NA NEWBIE in perth

shipy59 · Postby **shipy59** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 8:10 pm

Hi all, went and bought myself a 89 na6 with 268,000 km on it. yeah i know its a lot but for 3800 its not bad. within half an hour it had lancer mags n tires on it. Look good but has a lot of backspace so a bit of neg camber on rear but will keep an eye on that. my big concern is it may have a leaking head gasket as we went for a drive up the hills today and she was bubbling nicely when we stopped up top. Got home and can see very small bubbles in rad so hope a retorque n rad flush will sort it out.
got to check out front pulley bolt tension as it looks a bit wobbly. so far love my little red noddy car

doc · Postby **doc** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 11:40 pm

Welcome to The MX-5 Car Talk Forum Shipy.
Nice looking NA.
Wobbly crank?
I'll let the NA guys on here tell you all about it.

Postby **Okibi** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 11:51 pm

Welcome to the obsession.

If it still has an original radiator get a nice aluminium one, it will make a world of difference and less chance you'll cook the engine in Perth's warm weather.

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:45 am

Welcome & congrats!

doc · Postby **doc** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 8:36 pm

Really? No one is going to mention the crank issues with the 1.6 engines?
This guy has a wobbly crank, He's a good guy. Someone fill him in.

Postby **Okibi** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 8:45 pm

http://www.miata.net/garage/crankshaft.html

tescoking · Postby **tescoking** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:07 pm

hope to see you in the club soon

shipy59 · Postby **shipy59** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:57 pm

Hi guys , yep i know all about wobbly crank syndrome.... fixed a couple over my time as a car mechanic. ripped rad out tonight and gave it a power flush so will see how that goes with the last of the warm days coming. looks like it was replaced at some stage with a alli one but someone has painted it :frown:

been getting used to how it sticks in corners and wow,its a bit like a gokart you think you are at the limit but wait theres more grip to be had push harder!!

doc · Postby **doc** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 11:12 pm

Street legal Go-cart!
They're a blast!
(Or a toppless RollerSkate!).

shipy59 · Postby **shipy59** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 11:37 pm

well a little update. pulled rad monday night and power flushed it out. not much crap but saw a little, test drive and seemed ok temp wise.
SO on my way to work the oil pressure slowly dropped and dropped,GOD WHAT NEXT............ so tonight i changed filter,filled with some diesel 15/40 and a dash of thick morreys additive . so far so good. pressure seems higher cold and holding warm. I think it had a stuck relief valve this morning as it was ok for the drive home after work.

geofiz · Postby **geofiz** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 8:52 am

Shipy,

If you need a new radiator, I have a stock NA one that you can borrow until,a replacement arrives. It doesn't leak and is OK, has been in three cars now as a loaner unit

As a bonus, I am just up the hill from you, all of 5 minutes away.

Hope to see you at one of the club meets soon.

shipy59 · Postby **shipy59** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 10:22 pm

HI GUYS n thanks for the rad loan offer but gave it a good power flush and it looks good in condition. guildford to midvale with a/con on,stop start driving and all good , temp was 34 or there about. Sat just under half.
Also oil pressure drop problem cured with a new filter n 15/40 diesel oil with a good dose of morries addative.
One day would like to have a go at the bike dome track,looks like fun now that i know how much grip they have.
A little cosmetic question, is gear shift boot black leather with red stitching and console cover standard fare??

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:00 am

shipy59 wrote:A little cosmetic question, is gear shift boot black leather with red stitching and console cover standard fare??

Originally the gear shift outer boot that attaches to the centre console was black vinyl with white stitching. If by 'console cover' you mean centre console lid, yes there was originally a lid on the rear section of the centre console, but no 'console cover' as such. Sounds like it's all coming together well - as you probably know MX5 have generally been quite reliable, so usually a full baseline service following purchase will sort many issues & minimise others.

shipy59 · Postby **shipy59** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 12:32 am

So tonight i put standard wheels back on as didnt like the ride n noise from the wide tyres/rims.
next is an oil change in box as probably hasnt been done in 268,000 km.

tescoking · Postby **tescoking** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 4:12 am

shipy59 wrote:So tonight i put standard wheels back on as didnt like the ride n noise from the wide tyres/rims.
next is an oil change in box as probably hasnt been done in 268,000 km.

Use Redline MT-90 synthetic gear oil and Redline differential gear oil in your diff