Miatatude

FedEx

Well it is on its way. Almost. It hasn’t actually been picked up yet, but I have a tracking number. You can bet there is a shortcut on my desktop for this link. Expected delivery date: Friday, September 24th.

On what will be placed into the dictionary next to the entry: Fall Day, Perfect, the Miata sat unused in the garage all day. I went rollerblading in the morning while Donna went for a walk. Later we all piled into the MSV to take Donna’s aunt to Augusta Regional Airport (Fly Here Fly Home) for her flight back to NJ. What was supposed to be a short wait turned longer by the remant of Ivan pouring down rain and thunder onto EWR. Because the flight departure was delayed a couple of hours we piled back in to the Civic and went in search of lunch. We ended up at Waffle House where we dined in high fat splendor. After returning home one adult shy, we set about decompressing on the couch. Tried watching “Welcome to Mooseport”, but we couldn’t get by Ray Romano. Popped out the DVD at about the 10 minute mark. Now I remember why we stopped watching Everybody Loves Raymond, we don’t. We do love Monk and watched the last 2 episodes of Season 1. Now we wait until they release Season 2….

Comet Gestation Counter: 53 days

I Hope This Works Out

Tomorrow I’m going to call and set up the 15K service and mention about the clutch shudder and the TSB that covers it. It has done shuddered the last two mornings, not as bad as Tuesday, but more annoying than recent weeks. It used to be just mornings, but now it has been showing up in the afternoon too on the way home from work, so it is getting worse. From anecdotal reporting I’ve seen on Miata.net this latest bulletin which entails swapping just the clutch disc seems to do the trick.

Don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted.

Comet Gestation Counter: 51 days

Ticky Ticky Ticky Ticky Ticky Ticky

There used to be a slight ticking sound that was coming from over on the passenger side. We could make it go away by moving the seat forward and leaning it back or pushing it back and leaning it forward or something. This last time I vacuumed the car I didn’t get it right because the ticking returned. No manner of adjusting has eliminated it. It doesn’t feel loose in any way. Smacking it hard while stationary doesn’t make the noise.

This Sunday while returning from the gap and Donna driving, I did a little troubleshooting and discovered where the noise is coming from. I think it is the seatbelt hitting the side of the seat. It stops whenever you lift the seatbelt up off your shoulder. If you look at the seat there is a slight black smudge on the tan leather where the seatbelt is rubbing. I say I think, because I am 6 foot and Donna is 5′-2″ so the location of the belt is drastically different for each of us, yet the ticking is there for both of us. Also the driver’s side is silent for either of us and that same black mark is present on that seat as well.

My first thought for a solution is a small strip of the fuzzy side of Velcro (in tan) glued to the spot on the seat. Anybody else got a different idea?

Comet Gestation Counter: 50 days

15,000 Miles

Sometime during the 5th run through of Deal’s Gap this past weekend the car turned over 15K. One of the other couples we were with had their 2002 Miata reach that milestone a few days before the trip. I got there at least a year quicker than they did, but to be fair our car is the Family Truckster and theirs is a weekend fun toy. I guess I’ll schedule a maintenance stop at Rader for next week. I’ll give them one more shot, but three strikes and they’re out.

The clutch shudder was very noticeable this morning backing out of the garage, so much so it was audible. As usual it is almost completely gone by about the 3 mile mark of the 6 mile trip to work. If it does it like that 2 or 3 mornings more before the service next week, I may just say something.

Comet Gestation Counter: 49 days

Can You See Them Now?

Donna and I drove to the Master’s Miata Club meeting tonight, but she didn’t stay. She was on the edge about going and at the last minute decided to come. When we got to the room we would be in at the Aiken Brewery there were two people at the bar smoking. That was all it took to change her mind, she turned around and headed home leaving me to catch a ride with someone after the meeting. At first I was going to ride with Ray who lives on the southside of Aiken too, but Leroy showed up and he lives a stone’s throw (literally) from me, so I rode back with him. Leroy has a Laguna Blue 95 like I used to have. Even though they came from the factory identically built, it is amazing how differently we went when it came to customizing our cars. One thing Leroy did, that I considered early, but dismissed for cost reasons, was add some of the popular Low-Pro headlights from Brainstorm. Not only are they what I consider expensive at $349, but their has been quite a bit written about their lack of light output. Tonight on the way home I got to see their weakness’s first hand. Driving down some darker roads was an adventure, the high beams helped, but man am I ever grateful for not going that way. Sometimes substance is more important that style.

Comet Gestation Counter: 37 days

With the cabins and the camping and the bakin’ beans

Oh Yes My Shirt Is Here! Cafepress delivered today. It is long sleeved in preparation for cooler weather that is about a month and a half away. I will probably wear it around the house first because we keep the AC on real good. But first it gets washed, if you are lucky I might model it for you later this week.

Comet Gestation Counter: 34 days

Clutch Shudder II

I first talked of this NB Miata malady back in May and it has been here in the background ever since. It is always noticeable for the first 4 or 5 1st gear launches in the morning. I’ve tried to adjust my technique, but after 30 years of driving a clutch one way I can’t always remember to use the “new” method. After some reading on the Miata.net Forums and the flippant remark by my favorite Mazda salesman I have been revving the engine to around 1500-2000 RPM for first gear launches. It has been working pretty good (when I remember to do it), but recently it is less and less effective. I’m afraid I may have to have the Mazda TSB applied to the car where they swap out the clutch disc for a new & improved version. But frankly, I’m not too anxious to have the folks at the dealership tackle this project after my experience with the 7500 Mile Service there.

Speaking of service, it is almost time for the 15,000 one. At the rate I’m going it should be about 2 weeks from now. This time I won’t let the gorillas who work there rotate my tires (see the 7500 mile service link above), I’ll just do that my self in my driveway. Oh, that reminds me, the creaking that they never totally fixed last time is finally gone. Every couple of weeks I can’t take the noise any longer so I try spraying something with white lithium grease. First I tried the hinges, but I’m not sure I can hit the right spot. Then I hit the torsion bars that hold the trunk lid up in a couple places. A couple of days ago on my third attempt I got the spot. I can’t really explain where I did it, but if you come over to my house I can point to it for you.

Comet Gestation Counter: 33 days