Offroad-Express

Hello, my 02 mazda bounty td is getting near 200,000kms and would like some advice on what goes wrong, anything i can do to delay/fix problems and costs to fix what ever is soon going to break thank.

I don't know if you will have a problem, my mate has a courier same motor as your bounty, he has owned it from new and has done 380000kms in it with no trouble at all.

They do tend to fill their radiators (insides) up with crud. This then leads to them cracking heads by not keeping cool enough. Get the radiator rodded by a specialist and that'll help alot.

Good vehicles & go well. An '02 may have already had its gearbox done or it'll be about to need it! Both mine needed them done, but I did a bit of towing. They tell me the facelift in '05 fixed the box issue. 5th gear just goes AWOL! Gearbox was just under 2k to fix.

Thanks for the advice. The gearbox is notchy and not smooth to engage in 2nd, feels like the sincro is worn is that a factory fault or a previous owners related problem. Im guessing getting a second hand 05 box would cost more than repairing my one at this stage?

Sorry to thread jack, but.

My 97 2.2 petrol courier has a real notchy gear box (2nd gear when cold is a real pain in the arse), I was going to see if some of that moly gearbox goo would help. I'd be interested in any thing I need to look out for or do before something happens also as mine is just shy of 290k.

Cheers Heath

I don't remember either of mine being notchy into 2nd. But 2nd gear never gave any problems. From my experience if they are notchy into 2nd maybe the oil is to thick? Remember modern oils can be thin yet have very good loading abilities.

I remember I put heavier oil into the Paj box and when it is cold now for the 1st 10 mins I need to go slowly into 2nd otherwise it snicks. 5 Speed Rangie box was the same, it was sometimes quite hard to get into 2nd when cold.

I know im thread jacking but theres never much talk on how these utes and how been modified. I like to know, ive given my a 50 ml sus lift 35 ml body lift tjm bar and rear hanes and run 32 no problem + a few other mods ?

ARB have air lockers for them! oh cut the front bumpstop off

We have had 4 bounty work trucks have the heads go, the most recent was last week, had a pinhole in it, with 126k on the clock

We also had the 5th gear coming off problem, and the older ones had the notchy 2nd gear.

When you say pin hole do you mean in radiator or head had they over heated if yes how & why ?

Hole was in the head, not sure where exactly, but only showed on pressure test.
Never overheated, work mate said it was blowing white smoke in the morning, and when I had it on call that night, noticed it was steam from the exhaust. Showed nothing on the temp guage, but the hole was small enough to be missed on the original visual check.

DaveM wrote:We have had 4 bounty work trucks have the heads go, the most recent was last week, had a pinhole in it, with 126k on the clock

Pinhole as in localised corrosion?

Couldn't tell you sorry, but the mechanic we used said they usaually go around the combustion chamber? (if that makes sense to those who know about these things?)

have mazda bountys where i work and all 4 trucks have had trouble.gear boxes rear wheel bearings and also head on one of them maybe 2? also have had trouble with rear diffs.two insidents where chap was driveing along then saw a tyre role past him before his truck collapsed realiseing it was his rear tyre all around 200,000k plus

Wouldnt you know it. I finished saying how I have had no problems but...

I have noticed the sound of bubbles first thing in the morning/ afternoon when I first start my courier from cold. I thought "Bloody radiator cap" as I replaced it a while ago. It seems that the radiator cap may have been fine and I have been pressurising the cooling system through a fault with the head (please lord let it just be a head gasket). Been the sound of bubbles over the last few weeks and now a little gunk around the radiator cap.

Me thinks I opened my mouth and the Feck up fairy has come by to kick me fair in the wallet. It goes in tomorrow for a diagnosis of the problem. I guess the vitara will take step back from the feeding trough now until the tow wagon is fixed.

BUGGER

Mazda Bounty...What a LEMON
I bought mine at 125k, next day developed rear diff whine, the bearings had collapsed...Cost $2500.00 to fix
Nine months later at 198k gearbox bearings collapsed on 3rd and 4th gear shaft, not worth fixing box, parts too expensive.Gearbox replaced with second han one cost $3500.00
Three weeks later at 200k it tossed a rod.
But Wait there's more, now at 205k the front diff bearings have collapsed.
All of the above problems are apparently common.
I know mine has been serviced every 5000k since new, I'm the second owner and I bought it off the father inlaw.
He's absolutely anal about maintanance, as am I.
I've been talking to a number of companies that run fleets of these and the FORD Courier.
THEY ARE A LEMON !!

Hey Guys,
I have had a Bounty Dble cab 2wd for about 5 years, 2001 model.
Bought it with 214,000 on the clock. The dealer service book had every single stamp on the history. I have done a head in the last 6 months, because it was showing all of the above symtoms
Talked to a mate and he said to buget on a head every 160,000 k's. I got a "pirate" chinese head and with machining and new valves, head studs (torque yeld), and gasket set for about $1400.
Did it all myself. Have done the cam belt myself a few times, got this down to under half an hour
It just turned over 333,000 k's last week and runs like a clock. No drive train issues at all
They are ok in my book. Just the head issue to deal with

Here's how the boar looked at 315 km's.





You can see the water marks. Took 2 years of adding coolant occasionally before it became an issue, (peeled through No 3 glow plugs tho).

Cheers, Hope this helps.

I think a lot of the drive train issues are in the 4wd models.
I have also been led to believe very common for the thrown rod at around 200k(leaves very nasty hole in block),
Also there are a lot of 4wd ones around that have had multiple gearbox issues.
My mechanic has done 7 engine replacements due to throwing a rod and has swapped out/ rebuilt 14 gearboxes.
Do the math on that one, he is just one mechanic out of how many out there. You try to get a second hand diff for one of these, they don't exist, they get snapped up as soon as they land.

Where are you at Roydus?
One of my clients owns a ford wreaker up in Aucks and parts to me aren't an issue
Agree all drive problems may be with 4wd model.
Same engine and box, just under more load.
Mine at 300+ is mint, just drive it easy and don't rev them too hard.
Cheers,

I'm in ChCh
I have been driving mine like I'm 98yrs old , I'd heard about the gearbox problems and have driven it accordingly.
I only rev it to around 3700rpm
If you ever see the inside of one of the gearboxes you'll see that it's about as strong as a 1984 Starlet !!
These should NEVER have been sold as a commercial vehicle they are not up to it.