It's always my job to just tell a customer just how I see it. In the case of this high mileage Mazda 626 I quickly saw that the engine was drinking copious amounts of oil therefor replacing the catalytic convertor would be pointless without fixing the original problem of the oil burning. The customer had told me they hoped the "light" could be fix for just a couple hundred bucks. The EVAP code? Sure that could be fixed cheap enough. The P0421, well there is ways around that but it's a tad on the illegal side for me to tamper with emissions control devices so I'll leave that for "the other shop" to decide. -Enjoy!
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49 thoughts on “Mazda 626: ready for the scrap heap”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Eric Burns says:

    Man Eric. Almost looks like Cheech and Chong Auto Repair after that diagnostic test 😁.

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Tsty5 says:

    In cali if you don’t pass emissions there is no waiver. Fix it or junk it. Becomes a paper weight and u try to drive without that. Well cali is fine taking ur vehicle perm

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Russ Barrows says:

    Finding an honest competent mechanic is golden. When I moved to Colorado Springs it took me a while but, by luck, I was directed to shop run by a man and his sons. Signage for his shop was minimal but he was very, very busy because of his reputation.

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Daniel Puig says:

    CONDEMNED!

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars William Wales says:

    love your honesty. We have those cars over here. Normally decent enough car but we don't really have a rust belt. At the end of the day if the car reaches "end of life" then the junk yard is the place for it.😀

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars partyguarder says:

    As a smogtech from 1999 to 2007, I can tell you that I'm glad to be out of the game. Dealt with a lot of toilets in my time. That being said, our provincial government of Ontar-I-Owe finally scrapped the emission testing program in 2019. I suppose most of the junk was off the road by then. I dunno. Anyway, great times with red hot cats and smoked out work places. Lol…

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars WILDWOOD says:

    cheech and chong lol

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars OWL says:

    SELF-MADE AUTO CHANNEL.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Stevo422 says:

    Wow my 2000 mazda 626 2.0 has over 300k on it original motor and second trans….she uses little oil but no money light is ever on….guess ya take care of your shit it will last ….

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dave Unbranded says:

    Drive it without inspection. Depending on the amount of times you get pulled over, it might be cheaper

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars michael ward says:

    I used a 626 as a taxi in the uk, great car until it hit 150k then turned into an oil burner

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars justin watch says:

    You call it mumbo jumbo, I call it obeying the law. Your shop should be shut down by New York state for violating environmental laws. Shame on you.

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Hola! Bob Wilson says:

    Hey York ? Man … what
    Are you folks doing in New York ?

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars broadstbulldog66 says:

    My mazda is ripping a ch ch ch cherrybomb

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars J. Mark Krzystofiak says:

    Ready for a high schooler in the upper Midwest! Where there aren’t used car inspections!
    That’s nicer than 75% of the cars in the local HS parking lot here in NW Cheddar.

  16. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars John Coker says:

    Don't breathe the water droplets. LMAO

  17. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars 77 Zrod says:

    My 2000 camry has similar p0420. It burns oil most likley do to valve guide or seal on a cylinder. It doesnt use much oil but wont pass emmissions. It has 185,000 miles. Id say its done a great job and still gets 26 mpg. Its sad that it cost too much to fix it.

  18. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars R. B.L. says:

    All that smoke looks like the '04 Neon i got for the bargain price of 'towing it away' – it had two chipped exhaust valves. cost me $8.00 each to replace them, plus the head gasket and all new valve seals. and since it was just a lark, i reused the head bolts and lucky for me they didn't break. It made a fun project to fix that engine one winter while things were slow. Lucky for me the rest of that car was in way better shape than the 626 on this vid and that Neon hadn't run smoky long enough to plug up the Cat.
    All that was five years ago and my daughter is still driving the car today that cost less than $200 to fix, while learning from Dr. "O"
    Makes me think, if that car was given to a young person willing to put in the hours, and some parts, they could probably fix that engine and maybe learn something too, yeah i know the rest of that car is past it's best-before-date.
    Patreon -yupp, keep them vids comming! SMA's Master Class.

  19. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mister Mr says:

    If it aint broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, don't bother.

  20. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars jay liel says:

    Do you have change for a nickel?

  21. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars David Love says:

    I wish the state emissions inspection would time out after a certain amount of time. As long as the car is safe to drive; the longer the thing is running the lower the emissions are since the majority of the emissions created by a car are through its manufacturing process vs the limited trips that car is making.

  22. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars R.a. Wheeler says:

    Here in northern Indiana that car still has at least 100k life left. Duct tape does wonders! lol

  23. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Joe Goins says:

    Blue salt is so bad we use sand and gravel in Montana we don't want that rust here

  24. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars whitney eaton says:

    when they retire the car from driving- it can find a new life as a (drum roll please.)…. SMOKE MACHINE!! HA

  25. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Vacland9859 says:

    She’s a oil burner

  26. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dowsett says:

    Or move to a county that doesn't have emmissions.

  27. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Will Rowzee says:

    Its amazing the difference between different states and how well the emission laws are enforced. Here in Mississippi the recently did away with any type of vehicle inspections. Pretty much if you pay the registration fees your good to go.
    Whether it has CA emissions or not, or whether it has all the properly working parts, or just straight pipes from the engine they dont care. Something like that 626 would be welcomed with open arms down here. Even when they did have the vehicle inspection requirements here it was completely seperate from the DMV. You could still get a tag with or without the inspections sticker. The only one that bothered you about the inspection sticker was the highway patrol, but if you knew someone at an inspection station and could slip them a couple extra bucks on top of the $5 they charged for the inspection, the would just give you a sticker. So now it doesnt matter if your ce light is on, has massive evap leaks, massive oil consumption, bald tires, cracked witnshield, or non functioning safety equipment, as long as you pay your reg fees then your good to go. Alot different the CA emissions I was use to dealing with. In CA if the smog inspection station brands your car as what they call a Gross Polluter, then your pretty much sol on being able to drive it anywhere or register it with the DMV.

  28. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Davey T says:

    The money light is on! The money light can be on all the time if you know what to look for.

  29. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Barry Sobo says:

    "it's got all new O2 sensors, of course" = classic burn

  30. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Craigie F Concert says:

    The sad thing is all the time spent checking it out when as soon as it was started up it was clearly a giant POS

  31. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Steven Shenkosky says:

    Now I open the garage and my 1999 Mustang GT with 70k looks positively new next to this Mazda Ford wiring is amazing these years never a single light after 22 years? Now don't get me started on my 2014 Silverado limp mode champion at 15k miles!

  32. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars lar4305 says:

    That piece of shit would never had made it though my shop door. lol

  33. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars spike001ton says:

    I'm am so glad I live in a place where we don't emissions and a check engine light is an auto inspection fail

  34. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars chris gollihar says:

    Honestly, the best car I've ever had was a Mazda 3… over 200k on it, run perfectly, but the money lights were on. Needed both catalytic converters, and in ca of course.. to the tune of 2k. Donated the car

  35. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars crazydavebacon1 says:

    so glad when I was in florida none of this crap was required. we all cut off our cats and went straight pipes. no one cared, since there are no inspections.

  36. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars JR H says:

    Great video. I could literally smell that mixture of fuel and oil burning while watching. 😳

  37. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ning3n says:

    Dang. That motor sounds grumpy. And the underside is crustier than my grandmoms undies.

  38. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Hola! Peter Pierce says:

    I lived in Texas for a time where we simply Paid the Inspector to slap a sticker on it pass or not. Just a $100 bill.

  39. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Hola! Peter Pierce says:

    This is WHY I Love Arkansas.
    No Inspections.

  40. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Combat Beard says:

    Lol fogging for mosquitoes at the wrong time of year

  41. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Crispr Talk says:

    This car alone is the cause of global warming.

  42. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars 83RBurke says:

    That might be the most painful 2000rpm I’ve ever heard

  43. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars k Muinde says:

    Hate rust

  44. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Savant218 says:

    @South Main Auto – reguarding the clip image — Thats a "spork" not a fork !
    Just sayin you know for clarification for the woke crowd !!!

  45. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Shane says:

    If the only test they do to check pollution is an OBD one (NOT measuring tailpipe emissions), then installing an anti-fouler (90 degrees) exhaust extension between will make your PCM think the CAT is fine all the time. Did that 4 years ago, and it worked like a clock since. Easy to install, and only cost $25 each (you need one for every CAT you have, some engines have 3 CATs).

    Of course, a licensed service center wouldn't do that, since they'll be shut down if someone catches them.

  46. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars John Ridley says:

    Sell it to someone in Michingan. Here if it moves they'll license it.

  47. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Gord says:

    I know a guy that had a late 1980s 626. He bought it off a guy that worked for Chrysler, and he had repainted it with some Chrysler Sublime paint with a matte black hood. It looked pretty good lol

  48. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars A L Reed says:

    I had a 89 grand prix like this shop offered me $25 usd and change for the bus to walk away. I wasen't done beating it yet though FIX IT. Hahaha

  49. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars minisla says:

    An ould banger

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