Miata Service

Back Home Again

The Emperor is back in the garage again tonight. The original theory of a timing issue because of the previous shop needing to get under the timing belt covers to change the Crank Position Sensor didn’t pan out. Turns out that sensor sits outside the cover so there would be no reason for them to be inside the cover.

Yesterday evening’s new theory was the fact that I was a quart low on oil so that the VVT was not working all the way and that would have caused the CEL, the slight hesitation and possibly the louder exhaust sounds. When they suggested this to me I tried, maybe not to successfully, to hide the incredulous expression on my face. Their plan for today was to test drive it before adding oil and then afterwards to see if that had any effect. I said, “Go for it.” I mean, what the heck, can’t hurt.

I didn’t get any phone calls today from the folks at AW, so on the way home today we stopped in. They had gotten busy and didn’t have a chance to get to my problem, so when I showed up Holley said let’s try it. He added a quart and off we went with him driving. They had cleared the CEL and I have to admit I felt no hesitation and maybe the exhaust note was a bit less. At the halfway point, we swapped places, and I drove it back to the shop. No light, no bogged down feeling, but still just a little louder than this old fogey would like at wide open throttle. Holley said, “Let me run a full bead all the way around that resonator and you can take the car home. The exit prescription was to change the oil and if the CEL comes back on, bring it back.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 163

This Has Now Become Commonplace

The Emperor is spending the night at an auto repair shop.

We got the Miata back on Friday evening and Saturday we drove to Augusta in it. Within the first couple of miles we both knew something just wasn’t right. There was zero rear diff noise, but under heavy throttle the exhaust sounded crazy loud and slightly under powered. Donna mentioned the noise right off and while my butt dyno felt a little power lag, I couldn’t be sure.

We made two trips to Augusta over the weekend and when I kept the throttle levels at neighborhood driving levels the car felt fine. But putting your foot in it, as they say, resulted in increased exhaust volume. A quick search on Miata.net on the issued resulted in several hundred not on point hits.

Monday we drove the Miata to work, but about a half mile from home the Check Engine Light came on. It was running fine and felt fine, but I pulled a U-turn and came home to get in the Sonata.

My first thought was I needed to find out exactly which things they changed at Wayne’s, so I could let the folks know at my new favorite shop know. This turned out to be harder than you would think it would be, but not surprising considering my actual repair experience there.1

At a round cubicle discussion with co-workers discussing my continued Miata woes someone posits that maybe the new shop had to remove some part of the exhaust system to replace the differential and poked a hole in a pipe or cracked a gasket or something. So I called the Automotive Workbench and spoke to Holley and he said that they didn’t have to touch any exhaut components to do the swap, but please bring the car in and we’ll run the code.

After work Donna followed me over to the AW and Holley and I went for a test drive. The first thing he said to me once I buried my foot was, “A lot of people pay good money to get that sound.” I told him, “If I was 20 years-old, I wouldn’t be complaining. But the sound level is almost twice as loud as what it normally is.” When we got back to the shop he took it out back to put it on a lift to check for leaks and run the code.

With Holley’s code reading of Crank Position Sensor Issue, my description of symptoms and some spitballing with Brian the owner we have a possible problem (timing belt off a notch, possibly when Wayne’s installed the new sensor) and a plan of attack for them tomorrow, pull the valve cover to see if that is it and also re-weld around the pre-silencer on the mid-pipe that Steve at Panic had spot welded on a while back.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 162

Motoring Challenge Points 2, Approx Miles Driven 60
Totals So Far: 56 points & 970 miles

1. Finally at 4:30PM I got the email with the correct info.

Beefed Up Butt

Political Yard Sign

The Emperor is back home this evening filling up the our garage after us filling up the coffers at Automotive Workbench.

Not really wanting to spend what it would cost for the new LSD for the Miata I did a little research over the weekend and came up with a couple options. The first was a new aftermarket unit from Flying Miata and a used unit from Treasure Coast Miata. I called them up on Monday and asked them to try and get the used unit first, failing that, go for the newer more expensive one.

In the afternoon the mechanic1 called back and said the used unit was still available and on its way. After we hung up I went back and looked at the Treasure Coast Miata ad again and I noticed it was from a Mazdaspeed Miata. That is when I thought I remembered seeing somewhere that that model LSD was beefed up some to accommodate the increased power from the turbo. I did some research and discovered I was right. The axle used with the Mazdaspeed unit are a couple millimeters larger in diameter at the differential end. My stock ones wouldn’t work. Ruh-roh! Am I going to have to buy some axles? How much is that going to cost? Then I went back to the ad and saw that they were including the axles in the deal. Phew.

On Tuesday Holley called me again. This time to tell me the Emperor needed a new battery. He had to jump start it both days when he needed to re-position it around the shop. Seemed like I just bought a battery. Yep, did, but it was for the Sonata. This is the third battery for the Miata in its lifetime. The OEM lasted 5-1/2 months The genuine Mazda replacement lasted two months longer than its 2 year warranty. This one was from Autozone and it equaled the longevity of the OEM at about 5-1/2 months.

No call on Wednesday, but Thursday afternoon Holley called again to tell me that my rear brake pads were getting low and did I want him to change them while he was in there because it would be cheaper than if I brought it in later. I declined because that is something I actually can do myself. But his question got me to ask, “Does that mean the differential is there?” Holey said, “Yeah and I should be done tomorrow afternoon.” He was and Donna and I stopped by on the way home to pick it up.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 161

1. The fellow’s name is Holley and I wonder if he was predestined to become an auto mechanic after being named for the famed carburetor company. I didn’t ask, so it could just as well be an old family name.

Crap!

To quote another famous person1 whose personal work included the words ‘Life of’ in its title, “What a revolting development this is.”

I followed Donna back home from Wayne’s Automotive the other day and when I turned into the driveway, she said to me, “The Miata sounds horrible.” She’s right. For the past couple three months there has been a metallic scraping sound that directly corresponds to the car speed. It started out very light and has slowly gotten louder. To me it was getting to the point where it was becoming really annoying, but when Donna noticed, that was the signal that it was time to get it looked at.

Having eliminated Wayne’s as a place to go, I wondered where to try next. I vaguely remember someone in the MMC saying they had good luck with the Automotive Workbench, so I called them and made an appointment to bring the car in on Wednesday.

I already like the owner as he came out and shook my hand, instead of just letting the desk clerk check me in, plus his name is Brian. We went a few miles down the street, he drove while I rode shotgun. He actually owned Miata for a while in the past and still has a 1.6 to 1.8 engine conversion in a 91 going on in the background. After the drive he had a couple of ideas what it might be, but needed to get it on a lift the next day to really troubleshoot it.

At the end of the workday yesterday I noticed a message light on my phone. It was the mechanic and he asked me to call back and he’d let me know what the repair would be. I tried calling, but got their answering machine. The place is practically on our route home, so I didn’t try and call again, we just stopped in.

Of course, of all Brian’s possible reasons that the noise could be, it had to turn out to be the most expensive one. The bearings are going bad in the limited slip differential. Used ones, if you can find them, run $800 to $1200 while new ones go for $2500.2

This morning I called the shop to let them know there was a place in Florida parting out a 2003 Miata and had a bunch of stuff listed for sale on Miata.net, including an LSD. I gave them the phone number and they said they’d check. Late in the day the mechanic called and let me know it had already sold. He had a line on one for the $1200, that came with a six month warranty and he would try them and let me know. I said if you can’t get that one, just go ahead and order a new one. He never got back to me today, so I guess we’ll find out the verdict on Monday.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 159

1. Chester A. Riley.
2. This figure does not include the multi-hundred dollar installation cost.

The Emperor Returns

New Pedals

The Cam Angle Sensor wiring harness was rubbing on a serpentine belt until it shorted out.

I was hoping to find a more local shop than Panic to take the Miata to when it needs work and it turns out Wayne’s won’t be it. Not that the quality of work is a problem, the car drove home just fine, but the intangibles sunk their chances.

When I got in the car to drive it home I noticed they had nicely laid one of those paper floor mats down to keep greasy footprints off the mats, but they had forgotten to put the fuse box cover back on and it was laying on the passenger seat. Back home I snapped the fuse cover back on and pulled up the paper floor mat. It had done its job because it had collected a couple greasy prints on it, but when I pulled it up, there were a lot more greasy areas on the real mats than on the paper. Good thing I still have some of that old carpet that I made these mats from. The topper came as I walked around the back of the car to go get that piece of carpet, there were four big greasy hand prints on the trunk from where they had pushed it into the shop.

Finally spent the $50 Gift Certificate we won for 2015’s Motoring Challenge. There was not really anything in the catalog that I really wanted. The only thing that I needed in there in the right price range were some replacement rubber pads for the brake and clutch pedals, but what would I do with the remaining twenty bucks. Plus I really didn’t like the ‘Roadster’ script on them. The fancy I.L. Motorsports aluminum ones were $15 over the sum of the GC, so what the heck, I bought them. They of course arrived on Thursday while the Miata was off at the shop. Put them on Friday night while I was cutting a new mat and wiping off the trunk lid.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 159

Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution1

In Case of the Removal of the Favored Car from the Garage, or of its Death, Sale, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Garage, the Same shall devolve on the 2nd Favored Car, and the Household may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Sale or Inability, both of the Favored and 2nd Favored, declaring what Vehicle shall then act as Favored, and such Vehicle shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a New Favored Car shall be purchased.

I have had a business card for a local place called Wayne’s Automotive in my wallet for like 15-20 years. A co-worker had given it to me way back when her sister got the job as the dispatcher for the towing portion of the business. She was giving them out to everybody she talked to, so I took one just to be polite. A few years later when I got a new wallet I transferred the card. At the next new wallet the card moved again right along with everything else, I had became superstitious about it. I just knew that if I discarded it, I’d need it the very next day. And it was a good thing I still had it.

Yesterday on the way home, about 1-1/2 miles from work, while accelerating through 3rd gear, the acceleration just stopped happening, the check engine light illuminated, followed by the battery light and because we were on a slight uphill slope the Emperor slowed to a graceful stop along the side of the road. No sturm und drang, the engine just quit like somebody flicked a switch.

I reached into the little compartment behind my driver’s license, slid out the dog-eared card and called Wayne’s for a tow truck. We originally were going to have it towed home, but during the wait we changed our minds in consideration of my very limited mechanical knowledge and abilities. Decided to have it taken to their garage portion of the business instead.

As we stood watching the Emperor being winched onto the back of a flatbed, a different co-worker pulled over to see what was happening. He offered to drive Donna home so she could swear in the Sonata as Favored Car and come get me at Wayne’s.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 158

1. We had to cite Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution in elevating the Purple Whale’s status because South Carolina is one of only three states that never ratified the 25th Amendment.

How Ya Been?

Me too.

The Emperor returned home Wednesday evening. And the squeal was not related to the oil leak at all. The leak was caused by the exhaust cam seal. If about now you are thinking, wait a minute, exhaust cam seal, that sounds familiar. Right you are. It was changed back in October which is why Steve didn’t charge me for changing it this time.

He did charge me for a used alternator though. That was the squeal. Not oil on the belts, but bad bearings in the alternator. Steve said that the very act of backing the car up and driving the 75 feet into the garage made the alternator almost too hot to touch. Glad that sucker didn’t lock up somewhere in the mountains of western North Carolina.

When Donna asked if I minded the used vs. a new one I said, “Nah.” “This one came off a car with like 60,000 miles on it and the original failed at 160K, so I figure by the time the used one goes the Emperor will have over a quarter millions miles on it.” Of course, wouldn’t you know it, yesterday coming home from work in the Miata, a couple times when we came to a stop sign the car let loose with a squeal of sorts. Didn’t sound like what I thought was belt squeal before, not as loud and a different pitch, but it wasn’t a normal sound either.

We are going to breakfast with the MMC tomorrow, if the noise appears again we may just be driving back to Panic Motorsports this Sunday morning too.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 113