My era of MX5 ownership! Twilight Blue NB8A

[de Bounce]

Hope you get it sorted before the next round @ Bendigo on 10 Sep
Sad to loose part of the team

[hks_kansei]

oring update time.



Spent the weekend doing car stuff, I hacked a hole in the firewall to finally finish my Mania style intake. All that’s left is to:

Attach longer nose to intake

Make some brackets to hold it all

Get some rubber to edge the hole to stop rattles

Relocate washer bottle

Paint the Intake



As well as that I gave my car a much needed proper clean (on the outside anyway…)

Washed as normal, dried, then I went and used a claybar.

I did the bootlid, then decided that there’s no real point to claybars other than for spot removal of stuff (it worked a treat on the scuffs from hitting cones etc at motorkhanas)

Personally I think a good polish does better than a claybar.



Anyway, after that I gave the car a coat of Megs cleaner wax.





Here’s a couple of photos, unfortunately I wasn’t concentrating and stuffed up the lighting (Damn you backlight!!)

It also didn’t help that after about 3 photos is a voice behind me says “Now I’m sure there’s a ticket there……”

I turn around to see a police car and the officer leaning out the window grinning.

I just said “couple more and then I’ll disappear!”

He looks and goes “awwwwww, I dunnoo…..”

I just say “or if it’s better I can pack up and go right now”

He just said “nah, it’s ok, finish up but don’t take too long”

I thanked him and we each went on our merry way.



Here’s the shots:

[hks_kansei]

Recent stuff.

New horn fitted, the horn is now deeper and more "f*ck you" as opposed to "excuse me good sir"


also finally finished the CAI, now just need to paint it and make it look pretty.

[hks_kansei]

Interesting movement of the day….

On the way to work, just as I was literally around the corner my car decides that 4 cylinders are so passé, so it figures it will just run on 3.

After much misfires and hugely noisy backfires I got to work.

Now my thoughts on the symptoms, the issue, and the cause.

The symptoms are:
Idle is slightly lumpy
Under load it misses and backfires
Under very light load it feels ok (not great, but ok)
Very down of power

The cause:
On the weekend I decided to clean my engine bay, I was particularly careful and made sure to keep the coil pack bone dry, and also to try and keep the plugs dry.
After the wash it drove perfectly for the rest of the day.

The issues:
I have checked the oil, and we have no coolant in there. Temp gauge also stayed in one place. So head gasket is ok.
I did change around my intake the other day, but again, it ran happily after that for a couple of days, so that’s not the issue.

I think it’s spark related.

The odd lumpy idle sounds like a missing cylinder.
The backfire would be one cylinder pushing unburned fuel through the exhaust.

My thoughts are that it’s likely Spark plugs, plug leads, or the coil pack.


Going to limp her home tonight and replace the plugs, and also put on another set of leads (that I know work)

If neither of those fix the problem……. Then the hunt for a coilpack begins.

[emex]

Sounds like leads...all the plugs are secure etc?

[Aussie Stig]

Interesting movement of the day….

My first movement of the day is always quite interesting.

[hks_kansei]

Sounds like leads...all the plugs are secure etc?

I think you're on the money here!

Pam came to work this evening and we set about getting me home without a tow.

we changed the spark plugs and she ran happily again, on all cylinders!!
it's not perfect, still a bit down on power and still has a slight hesitation under load.

Going to get some new leads and put them on to hopefully fix that.


when we removed the plugs we found that cylinders 1 and 2 were fine (black from running rich, but that's not abnormal), cylinder 3 had the same, but it had some rust on the top (the external part) so I think some water may have got into the plug well for #3.

#4 was the worry...... it came out black and soaked in fuel, no wonder it wasn't firing.

I think that maybe some water got into #4 and has shorted the lead and caused it to miss, then it's got soaked in fuel and continued to miss.

[hks_kansei]

so, new plugs, and newish leads.

a lot better, but it still misfires every so often under load at low revs.

[hks_kansei]

Ok, long overdue update.

No mods have happened, just basic maintenance.

Next job (hopefully tomorrow) is to give her a service. It's probably a little early, but it's also a nice even KM to do it to make it easy to keep track of.

Nothing special, just oil change and also replace the fuel filter since it's been in there since new.

OEM Mazda fuel filter
Drift Oil Filter (only a couple of dollars more than Ryco, BUT has a nut on the end to make removal easier next time!)
Motul 10w40 (I don't normally go for expensive oils, but the Motul was on special and only $2 more than Castrol Magnatec)



I'm also going to check the spark plugs and put a bit of Dialetic grease on the connections.
I still intermittently get a small misfire every so often. That will need to do until I can get a new set of leads.

[hks_kansei]

Ok, service never happened due to rain, but unfortunately the car is still running like sh*t.

so far I've narrowed it down to either weak spark, or a fuelling issue.

Step 1: dump a bottle of Injector clean through to see if that helps (possibly sticking injector?)
Step 2: Change fuel filter, it's overdue anyway, I just need to get a couple of clips off Mazda.
Step 3: Get out the multimeter and the workshop manual and check that the coils, CAS, and TPS are within spec.
Step 4: Cry if I need to spend the money on one of the above.

If my coil packs are dead, and I can't find a set for under the $800 Mazda want, then I may look into seeing if something else would work (aftermarket coils like Bosch/MSD? or even see if I can get some off a 323/Laser)

The saga continues.

[hks_kansei]

Latest update!
No front number plate!


The only reason being that my Number plate bracket broke and it wasn't holding anymore.

so in the process of making a new one, this time stronger and lighter.

the old one was 1mm Gal, the new one is 3mm Alloy.

Plus some changes to the shape to make it sit nicer and add a bit of strength.

[Aussie Stig]

Latest update!
No front number plate!


The only reason being that my Number plate bracket broke and it wasn't holding anymore.

so in the process of making a new one, this time stronger and lighter.

the old one was 1mm Gal, the new one is 3mm Alloy.

Plus some changes to the shape to make it sit nicer and add a bit of strength.

See the first post of the topic; You know you are a MX-5 tragic when....

[hks_kansei]

it's just not my luck lately.

went to install SE door handles - a screw rusted in so I had to drill it out.

noticed a metallic scraping noise in a carpark while visiting my parent - PPF bolt had fallen out and was scraping on the road. the nut to hold it in is long gone..

and to top it all off, I left the MX at my parents and took my other car and on the way home hit a fox and smashed the front bumper to bits.

Seriously, what the ƒü¢k.

[hks_kansei]

ok, to update on the above post.

I have a replacement PPF nut thanks to the wonderful guys at Allmaz.

And as one does...... I'm replacing the whole diff while I'm down there.

Thanks to Flycasta I've bought a 4.1 Type2 Torsen.


So, we'll be back, stronger and more fun than ever!!

[hks_kansei]

So......
Turns out there's some spacer sleeves that have gone missing as well.

And to top it off the spacer block that sits between the PPF and the diff isn't lines up (nor can I get the splines on the nut to line up)

So, in light of all that, I've decided to send the car to the workshop.

They've got the tools etc to do it in less than half the time I can.
Not to mention they've got the parts to replace whatever else fell out.


So yeah, I'm without an MX5 until at least mid January.

All because a bolt fell out on the 12th of December........