I am looking at a 1990 Mazda B2200 long bed pickup. It has 155k miles, manual tranny. I have just seen pics, not driven yet. I had heard that the 2.2 Mazda engine was prone to head problems (cracking). Is this true?

I think the Mazda B's were good little truck, they did not tend to rust like some of their ilk, but I don't think their engines
fare so well.

The 12 valve head was very prone to warping,cracking,and going soft.But so long as they aren't overheated they will last a long time.

I owned a 1986 Mazda B2000 for 11 or so years. Eventually had to do a rebuild on the engine at 137000 miles. Unknowingly, my thermostat gauge didn't work and I overheated it at 148000 miles and cracked the head. Had a friend who found a 1988 2.2l that I dropped in and never had another problem with it. I did install an electric fan though! Sold it at 202,000 miles.

I changed the manual tran. fluid to synthetic (as well as the differential) and it shifted 100% better. Changed the clutch when I did the engine swap. Had to replace the differential at around 190,000. I beat the truck up alot though, so I'm not sure if I could give you an "on average" picture.

Those trucks were pretty solid, but overheating was always an issue with them. I had alot of problems with spark plug wires cracking due to their placement over the exhaust manifold. Carb needed to be rebuilt when I sold it. The butterfly wouldn't open/close correctly. Ball joints were shot as well.

If you want to know more about them, just ask.

My folks bought a 1993 B2200. That was the last year for real Mazda trucks in North America. The engine and auto tranny were always great. No problems. Only reason we replaced the vehicle in 2007 was it was rusting away. Replaced the starter and fixed a Power steering leak. That was the only repairs on this vehicle EVER. Great truck if it has been rust proofed/under coated. Oh yeah... had 190,000 Kilometers on it.

I had a 92 B2600i. It was a rude awakening when my U-joint on the drive shift went bad. Mechanic called me saying "you are not going to like this". It was non-serviceable. The entire drive shaft had to be replaced. I was told it went for over $700 at the dealer. My mechanic who used to race had a customer drive shaft made with serviceable U-joints for half the price. I got rid of it due to a blown head gasket.

I know on the 86-87 years there were serviceable driveshafts. I replaced the U joints on mine.

I have to say that working on those trucks was pretty easy.