Stimulus Check Miata

In reply to cmcgregor (Forum Supporter) :

PM sent. Thank You. The only stuff I know I need is bulky crap it makes no sense to ship from Cali to TN. Tan glove box lid, stock early springs, tonneau cover, etc. Your generosity is appreciated.

In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) (Forum Supporter) :

Got it! I'll get a few in the mail in the next couple days. 

Allright, now I'm just being silly, but I learned this car's color is Marina Green Mica color code 13c. Most M editions are some sort of mica. What the heck is mica, anyway?

The word mica is derived from the Latin word mica, meaning a crumb, and probably influenced by micare, to glitter.

Learning is fun.

I've got limited capabilities due to having carpal tunnel release surgery yesterday, but I put a bread bag on my hand, and did a little bit of stuff.

There is a little bit of smoke coming out the tail pipe.

And I could smell it burning on the exhaust manifold right here.

So, a hearty Thank You to both Mr. Tanner, and cmcgregor for diagnosis and the repair part. This will have to at least improve with a new o-ring.

I pulled the rear deck carpet and pressure washed the thing, and did see some water entry right here.

And also, here in the trunk.

Also, the PO pulled the plugs from the trunk floor, so there's that.

I admit to talking big about the Robbins tops. As much as I want to buy premium stuff for this car, I just couldn't justify what was rapidly approaching hard top money for a wear item. So, I ordered the cheapest, plastic window tan vinyl top I could find. All hail Bezos our new overlord. I did spring for a top with the new rain gutter. While I think this one could be cleaned and reused, the tipping point was weather it leaked or not when I gave it the hose.

For the heck of it, I got a better shot of my cracked windshield,

and the passenger's door.

The whole paint job is pretty beat, and there are nicks, scratches and minor dents everywhere. Maybe a 20 footer is as good as it gets for now.

I also actually looked, and the tires are 195/60/15s, so the gearing is off a bit. One of them appears to have a slow leak, and I hate the wheels. I'll be on the lookout for other options.

"Mica" is Mazda-speak for "metallic". It's also a type of sparkly rock. 

The sierra auto tops seat covers don't suck. Running them in my car.

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) :

Cool. Can you tell me stuff about these headrest speakers? I'm off to find your challenge Miata thread to see what I can see once I post this.

A little bit each day, and since the X1/9 is too much dirty/heavy lifting, the Miata gets attention.

I've been poking around. Seemed like a compression check was the right place to start.

My Haynes manual says 128-182 psi is acceptable, with a max of 28psi difference from highest to lowest. For 265K miles, I'd call that damn good. I am no longer mentally gearing myself up for an engine rebuild.

Spark plugs looked good.

Air filter looked brand new.

I've got new plugs, wires, and filters on the way, but I think they may go on the shelf. I'll probably do the fuel filter, just since those often get ignored.

The oil also looks like honey, so no need to do it right away. Since these are non-interference, I'm thinking I may run the timing belt for a while. This thing has been well maintained.

Does anyone have advice on oil?  My go to for this would be Mobil1 Synthetic high mileage, but I hear rumors about synthetics being the last nail in seal's coffins.

I have lifter tick on start up, but I'm going to try SeaBreeze and an Italian tune up, eventually. It goes away in 5 seconds or less anyway.

Yesterday's project was the clay bar. The result was a marginally better shine.

What do you want. to know about them? Easy enough to work with, sond okish, makes stereo with top down work a lot better at lower volume 

The myth about "synthetic ate ma seal" is because they tend to have (or at least used to have) better gunk removing prowess than the cheap parts store mineral stuff. If it starts leaking after you changed to synthetic oil, the seal(s) that are leaking were well past their last legs. That's assuming you're staying in the same viscosity range and don't do stuff like go from 20W50 to 0W20, obviously.

I usually run/ran synthetic in my NA Miatas, even the higher mileage ones. Although I haven't owned one with over 200k.

Putting off the timing belt because it's a non-interference engine is not my preferred method. When the belt breaks, it won't hurt your engine - but it will ruin your day. You'll need a tow home and of course it will not happen at a convenient time. I've seen belts go at 80k miles.

I run Castrol GTX high mileage on cars like this, usually. Synthetic is great and I have a solid source for Redline, but a stock NA engine is not highly stressed.

In response:

Michael, I understand There are some compatibility issues with aftermarket stereos. Are they weird, 4 ohm units, or standard 8 ohm? are left and right channels at each ear? Is there a choke to keep low range from blowing the tiny speakers? I'll have to research before I have better questions. The factory stereo has an anti-theft code that I don't have, and the PO doesn't either. I'll pull it and see what's what. I'd like to keep it if I can. Cassette and CD.

Thanks, Tim.

Keith, 10W30 right? I'm in the south. Zero Fahrenheit is an extreme and rarely reached low.I have a superstitious feeling real dinosaurs are good in a high mileage engine.  My thought was to get some miles on the car, so I could find problem areas (leaks), and come up with a plan once a thorough diagnosis had been done.

There's a built in crossover. Left speaker left channel,  same with right. Dunno about ohms, but when i wired mine i did it for a minimum of 8 ohm load iach channel. Seemed like the easiest way. 

10W30 is the stock oil weight. Some have found that messing around a little bit with slightly different weights can help with lifter noise.

Try 4989 on that factory radio.

 I freely admit to making a meal of this thread- I apologize if its boring. 

Here's more mundane E36 M3.

I pulled the stereo because the volume didn't work.

Blasted it apart and started cleaning.

I figured the volume knob was like when an electric guitar goes bad, so filled it with acetone and worked it endlessly back and forth, rinsing with more acetone and blowing it out with keyboard cleaner.

Here's all the loose crap that came out.

It appears to be part of a cassette tape, and is definitely part of the cassette player mechanism.

Upon re-installation, the volume worked!

Unfortunately, none of the other buttons did, so I pulled it, blew it apart, and tried again, determining this would be my last attempt.

Success! I'm not even going to try the tape player, but radio and CD player work fine. The driver's headrest speakers don't currently work, but I don't care. I'm just thrilled I don't have to berk with a new head unit, as that would be opening a can of worms.

Bonus, Free CD:

I did some research on this stereo, and couldn't confirm if I have the "bodysonic transducers" or not. Everything I could find in Crutchfield was incompatible with the Mazda Premium Sound System, or whatever it is in this car. Whatever-bullet dodged.

I put the car on jackstands to continue my general picking at it.

The oil leaks have helped keep this car clean.

Continuing the theme of My first Miata, I'm doing basic E36 M3.

Like painting wiper arms.

Also, did a shifter rebuild.

I sprung for the bronze bushing,

I'm going to let the acetone I used, along with a veterinary syringe,  evaporate, then some Redline MTL, and button it back up. 

Since I know you guys like carnage, here's what happened to my truck's radiator today:

It appears, as I tromped it, the fan flexed, catching that (now missing) wire, bending the fan into the radiator until it stopped. This radiator owed me absolutely nothing, and the truck got me the mile home, peeing antifreeze. New fan and fancy aluminum radiator inbound. 

This thread will get just a tiny bit more interesting in the near future. The parts cannon has been humming enough that Francis Scott Key himself would surely take notice.

Ohhhhh painting wiper arms. That's on my list too. The shifter rebuild makes an amazing difference, looks like you replaced the shift boots too?

In reply to cmcgregor (Forum Supporter) :

Of course. I ordered a kit from Treasure Coast Miata, which they claimed "contained the most often worn parts". Turns out they were right. shifter and tunnel seals, bushing for the pin, and I upgraded to the brass lower bushing. 85 bucks.

The two tapered rings were in good nick, and I didn't replace them. So maybe saved 20 bucks.

More mundane E36 M3:

New pedal pads!

And, still picking at it. The good news is the suspension bushings look surprisingly intact. The bad news is it needs an oil pan gasket. 

Just goofing off, I weighed one of the wheels.

I read about 34lbs. for the 15X7 and 195/60/15. Not as bad as I would have guessed, honestly.

The 14X6 and 185/60/14 comes in at about 28lbs. I kind of want to run these. just need to track down one more.

All right, Those with Miata experience, I think I've made up my mind, but I want to ask opinions.

Pull engine, or drop subframe?

I have no lift, and no engine cradle, though I could improvise/make/buy the latter if necessary.

Here's a list of what I need to replace

Timing belt/water pump, 3 front seals.

CAS

Engine mounts

Oil pan gasket

Valve cover gasket.

   Related stuff:

I have an engine hoist

The PO told me he had a new rear main done with the clutch, but the shop said he'd need a new one soon (? CAS?!!) -might be a good idea to check it.

I may also try to DIY a water re-route, which would be easier with the engine out.

Are you SURE you need to replace the oil pan gasket? That almost never needs to be done unless the pan has been removed.

If you don't need to replace it, don't pull the engine. You can swap the mounts by just lifting via the pan. Everything else is just a normal timing belt job. The leaky CAS is always identified as a leaky rear main :)

In reply to Keith Tanner :

You're right, it requires more investigation, but it certainly appeared to be leaking from between the block and oil pan. I'll pressure wash, run it, and check again before pulling the engine. That would be nice, because I was already falling down the rabbit hole to new bearings and rings while I was in there,and could see headwork from there. Your calming wisdom is appreciated.

FYI, the pan is sealed with RTV. There are two half-moon seals at each end where the crank passes by. It's really, really unusual to see a pan spontaneously start to leak.

It's possible to reseal the pan by dropping the subframe, but it's messy because, well, the crankcase is peeing on your head and everything else. Given the mileage, I would tempt the fate of while I am in there and pull the engine if the pan absolutely has to come off. Rings and bearings aren't a terrible plan in that case.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Thank You for your patience and advice.

We're on the same page: If the pan has to come off, the engine's coming out, and likely getting an overhaul.

I've been watching videos on any procedure I might attempt, and golly, there are some whack jobs who love these cars. Almost as much so as the PT cruiser crowd. Plenty of good info, and normal people too, but you definitely have to wade through some interesting characters. One person wearing a crown even told me my Miata was his via video. I still got some good info there. 

I just got finished pressure washing the undercarriage, engine, etc. as clean as I could get it. I'll check it out really well shortly.

I think I still have a set of "big bore" 1.9L high comp pistons and matching head gasket for one of these. You know, "while you're in there" .

BTW, that "frame rail" looks very unsquished, if both look that way congrats are in order. People tend to jack up Miatas on those and mangle them, which makes fitting FM frame rails, err, "fun".