Sonata of the Desert

We were supposed to spend 4 days in San Diego, but we just couldn’t stand being tied down here for more than two. Don’t get us wrong, there is a lot to do here, but we had crammed our drive time to Seattle into 4 days which would have meant 4 looong days on the road which are not really to our liking.

So we changed a bunch of reservations around and picked up the rental car last night. We rented from National because we get a good discount through Emerson and it is so cool to walk into the Emerald Aisle and pick which ever car you want. Pickings were slim, when we we showed up. Nothing but a couple of Altimas, Sonatas, small SUVs and 4 homely last generation Chevy Impalas, so I picked a Sonata. It is the newer style that looks a bit different, but on the road is very familiar.

We left San Diego on I-8 for about 40 miles before turning north on the smaller state routes that took us into the mountains. Our first stop was the little town of Julian for a slice of apple pie. Donna had read about the place in the California travel guide and it was just the right distance from the start for a break. As usual we were about 11 minutes too early for the opening of the Julian Pie Company, so we stocked up on supplies at the Julian Market including splitting a slice of apple pie from their deli. By the time we were done shopping the real place was now open, so we went over there and Donna had a slice of hot fresh apple pie and I had a slice of pecan.

From there we took a side trip to Borrego Springs to see some metal animals an artist had placed along the road into town (another California Visitor Guide tip) before it was down the mountain into the desert. On Thursday we flew right over the Salton Sea and today we drove right along the shore of it on our way to Joshua Tree National Park.

After the park, once past the town of 29 Palms, the last 80 miles was spent on a two lane road through the desert (and a random dust storm) to end up in the cow town of Barstow. Our Holiday Inn for the night is right next to an Outlet Mall so we did a little shopping which has now increased the amount of goods to such a level that it has outgrown the capacity of our two suitcases. We’ll probably have to mail a box back to SC once we get to Granite Falls.

Navy Town

Midway& Roosevelt
The view from the glass elevator in our hotel on the way down from the 14th floor. The USS Midway (CV-41) Museum is on the San Diego bayside and the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is tied up across the harbor at the Naval Air Station on Coronado Island.

We walked a half mile or so from the hotel to get breakfast at a local downtown joint. We ended up at Breakfast at Stephanie’s because Harbor Breakfast, which we came to first, wasn’t opening for another 11 minutes. Because we were in the Little Italy section of town, we of course got breakfast burritos. They were eight bucks and with it being the big city we figured for that price they would be small. Wrong! They were huge. We both finished them, but swore we didn’t need to eat the rest of the day.

After breakfast we strolled around the waterfront to the north and made it all the way to the Coast Guard Station which put us practically at the airport before turning around. By the time we got back to the hotel we had been over two miles, but the weather was perfect for it, upper 60s and partly cloudy.

Later, not wanting to spend the $24 each for a two hour narrated tour of the harbor, we opted for $9 each round trip for the ferry to Coronado Island. On the island We walked about a mile loop near the ferry landing and found ourselves outside a nice little Japanese Steakhouse place called Shima. We said we weren’t going to eat again, but who could pass up a a small bowl of soup and an a Chicken Yakatori skewer. We usually have Miso Soup, but when Donna noticed the Spicy Seafood Soup she couldn’t pass that up. The food was great and just the right amount we needed.

While we waited on the ferry for our return trip we got to watch a couple Navy ships sail by. First was the USS America (LHA-6) an America-class amphibious assault ship.
LHA-6

Then a Ticonderoga-class cruiser, the USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) passed by about 5 minutes later.
CG-57

Yesterday we walked around the inside and on top of the USS Midway, but on the return ferry ride today we floated right by the front of the bottom side of the carrier.
The Midway's Bow

4 Hours & 41 Minutes

Sunrise Over Hartsfield

We watched the sun come up while waiting to board our 8:20 AM flight and when we arrived at our destination 4 hours and 41 minutes later it was not even 10:00AM. That’s how long you have to sit in an airline seat to get from Atlanta to San Diego. We checked in, unpacked our suitcase and walked across the street to get our second lunch of the day. From there we walked a couple blocks south to visit the U.S.S. Midway.

It has been 40 years since I was last aboard and when I walked into the entrance area that led to the hanger deck I noticed it still smelled the same. We didn’t bother with the self guided tour and just wandered around on the tour route.

The only place that was really familiar was the mess deck, but that was mostly because the places that were open to the public were the surface Navy areas where I didn’t spend a lot of time in. Our berthing area was never always in the same spot each time aboard because our little detachment was only part of the Air Wing some of the time. I would have liked to think I could have found our little Maintenance Shack because it was in the same spot all the time, but I’m not so sure. But it didn’t matter as most of the aviation areas were not open to the public anyway.

We did take the guided tour of the island to to get to see the Bridge, the Chart House and PriFly (the airport tower.) Very interesting. The only time I was ever in the island while on board was to pass through on the way up to Vulture’s Row or the Crow’s Nest to take pictures of flight ops. Last stop was the Gift Shop on the fantail where I bought a hat and some postcards.

Well, That Was Something

This morning we went over to Augusta to get Donna measured for her new lenses. Not eyeglass lenses, but eye lenses. Our optometrist has been keeping an eye (pun not intended) on her cataracts for years, but about a month ago Donna noticed a big change in vision and when she went in to see the eye guy he said it was time to get the cataracts fixed. After the measurements we set up the appointments for the surgeries, the right eye will be in late June and the left one will be fixed about four weeks later in July.

Before driving to Atlanta get a room at a hotel near the airport we went over to the Mazda dealer to drive one of the new fangled Miatas. The Gerald Jones Mazda inventory hasn’t changed since three weeks ago, but we had the time and needed to get inside one and go for a drive. Wade got us the key to a black Grand Touring that was sitting just out front. The thing was pretty dirty and the inside was dusty, but it didn’t really matter because even if we loved the new car, this was not going to be one we’d buy.

Not only are the cup holders in a strange spot to use, but they also interfere with placing your elbows in a comfortable position on the center console, so we yanked them out and tucked them in the cubby between the seats on the back wall. I dropped the top and crept out of the parking lot. I had a short loop planned that was familiar from doing the Susan Komen BMW Drives all those years ago. Good thing I didn’t want to go far as the low fuel light was on and the gauge is on one notch above E.

Part way through we pulled into a grocery store lot and swapped drivers. Donna drove about halfway back before pulling over to let me finish the loop. We thanked Wade again, he said he’d call when they got a manual sport in stock again and we parted ways.

We both thought the ND drove nice, as it should because of its newness (the Emperor felt like that way 13 years ago too.) We both thought it was more claustrophobic compared the our current car. You do seem to sit down in it more than our second generation car. The lack of a glove box in front of the passenger in its traditional spot seemed weird, but probably after a while could be adjusted to. While the passenger foot well isn’t as short as the third gen car, the hump adjacent to the transmission tunnel is still a big hindrance to Donna’s storage of water bottle and purse in their usual spots.

Neither one of us are all gaga about getting this new car, but it is just going to come down to whether we want to keep the old familiar and currently not so reliable car or go ahead and bite the bullet and except new, reliable and slightly quirkier one.

I Don’t Want The $40 Back Rudy

After driving the Miata around on a few trips this past week I have come to to the conclusion that the muffler itself is not the cause of the harsh exhaust note at high throttle levels. Maybe we didn’t notice it so much on Donna and my short test drive last weekend because of the already slightly louder note of the Borla. But now it seems to me that it really comes about once the car has gotten totally warmed up.

So while the sound of the Miata at start up in the garage with the Borla muffler is positively sublime, kind of barks a little like the half of a Ferrari V8 it is, I pulled it off and put the Racing Beat back on.

At full operating temperature not only does the sound get ugly, but my uncalibrated butt dyno is telling me that I’m not getting the power I once was at lower RPMs. I’m not sure whether this is an outlier or a further symptom of the Emperor’s problems, but at the last fill-up the gas mileage was just under 21 MPG, which is the second lowest figure ever since I started keeping track back in December of 2012.

The problem has got to be in the VVT system somewhere. A clogged filter or line I’m already working on with the addition of the Italian (Rotella) oil. On the Forum I’ve found some instructions on testing the oil control valve to see if it is working. While I don’t think this is it, because I do get the telltale rev surge at 3500-4000 the first couple of times in the morning when just starting out, it still needs to be done to eliminate it as a possibility.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 170

Out with the New, In with the Newer

Red Sox vs Yankees

This post is coming to you from “Mexico.” The Red Sox-Yankee game is being broadcast on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball which means it is blacked out nationally on MLB.tv. Unfortunately I don’t get ESPN, so normally I would be out of luck, but thanks to PIA I am virtually not in the United States right now.

This morning I drained out about a quart of last week’s fresh oil and poured into the Emperor’s crankcase about a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil. I had purchased it during the last century from a guy passing through town on a wagon being pulled by a mule. The can of MMO has sat on a shelf in the garage since then because the folks on the Miata Forum back then swore that adding a quart to three regular quarts of oil, running the car for 100 miles, then draining it and doing a full oil change would cure sticky hydraulic lifters. I guess I intended to use it on the ’95 Miata, but never got around to it. Never needed the trick on this car as in 1999 Mazda switched over to solid lifters.

Didn’t have time for a hundred mile drive, so I ran the car for about 5 minutes and ran it through the rev range a half dozen times. Drained the engine entirely this time. Poured the last two remaining quarts of regular 10w-30 Pennzoil from my stock into the car and ran it for a few minutes at idle with only a couple of blips of the throttle into the 4-5,000 RPM range. Drained that stuff out, changed the filter and poured in the whole gallon of the Forum recommended Shell Rotella1 T6.

Donna and I then took about a 40 mile drive around the wilds of Aiken County to really work that cleaning action around. No CEL, but I really wasn’t expecting one. It’ll happen like it did on Saturday, just rolling along on a random road.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 168

1. I can’t get over the name of this oil, sounds like shape of pasta.

P0012

or: “A” Camshaft Position – Timing Over-Retarded (Bank 1) (Powertrain, Generic)

Earlier in the week we were planning on going over to the Augusta Coffee & Cars thing this morning. By yesterday afternoon after the bike ride home from work we had pretty much talked ourselves out of going there. It used to be enough of a drive when it was in Martinez, but now it is in Grovetown and it is 40 miles one way to get there. To make matters worse the trip includes about a dozen miles of Interstate travel. After dinner we came to the decision deadline point and decided we’d go to the June event (check back in a month to see if we make that one.)

So instead of weekly grocery shopping on Friday night we did it this morning. Afterward we went over to a friend’s house for a visit. Besides the amiable chit-chat, I had a small job to do there, putting together the last two chairs of her new patio furniture. That was all that her niece and husband didn’t have time to finish putting together before they left to go back to Indiana. I was amply rewarded for my minimal effort by Jackie buying Donna and my lunch from Jersey Mike’s. Which we enjoyed while sitting at the new table and chairs on her back deck.

A mile or so from Jackie’s house on the way home today the Check Engine Light illuminated again. Car was running just fine, just a light. My guess was it was going to be the same code that prompted the Automotive Workbench the week before. Since that visit and since the usually reliable Emperor has become spastic I decided to buy one of those little Bluetooth OBDII scanners and download a free app for the Kindle Fire. Sure enough, P0012, Cam Position. I had followed the AW guy’s advice, I changed to some new fresh oil last Friday, but I guess that didn’t really solve the issue. So instead of taking the car back to the certified real mechanics, I’ve decided to see about fixing this myself. What the heck, we’ve got a second car to rely on and hopefully I won’t screw this up too bad.

First step was to tap in the hive knowledge that is the Miata Forum. Apparently this issue is not that uncommon and I found numerous threads to read about it there. This failure code, in spite of my disbelief last week when Holley told me about the low oil thing, is directly related to VVT oil starvation issues. The first fix to try is to drain the current oil and replace it with some Rotella T-6 full synthetic oil because of it high detergent content. Drive for about 500-1000 miles and then change back to your regular oil. That is on the agenda for tomorrow.

If that doesn’t work there is supposedly a small mesh screen in the VVT system that can be removed and cleaned which appears to be not too technical of a job. After that, the next step is not for the faint at heart, rebuilding the VVT Actuator, but if you mess that up, lookout as it is a $500 dollar part! Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I suppose before attempting that procedure I should opt for replacing the recently replaced Cam Angle Sensor in case it is bad for a tenth of the cost.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 167