Ownership Verified: A stablemate for the Mustang (Miata content inside)

So now I have 4 sets of wheels and tires for this car. Not sure why. Actually I do know why - because I'm an idiot.

Before
J3ad5IN.jpg


After
ner1Vv9.jpg
 
I've had a really annoying metallic rattle develop over the last few weeks. Spent all of yesterday taking my car apart to find it.

4ckjDhK.jpg


Thought I did. Fixed it, put it back together and noooopppeeee. On the plus side I didn't make it any worse which I guess is good.

You can hear it really well in the first 10 seconds of this video (after I hit my phone on the rollbar).
[video=youtube;H9d234Aem-U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9d234Aem-U[/video]
 
SDPgmZG.png


I think theres a Miata somewhere in there.
 
This UCA joint should be centered shouldn't it....

57UROyD.jpg


Guess its probably time for new bushings.
 
So what was supposed to be just a quick inspection tuned into a massive whole day ordeal. Shesred one of the sway bar bracket studs when I was putting it back on and all hell broke loose. Some sites said to tap it out. So I tried. And failed. There was no way that thing was coming out.

So I dropped the exhaust and started drilling it.
i8ho99T.jpg


Drilled through it but couldnt get the head off no matter how hard I tried. Took the Jeep to Home Depot, bought a dremel and went to town with the grind wheel. Finally got it to a point where I could put a new bolt through. Was totally not my plan for the day.

xhEstMs.jpg

7VAOsVj.jpg
 
Last edited:
Working on cars hardly ever goes exactly as planned. But you got a new toy, er, ah tool. :D
 
Airbag light started flashing on the way to work. 4 flashes = faulty S-sensor. Looks like I have my work cut out for me this weekend. Not going to solder it if its bad though, will just replace the unit.

EDIT: Balls. Hopefully I won't need to replace the sensor. Its $360.
 
Last edited:
$360 buys you a bucket seat and harnesses, which negate the need for an airbag. Just saying :whistle:

Talking to a shop that builds Miata race cars and sells off the excess parts. They want $25 for this part. Waiting to hear back the working condition of the sensor they have listed.

EDIT: Digging around lots of miata.net thread - many people reporting that the problem isn't the S sensor itself, but leaking capacitors on the diagnostic module board. Fortunately, 1990-1992 Ford Tauruses used the same airbag diagnostic module (some people also say all 90-91 Fords), but for some reason those made it through the test of time better. This will be my first point of attack this weekend. Hopefully that's all it'll be as my local junk yard has a bunch of early 90s Fords to scavenge.

Links for personal reference:
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=332125
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=393008
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=454836
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=330078
http://imgur.com/a/fU4Jo
 
Last edited:
Put a Works Bell steering hub and eBay wheel on it, broooo. What's an airbag?

Actually, the Nardi wheel I had was about an inch narrower in diameter...and the size of it felt fantastic. Much more controllable and comfortable. From there you can install an airbag delete wire but I just took the airbag light out from the dash. :unsure:
 
Update: When I left work it was fine with no lights, but during the drive home it proceeded to cycle through ALL the airbag codes possible before settling on the 10 flash - aka faulty diagnostic module. I'm going to take that to mean its definitely that module and not the S-Sensor it was indicating earlier. Found a bunch on eBay for $100 or so, but I'm hoping to pull a bunch of $5 ones from the junk yard in the hopes of finding one good one.
 
Yesterday the Jeep, today the Miata. Finally got around to tackling the leaking valve cover gasket. Been loosing lots of oil and can't find a leak anywhere else, so this was a prime suspect. Plus it was cheap, easy and needed to be done sooner than later.

II6INlb.jpg

BzCaxi5.jpg



My tiny gasket next to one for my buddy's M52 BMW motor. Its soooo tinyyyy
bnWXUTG.jpg


Rather pleased with the general state of things.
tZLajoJ.jpg
 
It seemed fine so I didn't touch it. Cleaned the area off and will monitor to make sure no new oil oozes out.
 
PO almost gave me a heart attack today. Needed to head out on a last minute business trip to Canada today, but the driver's door speaker has been cutting out lately, so I decided to fix it before hitting the road. I figured it would just be a loose connection or something. Pull the speaker out and I see this

DIawp8g.jpg

1cchhVS.jpg


Immediate thought: "Oh my fucking god, I've been driving around with the PO's drugs in my door for the last 2 years." After all, this was a Colorado car before I bought it.

Then I noticed the wires all went into the bag. Turned out it was the padding and "waterproofing" for the crossover to the ghetto jerry-rigged tweeters the PO installed in the doors.

iIplw0k.jpg


Crisis averted. Fixed the wiring as best I good. Replaced the terrible plastic bag with some sandwich ziplocks (pictured above) and went on my way. Might try to un-ghetto the sound system this winter.
 
:lol:
 
More gremlins coming up from the PO's ghetto wiring. Looks like I'm definitely gonna need to figure that out this winter.

Was in Canada for a business trip with the car, everything was going smoothly. Drove the 250 miles there on Sunday night, made it to work fine Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Stopped at a deli before heading home today to grab a bite to eat. Came out, put the key in the cylinder, turned it and nothing. All the electrics came on, but it wasn't turning over. Not a peep from the starter. Took the key out, tried again, and nothing. Started panicking since I had no tools, and was way far from home. Was sitting there thinking what to do when I noticed a ticking noise coming from under the steering column. The same tick that I hear when I reconnect the battery after doing electrical work and it sets off the ghetto alarm system the PO wired in. Got out of the car and sure enough all the lights were flashing. Usually when that happens though all I need to do is turn the key to ON to reset the system since I don't have a keyfob or anything (manual locks). Without any way of disconnecting the battery I started looking for a way to reset the system, when I remembered an inline 10A fuse holder spliced into the positive lead from the battery. Having nothing better to do, I pulled that fuse out, put it back in, turned the key and she fired right up.

Got home just fine, stopped a few times here and there and she started normally every time. But man was that a stressful 10 minutes of scrambling around a Canadian parking lot.
 
Last edited:
More gremlins coming up from the PO's ghetto wiring. Looks like I'm definitely gonna need to figure that out this winter.

Was in Canada for a business trip with the car, everything was going smoothly. Drove the 250 miles there on Sunday night, made it to work fine Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Stopped at a deli before heading home today to grab a bite to eat. Came out, put the key in the cylinder, turned it and nothing. All the electrics came on, but it wasn't turning over. Not a peep from the starter. Took the key out, tried again, and nothing. Started panicking since I had no tools, and was way far from home. Was sitting there thinking what to do when I noticed a ticking noise coming from under the steering column. The same tick that I hear when I reconnect the battery after doing electrical work and it sets off the ghetto alarm system the PO wired in. Got out of the car and sure enough all the lights were flashing. Usually when that happens though all I need to do is turn the key to ON to reset the system since I don't have a keyfob or anything (manual locks). Without any way of disconnecting the battery I started looking for a way to reset the system, when I remembered an inline 10A fuse holder spliced into the positive lead from the battery. Having nothing better to do, I pulled that fuse out, put it back in, turned the key and she fired right up.

Got home just fine, stopped a few times here and there and she started normally every time. But man was that a stressful 10 minutes of scrambling around a Canadian parking lot.
Canada's second only to your homeland in terms of size. Where precisely did you go?
 
Oakville. Home of the Edge, Flex, MKX and MKT.
 
Gather round everyone and listen to the story of how CrzRsn found out hes an idiot.

So starting with the last story with the security system going nuts. I thought it was something to do with the security system and the fact that pulling that fuse and resetting it got me started only convinced me more.

Fast forward to yesterday. So I'm driving home from work and pull over to fill up. Get back into the car and the security system is going nuts again. Open the trunk, pull the fuse, reset it, drive the car off - I didn't try to start it first though, so maybe I didn't even need to do that. Anyways - I'm driving and the radio keeps cutting out for a second or two. I decide to pull over to investigate, couldn't find any loose contacts, get back into the car, turn the key and nothing. Turn the key again and nothing. No door open buzz, no radio, no lights, no starter, no anything. Pull that random inline fuse again, put it back, try again, and still nothing. Fuck. What am I going to do, I've just had a total electrical failure, I'm miles from home and have no tools. Luckily though I had pulled over in a Home Depot parking lot. Ran inside, bought a $10 wrench (the only one I could use and return) to undo the battery hoping all I'd need to do is reset the whole electrical system. I go to disconnect the positive terminal, but the wrench I bought was too big to fit in the right space around the bolt. Fuck fuck, so I can't do that. Maybe if I jump it? Start wandering the parking lot looking for someone to jump my car, a nice dude in a DSM Eclipse agrees to do it. We get the cars lined up, I go to connect the jumper cables and notice that the negative lead was not on the battery. Last time I was working on my car, I must've not tightened it down hard enough and it must've bounced off. Put it back onto the battery and immediately see the lights start flashing meaning the security system had gone off. Told the guy to hold on, key in, turn, and the motor came to life. Welp, I'm an idiot. I don't think I should own cars.

Heres a top tip to all of you - don't pull over to diagnose issues on the drive home from work, it can wait until you're in your driveway surrounded by your tools. Also make sure your battery is connected when diagnosing a total electrical failure.


Furthermore, another reason I shouldn't own a car. That whole time I'm driving worrying about the radio cutting in and out, I'm hearing a clunk from the rear end on accelerating and braking. This is also causing me to panic thinking "oh my god, my rear end is about to fall apart and this will cost me a million billion dollars." Turned out it was the gift I had bought for my girlfriend rolling around my trunk banging into sheet metal.
 
Top