I picked up my first Miata today, its not really a project car, but not ready to be a daily driver "Yet" but it will be soon.
I was able to drive it home from Kellar, and even with the low end stumbles it was fun. I didn't think a car with so little hp could have such a grin factor when it not running at its best.
BTW whats the part between the headlights called I guess I'm looking for a red one.
Congrats!
2005 Lava Orange MSM #601/1428
211 rwhp, 195 ft. lbs on 1/6/07
I didn't get to take any pictures during the day, but here are two picture we took right after I put it in the garage last night.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2091/...5cca0003_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2112/...31e5570f_o.jpg
I get a few more at lunch Thursday.
Thanks,
Its a 92 with 142000 miles, with working ac, I think no power steering and roll up windows. I'm not sure about LSD yet, I forgot to ask, and I haven't looked under it yet. Are Mazda factory LSD Diff's normally labeled? Except for the paint, and the low RPM performance its great. I'm going to try and get inspected at the end of the month, if it passes I'll started driving it soon after until its ready to be repainted.
Congrats and Thanks!
I didn't realize it was you who purchased my car.
It has power steering but I didn't check if it had LSD (my son would not have cared). I believe that the easiest way to check is to jack both rear wheels off the ground and hand turn one wheel. If the other spins in the same direction, LSD. If it spins in the opposite or doesn't spin at all, no LSD.
Didn't the fresh gas clear up the rough running? It seemed to make quite a big difference the other night. You might run some strong injector cleaner through it to help before you try anything else. A lot of people like a product called Seafoam. Anybody here have a comment about that stuff?
Give me a call if you have any questions and I will try to help. Or post here. There are a lot of Miata experts in the Metroplex.
Currently Miata-less... 2007 Brilliant Black NC PRHT, to replace 2006 Winning Blue NC, to replace 2002 SE, to replace 1993 LE #1322 and so on and so on...
I think it helped a lot, but it still stumbles really bad at low RPM's, however over 4000 its great. The only other weird thing I noticed was the airbag light coming on, but I'm hoping thats just some strange Miata thing I;ve not heard of yet.
The current plan is to get a new battery, and try to get it to pass inspection next week so I can take for a spin before I get it painted.
BTW my wife is now glad I bought it, shes saw the potential after a few well placed photos of miata's from the internet.
Thanks
Here are a few photos I took today. My plan is for it to look very different in the months to come. For some reason my wife believes I need to ad a roll bar :)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/...f3d31e2c_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2193/...2c63746e_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2156/...b62258ce_b.jpg
Before going hog wild on checking the car for the stumbling issue you should do a tune up. Replace the PCV valve, plugs (Use NGK!), wires, air filter, and gas filter. (Gas filter is up under the car near the rear passenger tire)
The Miata is well know for chewing up plug wires. While you have the plug wires off, inspect the tops of the coil packs for deterioration. That's a sign of the coil wire not being seated properly in the pack.
Oh, and NEVER run a Miata without the spark plug wires and plugs being in place. It's a good way to fry a coil pack.
Go to a Chevron station. Dump in a bottle of their Techron gas cleaner and fill the car with plus or super. That'll clean the system nicely.
Once you do that you should be good to go. If not, get a can of Seafoam and a can of 'carb cleaner' to clean the intake assembly and the top end of the engine. When you use the Seafoam it'll smoke like hell so do it outside and preferably at night to keep the neighbors from watching.
As for the airbag - if it's 10 blinks the module is hosed. If it's 3 or 4 blinks then there are some capacitors you can replace in the module that usually cures the blinking problem. If you search the pointy board (what we call www.miata.net) forums you'll find my posts on that subject.
Once you have that all done, go get it inspected. If it fails you'll need to replace the catalytic converter. A cheap free-flow weld-in aftermarket cat will work fine. On my old 92 I paid $180 installed and out the door.
Then... after all that is done, set the timing to 14 degrees BTDC for a good free boost in power. Make sure you read how to do it carefully as there is a jumper in the diagnostics connector you have to install to get the timing set right.
RJ
Daily Driver: 2013 Club edition in Pearl White Mica
Lightness? What's that? I drive a PRHT!
x2 on ChannelManiac's suggestions. I ran into a similar problem when I got my car -- Here's what I did
Originally Posted by Jeremy Clarkson
Currently:
1991 Mariner Blue (daily driver)
Previously:
1994 M-Edition
How much sea foam do I need to use, and how long will it continue to smoke. Is it something I can do at home, or do I need to take out on road. I'm a little hesitant to drive it any real distance until I get it tagged and inspected.
New "NGK" Blue Plug wires and NGK plugs.
Techron Concentrate, (Not the injector cleaner)
Do not spray "Carb Cleaner" into the throttle body, it will remove the coating.
I did not have good luck with "Seafoam", other than neighbor nearly calling the fire dept. :o
I used nearly an entire can of Seafoam on my Integra, and my brother used ofer half in his Saturn. I didn't seem much difference, but his car was stumbling before and it ran GREAT after the treatment.
But +1 on the plugs and wires... use the OEM NGK stuff. They work better than any "performance" parts, at least for a stock car.
And Rogue, you recommended the Techron to me too but I keep forgetting to use it, lol. It's so long between fillups I never remember the bottle I bought
09 Lexus RX350
.... no Miata