Month: July 2016

Le Château de L’arrière du Peleton

In the past we would go down to the cable company and upgrade our service for the month of July just so we could watch the Tour de France. A few years ago we stopped for a couple of reasons, but mainly because if we wanted to see it in HiDef we would have to pay extra above the already extra we used to be spending.

But we missed it.

So this year we ponied up the $30 for something called NBC Sports Gold and we now get to stream every stage to the living room TV via the Roku. On Saturday and Sunday we watch it live and during the week we stream the replay. Absolute best part of the deal, number of commercials, zero.

Started down, went up, back down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 198

Weekend Edition

Friday we did the usual tandem commute to work and back. For the afternoon ride home there was a stiff headwind for most of the way and the temperature was in triple digits, so we really appreciated the A/C in the house once inside. About an hour after arrival it didn’t seem as cool as it should be, so I checked the thermostat. It read 79°. It was set to 74 and the fan was running, but because it was so hot outside we didn’t notice that the air coming out the vents wasn’t properly chilled. I called up the Air Conditioning & Heating place and they said they had a technician finishing up a job and we would be next in line. It was a little before 5:00 PM when I called and we had actual cold air blowing again by 6.

Saturday morning we woke up the A/C was still running to catch up and get the house down to normal, but shut off soon afterwards. We walked to a local Waffle House for a breakfast of a waffle and hash browns. Trust me when I say the only time to try crossing busy Pine Log Road and not risk death is 6:30 AM on a Saturday morning. In the afternoon I changed the Emperor’s oil and rotated the tires. I re-hooked up the wires to the oil control valve and cleared the P0010 code. I’ve decided to try Option III, another round of the Rotella T-6 high detergent oil because the folks on the forum have said that sometimes it takes multiple tries to clean out all the “gunk” out of the VVT system. We had lunch at home and then dinner out at Sonic with a friend (Hi Jackie)!

Sunday we had our usual bike ride to Ridgecrest Coffee Bar for their delicious breakfast panini and once we got home it was pretty much TV viewing for the rest of the day. Three and a half hours of the 9th Stage of the Tour de France followed by 1-1/2 hours of the Season 2 finale of Outlander which was immediately followed by 3.5 hours of the FRS – Tampa Bay Rays game. For dessert we caught a couple random and wildly varying shows on PBS.

Neither Friday nor Sunday we used a car. The Purple Whale went to North Augusta and back, while Miata never left the driveway on Saturday.

165,000 Sunrises

165,000 Sunrises

That many sunrises would actually be somewhere just north of 450 years, so that is not how many I have witnessed, but perhaps in another life if I was Count Magnus Brahe, a Swedish noble, who was born on September 25, 1564.This particular sunrise was experienced by Donna and I on our way to work this morning.

Not too far into the trip to tonight’s MMC monthly meeting the Emperor pass thru the 165,000 mile mark.

Motoring Challenge Points 2, Approx Miles Driven 0
Totals So Far: 60 points & 970 miles

Started up, went down, went up, back down, back up, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 195

Inattention Giveth and Inattention Taketh Away

We went to Bed, Bath & Beyond on Monday to buy a couple of new pillows. We have two different sleeping styles, so we usually buy two different styles of pillows. I am a stomach sleeper and Donna is side or back sleeper, so I get a regular pillow and Donna gets a thicker one. Mine is $10 cheaper. I plopped both pillows down on the counter and the kid checking us out didn’t really pay attention, so he just scanned one pillow twice. It was my cheaper pillow he scanned, so in essence we were gifted ten dollars.

Later on we did a little mop-up shopping at Krogers. As we usually do whenever we are not doing our weekly shopping, we used the self-checkout. Donna asked if we should go to the express line because we had a coupon, but I waved her off noting that there was a clerk at the station. Donna also recommended I take $20 cash out for the work week, I agreed. I was buying wine, so I knew I’d have to show ID and scanned the first 4 items, saving the alcohol for last knowing that I wouldn’t be able to go any further until the attendant came over and looked at my license. Beep! “Attendant Has Been Notified To Assist You.” The attendant didn’t hop to, she was tapping away on her phone possibly making plans for when she got off shift, so I went to her. She came back, scanned my ID, then scanned the coupon before heading back to her station and texting. I grabbed the bags, the receipt and another $5 off coupon for my next wine purchase. It wasn’t until we got home that I remembered I never picked up the $20 bill.

Karma? Had pointed out the ten dollar undercharge at B,B & B would I have remembered the twenty at Krogers?

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 190

The Whole Script?

I haven’t been writing about spam here in a while, but today was slightly noteworthy. I received just 4 of them, 1 in kanji characters, 1 short and sweet “THanks for sharing, I am glad I read this.” and two that must have sent out the whole script instead of random selections from it:

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never found any interesting article like yours.
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I couldn’t refrain from commenting. Perfectly written!|
I will right away grab your rss feed as I can not in finding your e-mail subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service.
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could subscribe. Thanks.|
It is perfrct time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy.
I have read this post and if I could I desire to suggest you some interesting things or suggestions.
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It’s appropriate tiome to make a few plans for the longer tem and it’s time to be happy.

P0010

or: “A” Camshaft Position Actuator Circuit (Bank 1)1

After breakfast at Hardee’s and weekly grocery shopping at Krogers in the Sonata we came back home and got in the Miata for a drive. Before getting in I popped the hood and unhooked the electrical connection to the VVT oil control valve, disabling the system. As expected, as soon as I started the car the CEL came on, and stayed on.

Cruising out of the neighborhood the VTCS surge (formally the VVT kick) happened right around 3k RPM as expected and virtually disappeared after warmup as expected. What didn’t happen as expected was the ugly exhaust note at full throttle. Also missing was the slightly out of tune feeling at higher RPMs. My highly un-calibrated butt dyno reported that it was accelerating like a normal Miata, only with slightly less power. Although the less power thing might have been influenced by yesterday’s chart…

Part way through the drive, as Donna was buying some fresh peaches at a local stand, I jumped out and reconnected the wire to the VVT system. Sure enough, as I accelerated away briskly the annoying sound and sluggishness returned. When got back home, I dropped Donna off and did one more set of runs down a local street, one connected and one not just to be positive.

Well, that confirmed it, the culprit is in the VVT system somewhere. The only things left I can think of are the actuator on the camshaft itself, a lack of oil pressure to the system or it is in the ECU itself, all of which are above my meager skills. This leaves two options; 1) take it to a professional or B) disconnect the system and live with the CEL on all the time.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 189

1.Back in the garage when I read the fault code, instead of the P0012 I expected it was a P0010. Another VVT related code, but the obvious one when pulling the wires off the valve to disable the system.

VVT or VTCS?

VVT Dyno Runs

I was led to the VVT system by the CEL fault code that the car keeps throwing, P0012, which translates to “A” Camshaft Position – Timing Over-Retarded because the VVT controls the intake (A) cam. The image above is from the fine folks at Flying Miata who actually dyno tested the effects of the VVT system; the blue lines show the system operating and the red lines show it disconnected. Looking at the lines there are no noticeable bumps at any RPM value, they are relatively parallel with the only difference being that the numbers are higher with. than without.

Well, it turns out my idea of the VVT kick, that feeling of a surge of power at certain RPM, is not really from the Variable Valve Timing system after all. With further research I now find out it is from something called the Variable Tumble Control System (VTCS) that was created to help emissions at low RPMs. A valve closes part of the intake path, increasing the velocity of the intake charge. The butterflies are closed if two conditions are met: the coolant temperature is less than 65C and the engine RPM is less than 3000.

I’ve always sort of felt that this problem only occurs when the car is fully warmed up, so I wonder if maybe those butterflies stay closed once the car is warm and that is what is causing the slight out of tune feeling at higher RPMs. The only problem with this theory is that the VTCS has its own fault code, P2006, and I’m not getting one of those.

I guess as an elimination test for the VVT system I could go ahead and pull the electrical connector off the oil control valve, thereby disabling it and drive the car until it gets warm and see if my symptoms are still there. Maybe tomorrow.