Three Planets

New Radio

Yesterday afternoon I put the final touches on the new radio install and what better way to put it to the test that a pleasant summer evening drive. Donna had the idea of what to see, a rare grouping of 3 planets in the night sky and I had the perfect spot to see a nice unobstructed view of the west northwest sky, J. Strom Thurmond Dam at Clarks Hill.

We arrived just after sunset with the west sky a brilliant red to find the parking area pretty full. There were people fishing along the shore, people watching the sunset and a few folks there like us to see the celestial triangle in the sky formed by Mercury, Venus and Jupiter.

The middle third of this 75 mile journey is the best part, all rural and with some semblance of windiness to the roads, add to it our own soundtrack and it made for a perfect evening drive.

Strangly Enough They Were Related

Cruise Control CircuitLast Sunday after I came back from Augusta with a non working cruise control I wondered if it was related to the non-working radio.

A search of the internet turned up a PDF of a 2003 Miata Wiring Diagram that I could use to help me trouble shoot my electronics woes Turns out that the radio and the cruise are related.

Attached is a segment of the cruise control wiring diagram and in the upper left hand side there is the Bose radio with a red/green wire connected to it at Pin I. This is the speed pulse coming from the PCM so that the radio knows to increase the volume as the car’s speed increases. It is also used by the cruise control module.

Even after seeing this tenuous connection I couldn’t believe that a dead radio could cause the demise of the cruise control, that is, until I replaced the head unit and the cruise started working again…

That Was Expected

The folks at Taylor Hyundai do a really nice little thing when ever you bring them your car in for service, before they give it back they vacuum the interior and wash the exterior. The Purple Whale looked really good each time we walked by it on our 3 daily walks during breaks, but the 30% chance of rain predicted for the CSRA today fell 100% on it later this afternoon.

That Was Unexpected

#1

When I called to set up the service appointment for the Purple Whale I had to emphasize that I wanted just the manufacturer’s recommended service. The dealer has its own “recommendations” which include everything Hyundai calls for plus, balancing all 4 wheels, lube hinges and steering stops, multi-point inspection OEM recommended and somethings called BG Battery Service, BG Oil & Fuel Service Additives and BG Transmission Fluid Exchange Synthetic, that are mostly snake oil and jack up the cost considerably. I ask the service adviser how much my 30k service is going to cost me and he replies, “$237,” and he proceeds to read me back what I’m going to get for my money. I almost stop him because I’m looking at the dealer’s web site and he is reading the same thing I’m looking at, but I’m glad I don’t. As he gets to the bottom of the list he adds, “Because we are seeing a lot of problems from ethanol in the gas we put in…” I stop him there and say, “I don’t want that. How much is the service without it?” After a brief pause, “$206.”

So when we get to the Service Desk at Taylor Hyundai over in Augusta yesterday to pick up the car I am fully expecting to have to battle to get that extra $31 worth of worthless additive off the bill. The key and my invoice are right on top and I can see the total right there – $174.83. WTF?

#2

When I got home from work there was an email from Crutchfield, the Emperor’s New Radio that was supposed to ship on June 15th, shipped today.

Great Lucas’s Ghost

I drove the Emperor and Donna drove the Purple Whale to Augusta this morning. We both came back in the Miata. We left the Sonata at the Whale Doctor for it’s 30,000 mile service.

On the way over driving the Interstate I set the Miata’s cruise control to 75 and that was fine for the first half of the trip. Then for no reason it surged a few MPH up and coasted back down. Then surged back up again and coasted down again. Then it seemed fine, but it was kind rainy, so I shut it off for the rest of the trip. On the way back I tried again and this time it wouldn’t engage. The on/off switch would turn on and light, but when I tried to set the speed the cruise light would flash on and right back off, without engaging the cruise control.

So what do these two things have in common? I don’t know, but maybe a search of the Miata.net garage will tell me.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1226

Now We Wait

‘There were 5 people for the MMC breakfast and after eating Donna and I drove over to the Club’s Tech Day just to see if we could pop the non-working radio out of the dash. Donna was hoping to have someone magically heal it by laying on of hands, didn’t happen. Turns out, between two of us, Rudy and I, we could only get the right half of the head unit loose from its mounting. The left side would not budge. Of course we only had the bent into U shaped coat hanger pieces to work with, yeah, that’s it, and we didn’t have the proper tools. I did manage to get an additional blood blister on my left hand when I pinched the web between the thumb and forefinger cutting the coat hanger.

After scouring the interwebs for hours looking for solutions to my radio issue I settled on buying a new aftermarket radio. Because we like to be able to walk away from the Miata in a shopping center parking lot with top down and not have to worry any, I was looking for the least flashy looking head unit. I found it, a Jensen MP1524. It’s a veritable wallflower, but it has an inner beauty that includes all the modern bells and whistles. The downside is that the unit isn’t even shipping from the manufacturer yet. Crutchfield lists it as not being available until 6/15, so now we wait.

Jensen MP1524

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1224

Been Awhile

We took the afternoon off work today and on the way home we ran a couple errands. Paid the water bill and stood in line for a long time at the Post Office so I could mail back the no longer needed GROM AUX-IN Adapter. Because of the time of day and our unusual route home we ran smack into some nearly standstill type traffic on Whiskey Road. I zipped a quick left in a brief traffic gap so we could come home along a couple of Aiken’s on purpose dirt roads through the horse district. That meant that I needed to wash the Miata this evening because it needs to look its best tomorrow because Donna and I are organizing the MMC’s monthly breakfast.

It sure is nice to have the garage back, really keeps the top transitions to a minimum. That and only driving on days it is not going to rain. I had to go all the way back to April 22nd to find the last time the top changed status.

Been awhile since we did any geocaching, but that is going to change tomorrow as we are at least going to go hide a cache. Might even look for one.

It is also been a while since we’ve been for a walk in Hitchcock Woods, but that is due to change on Tuesday when Donna and I take some company visitors for a stroll in there.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1222