Report on my car

got the car from Gary yesterday.
The crank bolt had come loose and thrown the car way out of time, breaking the key and that is what the problem was. the cam seals were also leaking and he replaced them.

The car is making plenty of power now but dies at every stop sign or everytime I have to push in the clutch and hit the brake to come to a stop.

I have decided to take off the SC/IC and sell them, and return the car to stock and see if I can't get it running properly again.
If it still seems to have a ghost in the machine I will be offering it up as is with all the goodies installed for sale or consider parting the car or trading it in on something that I can depend on.
If interested make an offer.

Gary did a good job locating the problem and fixing the problem and even washed my filthy car!

Hindsight shows me I should have left things alone, and been happy with the car with the power it had it was running perfect before this endeavor...all I can do now is try and find whatever is wrong and fix it if it's something simple, or just be rid of the damned thing...I am strongly leaning towards the latter.

Thanks for all the suggestions and offers to help with the car I appreciate it.

Glad you got some answers...

... as for the whole car, I offer $2-fitty!

So what' s causing the drop whenever you stop?

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Originally Posted by cam76034

So what' s causing the drop whenever you stop?

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Dont know, it didnt start untill I was about 20 miles from gary's house.
a friend thinks it's vacum related...I am just tired of chasing problem after problem.

I am waiting to hear back from Gary about how much he will charge to remove it all and when i can get it back over there.
if it weren't a salvage title car i would burn it up myself, today! and collect the insurance.

Do you know how much you will be asking for your SC/IC?

I need to wait and see what Gary says is a fair price.
i paid 4400. for everything. if that gives you an idea, i know i will take a beating for my 3-4 weeks of having it in the car but I am not going to give it away either.

So reasonable offers please.

So what were Gary's thoughts on the crankbolt coming loose? That can't be common.

Billy, A LOT of supercharged Miatas experience what you are describing... we call it idle droop. I had it on my car prior to installing a full ECU. It is usually more common in cold weather. The best way I found to combat it is bumping the idle up little by little until you find the point where the droop doesn't droop far enough to cause a stall.

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Originally Posted by Titus

Billy, A LOT of supercharged Miatas experience what you are describing... we call it idle droop. I had it on my car prior to installing a full ECU. It is usually more common in cold weather. The best way I found to combat it is bumping the idle up little by little until you find the point where the droop doesn't droop far enough to cause a stall.

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Well this would be the first winter with this in the car, it wasn't doing it before when it was running right though.

I have read on the other forum about Mega Squirt and enough stuff to make your head spin about changing to aftermarket ECU's but I am willing to stop the madness here.....I cant spend another 1000.+ to get the car to stay running when i come to a stop.
I wasnt told this would happen either by anyone I asked.

I am going to turn up the idle today, but I am pretty sure to turn it up enough that it doesnt stall at stops it will be resting at a regular idle of at least 1500 to 2K maybe more.

As far as the bolt Andy....yes I was told that this happens, and has happened often enough to be a genuine concern.

Sorry to hear about the new issues Billy. Hope everything works out for the best.

Thanks Sammm.

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Originally Posted by sammm

Sorry to hear about the new issues Billy. Hope everything works out for the best.

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+1

It certainly gives me something to think about regarding going FI.

So the reason you were bad-mouthing Gary and John the motor-man was.....

I wasn't bad mouthing anyone.

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Originally Posted by Bacon

So the reason you were bad-mouthing Gary and John the motor-man was.....

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Actually, Billy showed remarkable restraint under the circumstance, much more so than I would have.

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Originally Posted by cam76034

Actually, Billy showed remarkable restraint under the circumstance, much more so than I would have.

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+1. I saw no flaming. He has shown incredible patience with the situation and I saw no negative personal comments. Care to point any out that we have missed Bacon?

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Originally Posted by Titus

Billy, A LOT of supercharged Miatas experience what you are describing... we call it idle droop. I had it on my car prior to installing a full ECU. It is usually more common in cold weather. The best way I found to combat it is bumping the idle up little by little until you find the point where the droop doesn't droop far enough to cause a stall.

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Ditto. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. After all of the issues you'd had (and now have resolved), a little idle droop is no big deal...

well i consider it a big deal since I almost ran into the back of another car trying to brake and clutch and keep the car running at the same time.

since i have had the car i have had one bad experience after another, including rebuilding the motor, i have an insane amount of money in it....but I have been down this road before and from experience you have to know when to say enough is enough.
I should have said that when the motor needed a rebuild but I had faith that it would be strong.....i never considered the crank bolt would come out.
i have 7600.00 in the engine and SC alone and will see maybe a 4200.00 return on that if I am lucky.
i could lie to myself some more and say well almost everything is new now, but last time I did that it cost me another 500.

So I really just want to be rid of it now, it doesn't even feel right to drive it anymore, cant trust it so i gotta get rid of it.

My plan is to try and get a gently used NC with a CLEAR Carfax.
But I am at this point considering other options.

I've been there and I've held on waaaaaay too long. My rule of thumb is if it isn't fun anymore, then it's time to cut your losses and get out - or, uh, get a second car. Or course, I sank probably close to $15K into my old gray-market BMW 745, so I guess my tolerance is pretty high... and I still have three "second" cars I'd like to get rid of.
::BaHump::



So, uh... are you going to auction the blower off to the high bidder? ;)

that depends, how much are you offering?

Sent you a PM...

I was actually in the same boat with my 240SX, fixing problem after problem. In hindsight, I wish I had stuck with it. But I am happy with my NC. So I still am not not sure where I stand.

I think I will just accept I got a good car in the end, shut up, and move on.

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Originally Posted by Billy Blaze

well i consider it a big deal since I almost ran into the back of another car trying to brake and clutch and keep the car running at the same time.

since i have had the car i have had one bad experience after another, including rebuilding the motor, i have an insane amount of money in it....but I have been down this road before and from experience you have to know when to say enough is enough.
I should have said that when the motor needed a rebuild but I had faith that it would be strong.....i never considered the crank bolt would come out.
i have 7600.00 in the engine and SC alone and will see maybe a 4200.00 return on that if I am lucky.
i could lie to myself some more and say well almost everything is new now, but last time I did that it cost me another 500.

So I really just want to be rid of it now, it doesn't even feel right to drive it anymore, cant trust it so i gotta get rid of it.

My plan is to try and get a gently used NC with a CLEAR Carfax.
But I am at this point considering other options.

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Billy, I know you've been frustrated. And I'm NOT telling ya what to do. But if you're a screw turn away from having a fun, driveable car, I say turn that screw first...

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Originally Posted by miataspeedracer

Billy, I know you've been frustrated. And I'm NOT telling ya what to do. But if you're a screw turn away from having a fun, driveable car, I say turn that screw first...

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i tried adjusting the idle it idles at 1500 rpms now consistantly and still dies at stops.