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Im addicted, in two days. I made the jump from a buick to a miata and I frigging love it. My car misses.. will do spam plugs and wires tomorrow, has a torn seat... needs tires and shocks... I paid 1950 for it, but I sincerely LOVE driving it.
It has a ricer muffler..... hate that.
where in town is a good place to buy parts? For instance, I really need to recover or install new seats.
Welcome aboard. Check miata.net for a list of mail-order vendors. Stick with OEM plugs/wires.
NGK blue wires, and regular NGK plugs.
I should have a good OEM exhaust.
Welcome to our world. Rogue "Stevan" is your friend when it comes to Miata's.
Awesome, can i Just give you a list of parts now? ....
I really need two new seats. They are worn bad and foam is showing on the drivers side.
I changed the spark plugs and wires today and noticed that the front and rear plug both had oil on them. Im thinking the valve cover gasket may be the culprit, and I knew when I bought it that there was a leak there.
Could this be the reason for my occasional engine hiccups? Like its missing occasionally?
Depending on how bad the leak is, yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by tuck4x4
Welcome, tuck4x4. For $50 you can have the 2 black seats out of my '96. Naturally, the driver's seat shows more wear than the passenger, but still not too bad. They've been out of the car mostly for the past six years or so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark52
im interested. I tried sending you a PM but it says i dont have the right user priveledges. I can be reached at 956 246-6932
Welcome. Have fun with your Miata.
Welcome! Try some autocrossing! Even bone stock with crappy tire the Miata is a blast!!! U will have the time of ur life!
Sorry, I'm up in Oklahoma cutting wheat this week. I'll contact you when I return on Monday.Quote:
Originally Posted by tuck4x4
Its well worth your $$ to take the car up to Rogue at Miata Solutions or TDR and have it assessed. He can tell you pretty easily wht needs to be done to it. There are a few common leaks and niggles that can be rectified and the engine will sing.
Read the threads, but common wear issues on NA Miatas are CAS O-ring leaks, heater hoses, old radiators, spark plugs/wires, and radiator fans. You've already discovered the valve cover gasket leak, which I had on mine. All of this stuff is easily DIY, but a few of them are a tricky to get to unless you really know what you're looking at. Rouge does this in his sleep, so its fast and definitely done right if you aren't wanting to get too greasy yourself. Welcome!
Well, I keep finding new "projects" that needs to be fixed on the car. Latest is a lose rear drivers side knuckle that allows the wheel to jiggle. The car's A/C is not blowing as cool as I think it should, even after Ive recharged it, and theres a strong miss for the first 5 miles or so after starting it in the morning. It happens occasionally at cruising speeds as well.
So far Ive changed plugs, wires, valve cover gasket and ran seafoam through it.
I know I need:
Shocks, (id like to get the fm 2.5 kit)
muffler (current one is too loud)
upper and lower boots for the shifter
seat covers,
stereo/amp and speakers
seats/seat covers
I'll change the fuel filter tomorrow and see if that helps the miss at all and then maybe try a new coilpack.
I wouldn't. For $1100 bucks there are much better ways to get a great handling Miata. For a bit more you can get a proper coil-over setup that you will love. Besides, that the RB tubular sways are way better than the solid set FM offers. Finally, Tokiko shocks don't have a good reputation. You'd be much happier with Koni Sports but forget about lowering your car and keeping a good ride unless you go with a high quality adjustable body coil-over.Quote:
Originally Posted by tuck4x4
Quote:
Originally Posted by black roadster
Thank you! Ill look into it a bit further before making a buy.
I talked to Stevan at Miata Solutions and he reccomended I change to NGK wires. I had replaced what was on the car with cheap O'Reilly generic wires. The NGK's made a crazy difference. It feels like the engine is half again as smooth and it acccelerates much better. A lot of the hesitation is gone. I think whats left is due to oil leaking into my number 1 cylinder.
Bad Piston ring? Would I be better off having the engine rebuilt or buying a used engine from somewhere?
Quote:
Originally Posted by tuck4x4
Did ya change the valve cover gasket yet??Quote:
Originally Posted by tuck4x4
Yes, one of the first things I did. So far Ive replaced Tires, Plugs, wires, valve cover gasket, pcv valve. Cleaned all elictrical connections, checked the CAS oring... Im sure theres more... greased the window runners...Quote:
Originally Posted by POS Racing
When you look into suspension set-ups, include the FM V-Maxx Stage 2 in your evaluations. It includes sways and adjustable-height coil-overs with NB tophats for $850. Depending on what you plan to do with the car, that might be everything you need suspension-wise for a good price.Quote:
Originally Posted by tuck4x4
BTW, on a tired old car, you'll think ANY new shocks are fantastic -- at first. I agree with BR about the Tokico's. At one time, they were the best option but that was years ago. IMHO, new sways, new shocks, and an adjustable-height setup (so you can lower the car an inch or so, not slam it) will make your car handle and feel much better. You can buy very expensive or reasonably-priced stuff. Before you buy the expensive stuff, ask yourself if you'll be able to use (or perhaps even detect) the difference between pretty good and "the best."
Good luck, have fun, and keep us informed on your progress.
today i was leaving the car wash when the car suddenly began to backfire and the engine began bucking massively.
I pulled over and and turned the car off then restarted it, and it ran fine for about 2 minutes. I put it in 1st and almost immediately it began backfiring again. I restarted it a few times and noticed that it would idle fine until I hit the brake. Then it would run rough until finally dying.
A kwik kar was close so i used their obd2 reader and it showed the following codes: p0120, p0335, p0443, p1195, p1345, p1402.
EGR valve and crankshaft and camshaft sensors.
I had washed my engine, although I thought Id been very careful to bag the alternator and use wd40 on wiring, and only use low pressure water, i found water in the Camshaft sensor connector and used compressed air to blow it out. I also took the time to blow any water out of all the other wiring connectors i could find.
After doing this, the car started fine and ran for about 5 minutes. I took it for a drive, and it died 2 minutes later, and this time would not restart. It turns over, fires once or twice, but will not stay on.
I checked the Crankshaft sensor near the front pulley and discovered that the wire was worn from rubbing the belts, exposing the wiring.
To my ears, ( im used to chevy 350s with distributors), it sounds like a timing issue, but how can I tell a Crankshaft sensor issue from a camshaft sensor issue? I can get a Crankshaft sensor for $60, but the camshaft sensor is about $300.
Can we assume you fixed the worn wiring first?
If you washed the engine and had problems from water in the connectors, make completely sure the wiring has had time to dry out before you start swapping parts to find the problem. Next, do you know anybody with a similar car you could swap known-good sensors with? To answer your question directly, i believe the OBD codes don't give you enough information to differentiate which sensor (or sensor circuit --> wiring) is bad. Are you anywhere close to Track Dog or Rogue? They might have spare parts around to try.