1990 Mazda Miata MX5 - service

[MiataMark]

The wife is using the MX5 at the moment, Disco is playing up [again], and got stopped by the Police! They obviously thought it was a 'youth' out in thier unroadworthy, untaxed and uninsured car, got a bit of surprise when they found out it was being driven by a granny (my wife's words and we're not actually grandparents yet). Even got her to show him that the lights and wipers worked.

They should be out there catching actual criminals (like the driver on his mobile that drove past whilst she was stopped).

[johnthesparky]

I’ve been stopped once by the police, I ran round in a mk6 transit for a couple of months waiting for a new van.
previous van got hungry and ate the turbo! The transit was very reminiscent of the sort of van driven by a certain subsection of society. It was 10pm, I stepped out and got breathalysed and was polite and helpful and they didn’t know what to do

[MiataMark]

When asked if the car was MOT'ed and insured my wife kindly informed the policeman that he could look it up on his system... I wouldn't dare to give an answer like that.

[MiataMark]

Although in this case modern is relative as the vehicle sin question are '04 and '07.

Discovery - wife has been saying something not right for weeks which I've ignored putting it down to difference between a new started and the old one. Last weekend there was a failure to proceed, after much churning etc got it started, a few more instances and it's pretty obvious that air is getting into the fuel supply. Off to garage for new fuel filter and air bleed valve, fuel pressure is OK. OK for a day then another failure to proceed, helpfully while I'm a coupe of hundred miles away, so now in garage for new injector seals, ~£300 :-(

Alfa - wife using Alfa while Disco' in garage, yesterday non-starter while she was a stables. Jump start and get it home, flat, really flat batter, charge up over night seems OK this morning but tailgate won't unlock (it only has an electronic lock). It has done this before and I just put it down to Italian car quirkiness (otehrwise known as character).

Meanwhile MX5 just keeps working, I think my next daily might be a more modern Mazda!

[MiataMark]

Update;

Hooray

Discovery - fixed and serviced now running much better (well back from garage so far) only ~£500

Boo

Alfa - looks like it's an alternator fault, I can buy one from ECP for about £215 and it should only be just over an hour to fit. So do I buy one and fit it myself to save myself about £100 or get a garage to do it and spend the probably half day it would take me to change it on the MX5 instead?

Anyway will be spending the bank holiday behind the keyboard doing work to pay for it all (might find some time to edit the picture I took at RRG).

Been a bit distracted looking BMW 130i's (if I change the Alfa it needs to be RWD, petrol, above 200bhp and hatchback or estate) for sale on autotrader/pistonheada, but for that to happen we'll need to go down the cockerpoo route...

[johnthesparky]

What’s the cockerpoo route? Is that instead of a horse?

[MiataMark]

Aug 24, 2019 12:09:05 GMT johnthesparky said:

What’s the cockerpoo route? Is that instead of a horse?

We have a Cocker Spaniel curse word (female dog), we could breed some cockerpoos (or even Cocker Spaniels if her breeding restriction can be lifted) and make some money to spend on cars   Horse has to stay.

[ballbagbagins]

Time vs money on the alternator. If the garage are good I'd value some car tinkering time over £100.

[MiataMark]

Not much to report, the Discovery and Alfa are running (that'll put the kiss of death on them) I went to RRG in the MX5 as reported elsewhere. Since then I've not really done anything to it, I'm trying to use it occasionally when I can think of an excuse.

Which brings me to yesterday, popped out to get some milk and yes I really did need to go to the Sainsbury's in town via the outlying villages... Coming up to near Sainsbury's a pick-up was coming out of a side street on the right blocking the traffic, cars in front stopped to let it out and I swear I don't see any brake lights. Cue an emergency stop, locked all 4 wheels and slid towards the MINI in front (they look huge when you're in a MX5), luckily stopped in time so a bit of an anti-climax I'm glad to say.

So despite being a bit spongy after 2 track days the new brakes work well, do still need another bleed though.

I can't see me doing much with the car over the winter with other priorities, would be good to get the front & rear bumpers off and paint stripped and maybe start collecting parts for a supercharger. I will try and keep using it but will try to be more observant

[MiataMark]

They say every petrolhead should own an Alfa Romeo at some point so even if it was a diesel estate sport wagon I can now cross that off the list!

I was hoping to get another year or so out of the Alfa but at the weekend it started to make funny noises (probably power steering pump) and on a couple of occasions puffed out a lot of smoke after lifting off (turbo going bad?). Also I have my doubts whether it would get through another MOT on visible smoke and the windscreen is cracked. Having a bit of disposable money at the moment and despite it being in the middle of the coronavirus panic hitting autotrader seemed like a good idea...

Aim was;
- RWD (I'm fed up of front wheel drive)
- petrol (I'm fed up of diesel)
- hjatchback or estate (because dogs)
- reasonably powerful
- climate control (I've been spoilt)
- ~50K miles
- not white

Which really only lead to one car, at the money I wanted to spend, a BMW 1 series*. Lots of diesels and lower powered petrol and a very tempting 125 but right at the top of my price range. Then I found a 116i (170bhp petrol) with climate control good price (reduced by £500 as people cancelling viewings), at 49K miles ticks all the boxes except being white. Whatever, I bought it and got a measley £500 for the Alfa but at least I was spared the issues with getting it repaied and then trying to sell it in the current climate.

*I'm sure others could come up with alternatives but it suits me, and there are 2 locasl BMW specialists.

No pictures as it's a boring white modern car that you can see any day of the week. Won't even mention it in my signature. There is a temptation to take it along to a treack day and run it round Castle Combe though. My wife is pleased as she never really liked the Alfa and wanted something German.

The Alfa did a good job got rid of it at 108K, that's 67K in 5 1/2 years, cambelt went on it, needed a new (secondhand) gearbox, DMF and clutch plus lots of messing around with EGR/DPF.


On the MX-5 front lack of motivation has struck, again, I used it a few times before Christmas but since then it hasn't been used. Need to sort through the cooling system and give it a service then think about getting it painted. Would like to do the RR track day in July, virus willing.

[MiataMark]

Today I thought I'd try and do a couple of small jobs on the MX5.

First off was car ramps, I have a set of ramps but can't use them as the car is too low. I also have (had now) a length of sturdy wood so if I chop it in half I can make some ramp extenders.

First job turn car round as it's facing out and the drive slopes down towards the garage. I wanted to do this as next job is to drain the cooling system down. Now we have first problem I can't open the drivers door, lock moves but the handle doesn't open the door. In from passenger side and it opens from the inside. Car starts first time, that's after 3 months sitting idle. Quick drive up road to turn round, 2 trails of liquid and then water flowing from front of car. Initial thoughts that something has gone in the cooling system but no it's dripping from the front of the sills (remember they were rebuilt last year). I'm guessing water has gathered somewhere at the back and turning it round it has flowed to the front. Best check the hood drain tubes later.

Ramp extenders, they work but are narrower than the tyres so care will be needed.




For the door lock I took off the door card and gave everything a liberal dose of WD40 seems OK now but will probably need a new lock set, the cover for the keyhole doesn't spring back. Oh and the door cards are nasty, especially after seeing the ones gryphon fitted would like something similar but without the arm rest. (I've fitted door pulls).

That's enough for today, I was hoping to get my bike back in use but got a puncture and the tyres are well past their best (28 years old).

[gryphon]

I think my door locks are in a similar state to yours. Not sure if my keyhole cover is stuck in there or if it's fallen off.

Door card wise if the hardboard is still good I think quite a nice job could be done with some quilted upholstery material from and some contact adheisive over the old door cards. That's all mine are, just with new backing.

[MiataMark]

Way back in the beginning of this I bough a 2 gauge instrument panel to fit in the 'tombstone', I've never got round to doing anything with it. I wanted to have a voltmeter and oil temp gauge, however since then the availability of cheap digital voltmeters and USB ports changed the thoughts.

Initial idea is to have space for a digital voltmeter and then a traditional 52mm oil tempo gauge. In order to fit the voltmeter in the panel I needed to have an adapter. Some aluminium cut to size and fixed with 4 bolts should do the trick (I could have glued it bit want the flexibility to swap out for a gauge if needed.



I badly cut some ali to size and drilled a big hole, first time with a step drill hand-held so its maybe not as accurate as it could be.



and fitted (well its not as I've misplaced the fittings...)



I need to get some cap head M4 screws (I thought I had some) and I've got a combined voltmeter/USB fitting somewhere.

As to when it will actually be fitted which requires removal of the tombstone installation of a different CD/Radio I've got and some wiring who knows! I'll make up another blank for the other hole for the time being.

Not exactly riveting (I used screws) compared to most fabrication o here but small steps.

[ballbagbagins]

How come you want to monitor the volts?

I've only got oil temp and oil pressure and the pod that holds my gauges does have a 3rd empty space.

[MiataMark]

Apr 13, 2020 10:33:21 GMT ballbagbagins said:

How come you want to monitor the volts?

I've only got oil temp and oil pressure and the pod that holds my gauges does have a 3rd empty space.

As the car doesn't get used that much having an idea of the state of the battery seems like a good idea. It'll also have USB ports as well.

As mine is an early car the oil pressure gauge (in the instrument pod) is actually a gauge so don't really need a separate one.

[MiataMark]

Unfortunately not flush as in lots of money, but thought it was time to finally sort out the cooling system. I've always been a bit suspicious about the cooling system, when I bought the car the thermostat housing was bodged (see some of my original posts) up (a common issue on MX5's) and I replaced the housing. I had issues before with the top hose partially collapsing, whether this was cause ore effect I don't know, and I do seem to lose some coolant over time. Last year in preparation for a track day I bough a new thermostat and radiator cap directly from Mazda but never got round to fitting them. I think there was some posts from ChasR about using original spec thermostats so I went OEM.

Today was the day, first off remove thermostat, ummm dry as a bone.



Removed the radiator drain plug, didn't strip which is a win in my book, and flushed the system, hose in top of radiator and also thermostat housing (couldn't get the bottom hose off due to access to the fastener, I probably could if I'd really tried).



Very brown 'water' came out but eventually ran cleaner



Filled up ran up to temperature, then had a cup of tea, drained and semi-flushed again and refilled. I've only filled with plain water for the time being will run it a few times (post lockdown) and then drain/flush again and re-fill with anti-freeze. Also to check if I am losing water and if I am try to work out where.

Oh and a nice new OEM radiator cap (and comparison with old one)

I also want to remove the A/C equipment, which will free up a lot of space.

While I was out I pulled the stereo out as another ongoing project is to replace the ICE with a Sony CD/USB unit I've got and the voltmeter panel I've been working on.

What a rats next I'm left with!



That's going to take some sorting out, for some reason the speaker cabling has been bypassed/replaced.

[ChasR]

Good stuff!

I forgot about the MX-5 stat. I suspect the factory stat had the 'mini' stat built in so as to get around the cooling issues on the rear cylinders , and thus 'shock' the engine less.

I'd keep an eye on those temps however as I doubt your rad will be as efficient. I think you may be OK but with that kind of water, and what was present previously, flushing won't get it out despite it running clear.

Rodding will clear the rad but these days, that's almost as expensive as a new rad. Even a stock new rad will bring a pleasant difference.

[MiataMark]

There is a cooling reroute kit to addtess the rear cylinder cooling, but pricey at £172

I haven't had any real overheating issues yet, including track days, so will stick with what I've got buy keep an eye on levels. Removing the A/C radiator should help a bit as well.

[MiataMark]

Like a lot of people I've lost interest this year and a distinct lack of motivation has set in, not helped by a lack of funds for the more expensive jobs required (e.g. paint job). I was looking forward to doing more track days this year but restrictions to the number of people able to attend etc. put me off. So nothing much has been done this year.

Earlier this month I did sort out the MOT, which had been extended from June to December. At the last MOT there were advisories on brake pipes and I also had a set of braided lines that I hadn't got round to fitting so I got the garage to fit the lines and do the MOT. Predictably it also need some new brake lines, so £260 for MOT new brake lines, fit braided flexies, and adjust handbrake.

As I'm not using it and the sills fill up with water and it looks like an eyesore I bought a cheap car cover (if it lasts this winter I'll be happy).

So covered up until next year and hopefully some track days and maybe even a respray. If anybody knows of somebody that could do a reasonable respray and a good price I'd like to know, I'm happy do do some of the prep.

Oh and the reliable German Alfa replacement is potentially looking at a large bill for a possible coolant leak, known issue (N13B16?).

[MiataMark]

Well actually only 1 decision…

I haven’t done much with the MX5 since the summer of ’19, after the welding and brake works I did a couple of track days and then it’s pretty much been ignored and sat on the drive making the place look untidy! I have used it for the occasional run and it always starts and still makes me smile when I drive it.

So it’s a case of use it or lose it (from SWMBO), i.e. get it sorted out and looking better or sell it.

So today I did a little road trip to Bristol to get a quote for bodywork restoration. The run itself was uneventful, down the M4 with the hood down, stable water temp and oil pressure. Back via the country roads all good fun except for the amount of traffic.

There is a bodyshop who advertise in the MX5 club magazine and seem to turn out good work. I spent the best part of 2 hours talking things through and general car chat. They had 3 other red NA MX5’s in being worked on and the quality of work is very high but then so was the quote >£4K gulp!

So the decision(s), do I go for it and get the body up to near show standard, get rid (and lose lot’s of money) or maybe just paint it with graffiti paint?

The benefit of paying for a top draw paint job are, I’ll know it’s been done properly, work done by a MX5 specialist, very though work (doors off, hood off, door shuts done, seals removed etc).

If I get it done I’ll need to keep it for a few more years and use it more, club runs etc, not sure I’d risk track days after spending that much.

I can reduce the cost by doing some prep myself, but I really don’t have the skill/tools/space to do a spray job myself.

I've probably already talked myself into getting it painted with some work done by myself prior...