Stumbing and stalling issues

[apariah]

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.

[black roadster]

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.

Letssee some pics.

Are you referring to the panel between the tail lights? If so, it's called a rear finish panel. You can get a repo from R-Speed for $200.

[Walsted]

Letssee some pics.

Are you referring to the panel between the tail lights? If so, it's called a rear finish panel. You can get a repo from R-Speed for $200.

I was thinking Hood, Deer, or Unfortunate Pedestrian.

[apariah]

Thats it, the piece between the taillights. I'll post pictures after I get home tonight, it needs paint, and some work, but wow was it fun.

Letssee some pics.

Are you referring to the panel between the tail lights? If so, it's called a rear finish panel. You can get a repo from R-Speed for $200.

[Magma]

Congrats!

[apariah]

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.

[XM_Rocks]

Congrats!

What year and how many miles?

[apariah]

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.

[mildensteve]

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.

[apariah]

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

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.

[apariah]

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

[channelmaniac]

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

[apariah]

Thanks for the info, that should help get everything sorted much sooner.

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

[flyin94m]

x2 on ChannelManiac's suggestions. I ran into a similar problem when I got my car -- Here's what I did

[apariah]

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.

[POS Racing]

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.

Ya know ya can start a new post, come on give it a try it is fun!

[Rogue]

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

[MadMonkey]

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

[apariah]

After the plugs/wires, and battery, its almost like a new car, I'll try the seafoam tonight.

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.