Miata Service

Fun With A Scan Tool

So I answered Steve’s last email:

Steve,

There are a couple of plugs/sensors back there, not sure which is which, but both connectors seem intact and the wires look OK.
…
Worth trying to swap that Engine Temp sensor back there? What other signals is the ECU relying on to actuate the VVT system that might provide a cheap troubleshooting method?

Brian

He replied:
I don’t really believe the VVT stuff is tied to the temp sensor, just that if it were out of whack, it may default to some other map. Do you have a scan tool? It would show the timing advance real time if it’s a decent one.

Well of course I don’t have a scan tool, so I asked the MMC and I got several replies, but the first one was from my new best friend David. He had one and seeing as he was going to be in the neighborhood this afternoon he would drop it by my house. And that’s right, it is the same David who tried to give me the muffler off his back and made a trip to see me to let me drive his car to see what a real NB2 Miata should drive like. I think I need to add a codicil to my will and cut him in on some of that Bogardus thousandaire wealth in the event of my demise.

When I got home, sure enough, there was an Innova scan tool in between the storm door and the front door. I opened up the carrying case and David had thoughtfully included the manual. I read through it real quick to see how I go about recording some data, thinking I had it down, I backed the Emperor out of the garage and promptly spent the next 5 minutes idling in the driveway to get to the right spot on the menu. I backed out and headed to the 4-way stop at the end of my street, turned right, then took the next right and I was on a street with a half mile straight that has only two horse racing tracks and one driveway on it. Perfect, all I could do was scare a couple horses, so I stopped the car and launched it. Shifted at more than 6000 RPM in both 1st and 2nd gears before easing to the stop sign. I turned the corner, found a spot to do a u-turn and got back on my nice straight away to repeat the run in the opposite direction. Pulled back into the driveway and hit a couple buttons to go see my live data. “No Live Data Stored.” Hmmm.

The small guide included with the scan tool’s case was not much help, it told me how to get to the Live Data Recording menu and how to choose from one of the three styles of data collection and how to start recording, but was vague on how to stop the recording. It did tell me that if I went to innova.com I could get the full manual. So I did. It was a lot more in depth and after reading its section on Live Data Recording I was sure I had it, I needed to hit the return key instead of the LD/M button. Re-ran my same course, returned home hit the return key a second time and it still continued to record frames. Huh? Pushed the LD/M key to get out and sure enough, “No Live Data Stored.”

Back to the manual. This time I read the Live Data Recording section forward, backward and upside down. It said it records 100 frames several times in that section, I thought that meant it could record up to 100 frames, but as it turns out it needs to record 100 frames before it considers itself through recording. So back on the road I go. This time instead of u-turning after the first high speed run I turned right and ran thru 1st & 2nd again with anger before cruising to the stop light. I check the frame count on the display and it reads 48. So I do the u-turn before crossing the road in front of me and head back while repeating the way too loud and too fast for regular street driving towards home. As I cruise into the garage the Innova 3130c beeps on the passenger seat. Success!

Inside the house I start to review the data I just recorded. Because I recorded using the default settings there were like 50 data points per frame. But because the small display shows only a half dozen lines it takes awhile to read all the info by scrolling, and there are 99 more to go. Obviously the folks who made this know that this is not acceptable, they make it easy to download the info to your PC. All you have to do is download a program called “Innova_V02.03.12_PCLink” and install it. In less than a minute I am double clicking on the .exe file. Not so fast pardner, to run this program you also need to install “Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP ENU” & “Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP x64 ENU”, still, in short order the link program self starts and a window opens mid-screen with a fancy graphic background and two buttons grayed out.

The left button reads disconnected, so I use the supplied USB cable to hook it into the computer and the unit turns on and the button shines with the word Connected. The right button lights up with the word Diagnose, so I press it. My browser opens up to the home page of Innova, the same place that led me to the manual and the software. I’ve seen this sort of behavior before when you run a program for the first time, so I close the window. Nothing else happens. So I hit the diagnose button again, and the browser opens again. Oh, this is rude, they are going to make me register to download this data.

Oh, well, after all the work it took to get the data I’d like to see it, what’s one more login and password? So I fill out the form with name, address, phone number, email and make up a password. I am informed to check for a confirmation email. Its there, I click on the activation link and I’m back on the Innova website saying thanks, go ahead and sign in, I do and I end up at some sort of dashboard. I now go back to the PC Link software and tap the Diagnose button again, another browser tab opens and before I can go further I am presented with another form to fill out (which you can’t bypass, I tried.) The first thing they want is the year make and model of the car(s) you’ll be using the tool with. I select 2003 and Mazda, but there are only four models listed, none of which are a Miata! So I pick one at random. I use the same strategy for the next few questions by selecting random radio buttons, so when I hit submit this time I’m advanced to the next page. This one has three more blanks that need filling out and one of them is the VIN number. I don’t remember what the other two are because right here is where I decided I didn’t really want that data after all. I closed the browser and uninstalled the software.

The data is still in there and if David wants to read it he can have it. The Emperor hasn’t thrown a CEL in a couple weeks and after changing the last Cam Position Sensor it feels like it is running right. It still sounds crappy at higher RPMs with your foot heavy on the gas, so I wonder if John (Clunk) Haff would still let me try out that stock midpipe and muffler?

Started up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 185

Second Opinion

Calling Dr Kildare
Whenever there is something that just doesn’t seem right and you get an opinion as to what it might be it is always a good idea to get a second opinion, have someone else take a look.

Well, the Emperor is sick, he’s just not right. The check engine light is off (for right now anyway), but I swear it seems slightly out of tune. Worried that maybe that is just the way it has always felt and the slightly off exhaust note has convinced me that it is not running right. I needed an another expert for a different butt dyno measurement. Because I have been working on the theory that it is VVT related, I needed someone who had the same year range car, 2001-2005, as our Miata. There are two that match that criteria in the MMC and one was the clear choice, David ‘Dr. Kildare’ Adcock.

David agreed to come over to the house yesterday evening so we could take turns driving each other cars to compare the two back to back. First up was me driving his car. The first thing I noticed was how much newer his car felt than mine even though it is one year older. Turns out the secret to this is to have 120,000 miles less on the car. Where people find these “driven by a little old lady to church on Sunday” cars is amazing! Second thing I noticed was that his clutch take up point was lower than mine so it took me by surprise – one time. Once we got out of the neighborhood and I could put a lot more travel downwards on the gas pedal, it was obvious to me that this is how my car used to feel when under hard acceleration, it responded to your demands.

After 5 or 6 miles and 20 minutes we were back in my driveway and it was David’s turn behind the wheel of the Emperor. Backing out of the driveway the different clutch take up point took him by surprise here too – one time. He proceeded to drive the same loop. David run it through the rev range a few times as well and came to the same conclusion as I did, the car is fine in neighborhood style driving, but once you get above 4,000 RPM using a lot of gas pedal, it is missing something. He also noticed the same thing I did and that is the slight kick when the VVT actuates is a lot higher in the RPM range than normal, around 4500 as opposed to his which is in the 3000-3500 range. And when it does occur in the Emperor it doesn’t seem to make as much difference as it should.

So, let’s sum up. I’m not crazy (at least in this regard) there is something wrong with the Miata. It certainly seems VVT related. David agrees, but Dr. Kildare is a General Practitioner (like me) and doesn’t have a magic pill to make it better. And to continue that analogy, David said he can recommend a specialist, but it is in the upstate about 100 miles away. I told him I’d keep it in mind, first I was going to try one more quick and easy fix, another Cam Position Sensor. It was available on Amazon Prime and will be here Saturday.

P.S. Waiting three days before curing the wrinkle paint on your valve cover by driving around doesn’t work. There are no more wrinkles there now than there were before.

Started up, went down, went up, back, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 178

Fun With VVT

Frustration with the Miata has got Donna to the point of suggesting that we leave in the Kroger parking lot with the keys in and walk away. Me, I wanted to take it to Panic Motorsports and let the experts figure it out. So I emailed Steve and gave him the run down of what is going on and asked when could I bring him the car. His response:

I’d check the gap on the crank sensor, replace the VVT oil control valve, and throw a cam sensor at it in that order. MAYBE an ECU if I got real desperate.

Solid advice from the Master, so I wrote back:

Steve,

I see what you did there – trying to teach a man to fish. So I tied a hook to my 3/8 drive and dug right in…

After reading several threads on Miata.net I would have bet $100 the chuckleheads at the local shop just replaced the crank angle sensor and didn’t bother to align it.Good thing I didn’t, as it measured right around .049 inch which is in between the .020-.059.

If by oil control valve you mean this – YIKES! – that’s pricey (around $300.) I tested it as best I could per the folks at M.net instructed and it passed. Resistance between terminals, 7.5Ω which is between the 6.9-7.9Ω they mention. I slapped 12v to it and it fully opened. Disconnected the 12v and it returned to the starting point. I think I’ll take it to work tomorrow and have the guys in the lab apply a variable voltage to see if it moves along its travel path.

The Cam Position Sensor I can swing ($60 from a seller on Amazon), but the oil control valve or heaven forbid the ECU and it may be time to quit throwing good money after bad…the ND is looking mighty tempting.

While I had the wrench in my hand I pulled the actuator thing off the valve cover to check the o-rings inside. They don’t seem to be as dry and brittle like some of the photos I found on the forum. I’m tempted to buy the kit that MiataRoadster sells with all the o-rings and then some.I guess I could pry the o-rings out and measure them, I work at a place that makes valves and we use a ton of o-rings, including viton ones.

Thanks for the advice, I’ll keep you posted.
Brian

I’ll keep you posted…the valve is a 2-position deal, no sliding, just on or off. I’m thinking this ain’t the problem. Those o-rings, we didn’t have them at the Valve Store(TM), so I did order the kit. Its coming from California via USPS so it won’t be here until next week sometime. ‘Til then, the Emperor sits .

P0012 Number 3

Less than a mile from home on the way to work this morning the CEL came on again. Donna said turn around, so we went back and got in the Purple Whale to finish the commute.

Got home tonight and scanned for the code and it was the ol’ favorite P0012.

Checked a couple other things that I had found on the forum that should be tested to see if they might be the cause. First up was the VVT actuator. Measuring across the coil contacts should yield 6.9-7.9 ohms and it did. Then you pull the actuator loose from the valve cover and apply 12V across the contacts. No matter the polarity, it should fully actuate, and when removed, it should return back – it did. Next thing was the oil line filter and I had to read through several threads mentioning how easy it was to check before I found one that led to its actual location – it was clean as a whistle.

I guess the high detergent oil didn’t do the trick. I’m supposed to change back to regular stuff after a 1,000 miles, but we’ve not driven more than a few hundred so far. I think tomorrow I’ll just go a head and go back to the regular 5-30 Penzoil. Cleared the code and we’ll see how long it takes to show back up again.

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