HELP!: 4WS fails intermittently after engine swap

[andrewb]

The engine of my 1993 Mazda MX-6 2.5 has just been replaced with a seemingly identical 2nd hand engine. Intermittently since then the 4WS warning light turns on and the 4WS itself stops working.
I haven't driven it much so I haven't noticed a pattern, but the light has come on while I was just idling.
The mechanic who did the job thinks the only thing he has changed which might be related is the speed sensor, but that he checked it and it looks fine.
He is going to have another look but I wondered if any of you have any ideas. I'm worried he will try to say it was an existing fault and charge me for it.

Thanks heaps!
Andrew

[FWP!]

Does 4WS mean 4 wheel steering????

[GIJoeCam]

Maybe the ABS light? 4ws... I don't have one of them...

-Joe-

[andrewb]

Yes, sorry. 4WS does mean 4 wheel steering. The light is situated just below the ABS one.

I thought it was standard so you would have known what I meant. I am in New Zealand and the car is a Japanese import, so there probably are some differences. I don't have air-bags for example (which I believe are standard on the American version?).

The car and engine looks pretty much the same as all the photos that I looked at via these lists though.

[pgtfreak]

No 4ws for us. Sorry bro.

[poirier]

MX-6's have 4ws....not probes.

[97pGT]

What would be the advantages of having 4WS ?

[pgtfreak]

On 2001-04-24 14:15, poirier wrote:
MX-6's have 4ws....not probes.

Like I said, Only MX6's have 4WS :smile:
Actually I thought it was just the 1st gen MX6s that had this feature...

[DMC]

Sorry, 4WS didn't make it over here on the 2nd generation MX-6's. However, if you want to ship your entire 4WS setup to the US, I'll be happy to try it on my car and diagnose it for you. :grin:

[DMC]

Oh, the purpose of 4WS - can help handling quite a bit. I'm not sure what the MX-6 Japan spec system does, but most will apply a bit of steering to the rear wheels, either in phase (same direction) or out of phase (opposite direction) with the front wheels, depending on speed and steering angle. For example, at low speeds, the system will crank the rear wheels 3 or 4 degress out of phase with the front wheels to decrease the turning circle. Also, they can steer a small amount (usually less than 1 degree) in phase at higher speeds to help with stability around corners and evasive manuvers (like a quick lane change to get around that Civic Si). If you want a real blast sometime, score a ride in a Nissan 300 ZX Turbo with Super HICAS (Nissan's 4WS). I've driven one of those, and the older Prelude with the purely mechanical 4WS system. Very entertaining. The PGT and MX-6 already handles well, I'd love to see what they can do with 4WS! (Hey, if I ever get to NZ, can I get a ride in yours?) :smile:

[97pGT]

On 2001-04-24 19:49, DMC wrote:
Oh, the purpose of 4WS - can help handling quite a bit. I'm not sure what the MX-6 Japan spec system does, but most will apply a bit of steering to the rear wheels, either in phase (same direction) or out of phase (opposite direction) with the front wheels, depending on speed and steering angle. For example, at low speeds, the system will crank the rear wheels 3 or 4 degress out of phase with the front wheels to decrease the turning circle. Also, they can steer a small amount (usually less than 1 degree) in phase at higher speeds to help with stability around corners and evasive manuvers (like a quick lane change to get around that Civic Si). If you want a real blast sometime, score a ride in a Nissan 300 ZX Turbo with Super HICAS (Nissan's 4WS). I've driven one of those, and the older Prelude with the purely mechanical 4WS system. Very entertaining. The PGT and MX-6 already handles well, I'd love to see what they can do with 4WS! (Hey, if I ever get to NZ, can I get a ride in yours?) :smile:

WoW , impreesive !

[andrewb]

I assume its the in-phase/out-of-phase thing that means it could be related to the speed sensor. The problem was occuring again this morning, flicking on and off while I was driving. Not really something I like having happen while I'm going round a corner!

DMC, sure you can take mine for a spin. Once you've fixed it that is! :smile:

[Jebidiah]

Has anyone tried to swap a MX-6 4WS setup into a Probe GT???

[dna59]

^^^Same thing I was thinking.

[93GTS]

I had a 95 626, no 4WS on 2nd gen here in the US.