Detroiter needs help with Jackson SC Miata: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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July 19, 2011 12:45 p.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork

i haven't met the guy yet, he's a friend of a friend. and i don't have any info on the car other than it's a JRSC Miata that has a sound like birds chirping under the hood. he's looking for someone in the Detroit area to diagnose and resolve the noise so he can sell the car.

yes, i already suggested removing the birds.

now i'm thinking that i should diagnose it as something catastrophic and buy it cheap.

instead, i'll ask you, o great GRM board, to recommend a shop in the detroit area who will not shy away from looking at a car with an aftermarket blower on it.
July 19, 2011 1:00 p.m. CGLockRacer Reader

ArborMotion in Ann Arbor would be a good place. Not sure if thats too far from him though.
July 19, 2011 1:17 p.m. Xceler8x SuperDork

Has he tried removing the blower belt to see if it's supercharger related? If the belt is pulled and the noise stops...VOILA! Fixed! If it is isolated to that part he could remove the charger and sell the car normally aspirated.

I know it's a lot of work but I thought I'd just suggest this.
July 19, 2011 1:23 p.m. mndsm SuperDork

chirping, is it at regular intervals? Does it increase with RPM? Wild guess sounds like a pulley bearing going south. Tell him the car is worthless and he should sell it to me for 10$.
July 19, 2011 1:45 p.m. scardeal HalfDork

My wife's car had this horrible chirping sound too. It turned out to be a loose belt slipping a bit.

So, I'd double check belt tension and pulleys on the belts.

Or, you know, he can just sell it to me cheap. I'll look into it post-sale.

BTW, I'd second Arbor Motion... good shop.
July 19, 2011 1:57 p.m. alfadriver SuperDork

AngryCorvair wrote:

now i'm thinking that i should diagnose it as something catastrophic and buy it cheap.

Yea, easy challenge car. I like that idea.
July 19, 2011 2:01 p.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork

alfadriver wrote:

AngryCorvair wrote:

now i'm thinking that i should diagnose it as something catastrophic and buy it cheap.

Yea, easy challenge car. I like that idea.

i ran this by my friend and he frowned upon the idea. he says the owner is a good guy. so now i have to find a way to install a part that is going to catastrophically fail in an expensive way while i'm diagnosing the chirp.
July 19, 2011 2:21 p.m. alfadriver SuperDork

AngryCorvair wrote:

alfadriver wrote:

AngryCorvair wrote:

now i'm thinking that i should diagnose it as something catastrophic and buy it cheap.

Yea, easy challenge car. I like that idea.

i ran this by my friend and he frowned upon the idea. he says the owner is a good guy. so now i have to find a way to install a part that is going to catastrophically fail in an expensive way while i'm diagnosing the chirp.

Darn... But a good segway to tell a story a friend of mine likes to tell me.

He was a new member of AROC Detroit a while ago. Had a Datsun 2000, and was ready to get an Alfa. Some dealer in the east advertised an Alfa- with some kind of engine problem, small 1300 engine... Bounced the idea off of a local member with more knowledge. He answered "YOU WANT THAT CAR".

So the two of them head east with the intention of trading the 2000 (I think that's what it was). So they get there, and the dealer goes over this nice red GT, very much a stripper model, since the interior was fairly spartan. Small 1300 motor that had a sound....

Started it up, my friend was alarmed, his friend- "don't worry, just go with it".... Make a deal based on the engine noise, small engine, stripper.

After the deal was done, the other guy (who is also a friend of mine, now) asks the dealer- can we pull the car into the garage, and borrow A tool. Just a 14mm wrench. Starts engine, idles nice and gentle, loosens chain tensioner, noise goes away, tightens tensioner. Dealers jaw drops.

My freind ends up with a GTA Jr. Gotta be worth pretty close to 10x the Datsun. He's had it for a LONG time. 30 some years now. Awesome car.

So just mess with the tensioner...
July 19, 2011 2:48 p.m. mndsm SuperDork

You need an expensive part to catasrophically fail while simultaniously being able to repair it cheap. Challenge price is nothing if it takes 2 grand to get it running.
July 19, 2011 3:37 p.m. Keith SuperDork

You don't need to mess with the tensioner on a Miata with one of those superchargers. They mess with themselves

Sorry, I don't have any names to offer for the Detroit area.
July 19, 2011 8:29 p.m. corytate Reader

Xceler8x wrote:

Has he tried removing the blower belt to see if it's supercharger related? If the belt is pulled and the noise stops...VOILA! Fixed! If it is isolated to that part he could remove the charger and sell the car normally aspirated.

I know it's a lot of work but I thought I'd just suggest this.

first thing i thought of. sounds like a belt noise to me possibly.