1989 Mazda B2200 from North America - Comments

Rebuilt Engine at 120K due to most engine seals and gaskets hardening up and leaking.

Drivers side rear brakes came apart a few days after I got the truck.

I bought it used, and they had it "serviced" before putting it out on the lot.

I think someone didn't lock one of the springs down securely.

Tail pipe disintegrated about a year after I bought the truck.

It finally got to the muffler and I replaced it.

When pricing I found out it needed a complete exhaust system, from the rear catalytic converter, back.

This was going to cost about $175!

I opted for the stock intermediate pipe, which connected the converter to the muffler, then get a $12 "California Turbo" muffler, some plumbers tape to hang it, and a couple of short sections of miscellaneous exhaust pipe.

The whole thing ended up only costing me about $40 and it came off with a rather "raspy" sound, but not as obtrusive as you might think.

Recently the slave cylinder for the clutch blew, and I had to change it, but at 202,000 miles and 13 years old, these types of things are to be expected.

Most parts were replaced with good junkyard parts, and I've saved quite a bit of money over the years doing things this way.

Oddly enough, for many years, the only trucks I could find were on 1987 vintage.

After stating that, I jokingly tell people that if I throw anymore '87 parts into my '89 Mazda, I'm gonna start calling it an '88! ;-)

For the most part, I'm quite pleased with my little truck.

For any homeowner who has a decent sized piece of land (say at least 1/2 acre), these little trucks can't be beat.

Another thing I'm often quoted as saying is this little truck is the best d**n wheelbarrow I ever bought!

For disposing of leaves in the fall, or trimming hedges or tree limbs, this thing works great! I wish I'd had one of these when I was a kid, when my dad used to make me do all the yard work!

Park it under a tree and clip the branches right into the bed, then haul it off to the woods and dump it.

Momma wants the wood pile moved closer to the house?

No problem, move it all at once with one of these little things.

Their small size makes them easy to maneuver around in tight spaces, and I average a combined city/freeway mileage of 25 mpg, so I don't feel as guilty about the gas I burn while driving around in my unloaded truck, as when I had my '65 GMC with the V-6 that only got 8 miles to the gallon.

This truck works great and even if I sell it tomorrow (not a chance, kids!) I'm sold on the mini-truck idea.

Best little "toy" any one could have.

I found your comments on the 89 Mazda interesting, but I have never seen a V6 in a 65 GMC? and 8 MPG? must have been racing with it! My brother has a full-size GMC Pickup v6 auto and gets 20+ mpg...comments?

During the 1960's ALL GMC pick-ups came with a large motor that was a V-6 design.

Mine, as were many, displaced 305 cubic inches. Some had the larger 351 cubic inch V6.

ONLY the GMC's had them. The Chevrolet trucks had the inline "Nova" 6-cylinder engine as standard (230 until '67, then 250 until '84. Some had 292's) and the various V-8's as options (NOTE: there was a "standard" v-8, depending on year, could be 283, 307, 305 or 350. All small blocks).

The GMC V6 was a "truck engine", so no racing mills here. Built to run for a long time with minimal maintenance.

GMC later "Dieselized" some of those V6's into what became the "Toro-Flow" Diesel's of the 1970's. Displacement maxed out at 478 cubic inches. 401's were quite popular in the marine and medium truck market.

There was a v-12 gas engine too, called a "702". It was comprised of two 351 V6's bolted together (my late father worked at a GMC dealership in Salina, Kansas in the mid 1960s and told me about that when I was a kid).

There was also a V-8 varient based on the GMC V-6 design, which displaced something around 500-600 cubic inches. From what I understand it was never very popular.

The design was bought by the Nissan motor company in the 1980's and was the basis for the motor used in the original 300ZX. The most obvious trait that carried over to the Nissan motor (other than the fact that it stayed a V6) was that the spark plugs stayed on top of the head (near the intake manifold, not through the valve cover) and the valve cover still looked like it came off an old chevy 348 or 409 V8.

To the best of my knowledge, Nissan still owns that design.

UPDATE:

I am the owner of the truck mentioned in this section.

It's now been 6 + years since I wrote the review of my wonderful little truck and I just wanted to say I still own it and still enjoy it.

Where I live, I don't have to drive it everyday, so mileage has only increased to 236,000 + miles, but it is still going just as strong as the day I bought it.

Recently, the drivers side window crank mechanism broke, so the window cannot be cranked down. This was my fault, since I failed to lube the track the window rides on. It became so stiff, it eventually failed. I do plan to remedy this in the near future.

Fuel mileage still averages about 25MPG.

Only things I've done to this truck since posting my original comments were regular oil / filter changes (including a recent change from 15W-40 to 20W-50 oil) and it got a new set of tires last summer.

Unless I, or my friend, win the lottery, I do not plan on selling this truck anytime soon.

Great truck!