the late electronic carbs are a b*tch to fix, very complicated

Was the choke electronic and a sealed unit?

Carb kit was 300 bucks plus shipping. Apparently the 'old standard' Italian Weber 32/36 DGEV. It was a bit more than the newer Solex based 34 DGEC but easier to convert to the stock airbox and more tuning/fixing info was available.

I never realized but they make these kits for pretty much all old 4 cyl vehicles. A nice simple fix.

The stock carbs choke was simple and worked fine but the internal mixture control was electronic and there are a huge amount of add on sensors and controllers, all going back to a computer. If anything goes wrong it defaults into 'rich mode'.

[PJungnitsch]

So as far as the clutch went I debated buying a lift and pulling the engine but felt it was a bit much for working in parking lot.

Found a very good transmission shop in Lethbridge, dropped it off in the morning and picked it up in the evening all done. So simple!

$807.00 for the clutch job, including new clutch, pilot bearing, throwout bearing, master and slave cylinders. Seemed pretty reasonable.

Anyway, it now drove nicely but still looked like a rust nightmare. So I thought to myself, what better vehicle to try out the $50.00 paintjob then? The truck just has to last the next winter.

[Arthur Dent]

Great stuff. Interesting colours on yours. 400k is quite an achievement for both driver and vehicle. I know I really liked my B2000 - and it was a rough $400 beast. Should have kept it.

The five speed is mostly shared with the Rx-7 and thus the Miata one is similar too. Amazing gearbox for a truck.