Several things have needed attention lately, some for quite a while.
An oil leak developed a while back, and I determined the leak was coming from my aftermarket adapter at the oem filter location - it's part of my oil filter relocation kit. Finally got around to dealing with that. To get the adapter off the block, I ended up having to disassemble virtually the whole kit, but it wasn't too bad of a job, especially since my friend who owns an auto service shop let me use one of his lifts: sweet! The o-ring in the adapter had flattened against the block. Considerately, Jim Thompson (maker of the kit) included an extra o-ring in the kit and I had saved the box. New o-ring in, and the engine is dry again.
That of course required draining the oil, so that's an oil change, at 60,310 miles.
The front brakes had begun whining, and the rear pad on the front right was about paper thin, so this morning I had my friend put new brakes on the front. First new brakes since new.
The car has had an issue with the idle for a few months now, anywhere from 1400 to 2500 (should be 850). Advised that the problem was likely a dirty solenoid which also causes the infamous bog, I cleaned that solenoid, and the problem went away immediately and completely! --for a few days. This week I cleaned in the throttle body, and it was better for a couple hours, but then came back once again. Then today the Check Engine light came on, so I was excited that maybe it would tell me the problem. Read the code, and it said, "Engine idle too high." Oh thank you, thank you so much. Still working on possibilities. I was hoping to have the idle in good order for a week from Saturday for....well, that will be another post. :)
Friday, February 3, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
FIRST AUTOCROSS
If you have a sports car, and you haven't done an autocross yet, DO IT!!!
This past Saturday (Jan 14) was supposed to be the day my roll bar got installed. But one of my helpers remembered he had a SpeedVentures autocross event to work, so he wouldn't be able to come. He did say, however, that I ought to go and do the autocross event. It was in an infield parking lot at the Fontana Autoclub Speedway. I had been meaning to do an autocross event at some point but wasn't real familiar with what goes on - but since my friend was going to be working it, this looked like a good opportunity.
The day before the event, I cleaned the solenoid again, hoping to rid my car of the aforementioned high idle. Starting the car afterward I found a check engine light. A little investigation showed that I had knocked the other end of one of the little hoses loose, so I fixed that up. Didn't really cure the high idle though. I cleared the CEL, but it came back on later.
Anyway, I caravaned with two Miata friends for the 50-minute drive to Fontana: the guy who's gonna help with the roll bar (very skilled driver/racer, owns a heavily modified, one-of-a-kind Mazdaspeed Miata; and the other owns a nice looking NB, and writes on the web for Motor Trend).
Fifty to sixty cars showed up for the SpeedVentures event: Miatas, S2000s, Camaros, Mustangs, a Lotus, an old Datsun Z car, BMWs (including a sedan), a '69 Camaro, a Hyundai hatchback, etc.
My friend working the event walked me around the course before it all started, showing me the lines I should use, and also let me ride with him for a run in the first session; great help! The fastest drivers were running the course in the 39-second range (including my friend who was working the event), and I think I saw a 38 or so at some point in the day. My first few runs were in the 45s, and then I had a long string of 44s. Occasionally I would have a really sloppy run, but otherwise I was consistently improving, by a tenth of a second or two, each run. About the time I had gotten under 44.1, my said friend rode with me for a couple of runs. The first was more or less in line with what I had been doing, a low 44. He pointed out a couple things for me to do differently, and we headed out again. Coming to the timing sign this time, he pointed to the time without words, and I looked to read it as well. I mainly saw the .4 at the end, and as I had held no anticipation of getting that deep in the 43s, I was thinking it wasn't a good run; that I was back up in the mid-section of the 44s. So my response to him was pretty was underwhelming.....until I finally realized it was forty-THREE point four. It's pretty obvious in the video when I finally realized, hahaha. Here's that run:
Pretty excited to have finally smashed the 44.0 barrier and gotten so far into the 43s. Went out on the next run by myself, attacked the slalom much better, and got a 42.8! I was ecstatic! Unfortunately I had to leave the event early at that point, as I had other obligations that day. But I am SO looking forward to another autocross event!
This past Saturday (Jan 14) was supposed to be the day my roll bar got installed. But one of my helpers remembered he had a SpeedVentures autocross event to work, so he wouldn't be able to come. He did say, however, that I ought to go and do the autocross event. It was in an infield parking lot at the Fontana Autoclub Speedway. I had been meaning to do an autocross event at some point but wasn't real familiar with what goes on - but since my friend was going to be working it, this looked like a good opportunity.
The day before the event, I cleaned the solenoid again, hoping to rid my car of the aforementioned high idle. Starting the car afterward I found a check engine light. A little investigation showed that I had knocked the other end of one of the little hoses loose, so I fixed that up. Didn't really cure the high idle though. I cleared the CEL, but it came back on later.
Anyway, I caravaned with two Miata friends for the 50-minute drive to Fontana: the guy who's gonna help with the roll bar (very skilled driver/racer, owns a heavily modified, one-of-a-kind Mazdaspeed Miata; and the other owns a nice looking NB, and writes on the web for Motor Trend).
Fifty to sixty cars showed up for the SpeedVentures event: Miatas, S2000s, Camaros, Mustangs, a Lotus, an old Datsun Z car, BMWs (including a sedan), a '69 Camaro, a Hyundai hatchback, etc.
My friend working the event walked me around the course before it all started, showing me the lines I should use, and also let me ride with him for a run in the first session; great help! The fastest drivers were running the course in the 39-second range (including my friend who was working the event), and I think I saw a 38 or so at some point in the day. My first few runs were in the 45s, and then I had a long string of 44s. Occasionally I would have a really sloppy run, but otherwise I was consistently improving, by a tenth of a second or two, each run. About the time I had gotten under 44.1, my said friend rode with me for a couple of runs. The first was more or less in line with what I had been doing, a low 44. He pointed out a couple things for me to do differently, and we headed out again. Coming to the timing sign this time, he pointed to the time without words, and I looked to read it as well. I mainly saw the .4 at the end, and as I had held no anticipation of getting that deep in the 43s, I was thinking it wasn't a good run; that I was back up in the mid-section of the 44s. So my response to him was pretty was underwhelming.....until I finally realized it was forty-THREE point four. It's pretty obvious in the video when I finally realized, hahaha. Here's that run:
Pretty excited to have finally smashed the 44.0 barrier and gotten so far into the 43s. Went out on the next run by myself, attacked the slalom much better, and got a 42.8! I was ecstatic! Unfortunately I had to leave the event early at that point, as I had other obligations that day. But I am SO looking forward to another autocross event!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
CATCHING UP
I see that my last entry was July 2010. Life got off-kilter and complicated right after that, and suddenly a year and a half has gone by. Time to catch up and get back to my car's biography. The 'Speed has gone from just under 35k miles in mid 2010, to hitting 60k during this past weekend.
Going back to what was last mentioned, I installed the new antenna. Easy install, but you need a helper just for the second pair of hands.
Right after that is when things got complicated, and I ended up moving clear across the country - from Georgia to California, metro Los Angeles. I've lived in Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia, but I've also lived in the New Jersey suburbs of New York City, in metro Washington DC, and in the Chicagoland area (not to mention the Czech Republic), so LA is no culture shock as some might expect in a move from Georgia to SoCal.
However, it WAS a culture shock for the Mazdaspeed. Previously, it was always garage parked and never driven in the rain. The first few months in Long Beach were a rude awakening. For one thing, I left my old Isuzu Rodeo SUV in Georgia to be sold, so the Miata would be my constant transportation here (for several months anyway; then I finally bought a '94 4Runner to replace the Rodeo). For the first five months in Long Beach, I was in an apartment with no parking except on the street, and it was the rainy season. Of course how bad can the rainy season be in Southern California? Well, in 2011, horrendous. I have never seen more rain, more consistently, in my life. Ever. Anywhere. Very strange weather for SoCal. And so much for not driving this car in the rain.
Then came the day I'm sitting at a traffic light and, too late to do anything, I spot a woman in the rear-view mirror who had slowed, but not stopped. Bam! -and my mint Miata now had a marred rear bumper. It's just surface damage, and it isn't so bad, but it was the first damage on the car.
While I was examining the scrape, she took off. I jumped in the car and pursued, but she had gone immediately around a blind corner with another blind corner just beyond that, and I wasn't able to spot her. So the bumper will remain that way until I move from LA.
Then a few weeks later, I noticed someone had scraped the paint off my front bumper, apparently while trying to parallel park outside my apartment. This time the damage is much more noticeable, and I've found the shop to do the re-spray. More on that in a later post.
I now live in a house, with a garage, and I have the aforementioned 4Runner. So the 'Speed is very happy to be once again in it's favored circumstances: never being driven in the rain, and parked in the garage with its Mazdaspeed banner hanging over it. :)
And then there are the good things about my 'Speed Miata living in the LA area: canyon roads and KINOD. There are a lot of good roads in the mountains in and around LA, and they've provided a lot of fun: the Ortega Highway, Angeles Crest Highway, Rim of the World Highway, Mulholland Drive, Topanga Canyon Road, Tuna Canyon Road, etc. And then there's Turnbull Canyon Road, which I discovered because it's on the way to KINOD. KINOD is a group of Miata owners who began meeting every Friday night back in 2006. That's every Friday night for over 5 years now. They're mostly young (with exceptions), mostly Asian (with exceptions), and most of the cars that show up are modded and tuned much more than mine (with just a few exceptions!). Mine looks pretty bland in the KINOD meets!
Two mechanical issues have come up in the past months: a high idle, and an oil leak related to my oil filter relocation kit. Both of them are still to be resolved. The idle stays normal until I get into the turbo, but after I do, it will often go to 1500 to 2000 rpms, and stay there until the engine cools to ambient temperature. Informed that I should do the "bog fix" since a high idle is characteristic of the bog (which thankfully I've never had), I did so. It's an easy process of cleaning a solenoid, for which there is a great tutorial on the Mazda-speed.com forum ( http://www.mazda-speed.com/forum2/index.php/topic,21621.0.html ). Immediately, no matter how much or hard I got into the turbo, the idle behaved itself perfectly. I was thrilled. Until a few days later when the high idle returned. It's not as consistent as before (a good thing), but still sometimes shows up.
The oil leak is at the adapter on the side of the block, where the oil filter would normally be. I've tried simply tightening it with the car on the ground, but it's hard to get to (the whole reason for the relocation kit!), and I couldn't get good pressure on it. I need to get the car up on a lift and go at it better.
Well that about catches me up to date. Well, there is another good thing about having the Miata here in LA..... Another post to come, from this most recent weekend.
Going back to what was last mentioned, I installed the new antenna. Easy install, but you need a helper just for the second pair of hands.
Right after that is when things got complicated, and I ended up moving clear across the country - from Georgia to California, metro Los Angeles. I've lived in Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia, but I've also lived in the New Jersey suburbs of New York City, in metro Washington DC, and in the Chicagoland area (not to mention the Czech Republic), so LA is no culture shock as some might expect in a move from Georgia to SoCal.
However, it WAS a culture shock for the Mazdaspeed. Previously, it was always garage parked and never driven in the rain. The first few months in Long Beach were a rude awakening. For one thing, I left my old Isuzu Rodeo SUV in Georgia to be sold, so the Miata would be my constant transportation here (for several months anyway; then I finally bought a '94 4Runner to replace the Rodeo). For the first five months in Long Beach, I was in an apartment with no parking except on the street, and it was the rainy season. Of course how bad can the rainy season be in Southern California? Well, in 2011, horrendous. I have never seen more rain, more consistently, in my life. Ever. Anywhere. Very strange weather for SoCal. And so much for not driving this car in the rain.
Then came the day I'm sitting at a traffic light and, too late to do anything, I spot a woman in the rear-view mirror who had slowed, but not stopped. Bam! -and my mint Miata now had a marred rear bumper. It's just surface damage, and it isn't so bad, but it was the first damage on the car.
While I was examining the scrape, she took off. I jumped in the car and pursued, but she had gone immediately around a blind corner with another blind corner just beyond that, and I wasn't able to spot her. So the bumper will remain that way until I move from LA.Then a few weeks later, I noticed someone had scraped the paint off my front bumper, apparently while trying to parallel park outside my apartment. This time the damage is much more noticeable, and I've found the shop to do the re-spray. More on that in a later post.
I now live in a house, with a garage, and I have the aforementioned 4Runner. So the 'Speed is very happy to be once again in it's favored circumstances: never being driven in the rain, and parked in the garage with its Mazdaspeed banner hanging over it. :)
And then there are the good things about my 'Speed Miata living in the LA area: canyon roads and KINOD. There are a lot of good roads in the mountains in and around LA, and they've provided a lot of fun: the Ortega Highway, Angeles Crest Highway, Rim of the World Highway, Mulholland Drive, Topanga Canyon Road, Tuna Canyon Road, etc. And then there's Turnbull Canyon Road, which I discovered because it's on the way to KINOD. KINOD is a group of Miata owners who began meeting every Friday night back in 2006. That's every Friday night for over 5 years now. They're mostly young (with exceptions), mostly Asian (with exceptions), and most of the cars that show up are modded and tuned much more than mine (with just a few exceptions!). Mine looks pretty bland in the KINOD meets!
Two mechanical issues have come up in the past months: a high idle, and an oil leak related to my oil filter relocation kit. Both of them are still to be resolved. The idle stays normal until I get into the turbo, but after I do, it will often go to 1500 to 2000 rpms, and stay there until the engine cools to ambient temperature. Informed that I should do the "bog fix" since a high idle is characteristic of the bog (which thankfully I've never had), I did so. It's an easy process of cleaning a solenoid, for which there is a great tutorial on the Mazda-speed.com forum ( http://www.mazda-speed.com/forum2/index.php/topic,21621.0.html ). Immediately, no matter how much or hard I got into the turbo, the idle behaved itself perfectly. I was thrilled. Until a few days later when the high idle returned. It's not as consistent as before (a good thing), but still sometimes shows up.
The oil leak is at the adapter on the side of the block, where the oil filter would normally be. I've tried simply tightening it with the car on the ground, but it's hard to get to (the whole reason for the relocation kit!), and I couldn't get good pressure on it. I need to get the car up on a lift and go at it better.
Well that about catches me up to date. Well, there is another good thing about having the Miata here in LA..... Another post to come, from this most recent weekend.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
OIL CHANGE
Man, I have neglected this blog. Need to get back to it. For example, the garage door was at half height the other day and I began to back out as I've done a bunch of other times (hey, it's a low car!)....but the radio had been left on, so the antenna went up as soon as I started her up. Yeah. So, a new antenna mast is sitting on my desk right now waiting for installation.
Anywho, changed the oil a week ago (7-5-10), mileage 34,739. Miles are adding up much more quickly than I planned with this car. The old Isuzu Rodeo just looks so boring when I step out into the garage!
Anywho, changed the oil a week ago (7-5-10), mileage 34,739. Miles are adding up much more quickly than I planned with this car. The old Isuzu Rodeo just looks so boring when I step out into the garage!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
OIL CHANGE
Miles: 32,282. Going to Atlanta tomorrow to have new tires mounted, and new alignment with Flyin Miata's alignment numbers. Was approaching 5k miles on this oil, HAD to change it tonight!
Friday, November 6, 2009
NEW INTAKE ETC.
First, an Oil Change to record:
October 28, at 27,565 miles.
I've installed Flyin Miata's Complete Intake Package, and a larger intercooler, which by the way looks much cooler!
The Complete Intake Kit 
Drove to Indy to have my cousin's help for all this. The Intake package consisted of the intake itself, a stronger throttle body inlet pipe, (the rubber oem unit is reported to expand and even blow off under increased power), a manual boost controller, a new blowoff valve, and an 02 signal modifier.
I delayed installing the 02 signal modifier, so that I could see the results of the rest by itself, and then see the change the modifier makes. Big difference. Okay, with all the rest installed, I CLEARLY had more power! But not all of those additional horsies were working until I hit about 5000 rpms. To test the difference before and after the 02 signal modifier, I did several identical runs starting from 4k rpms in 4th gear, both before and after installing the modifier. Before, I would have nice power from 4k rpms, but then at about 5k it would really start laying down the power. After, I had all that additional power immediately, from 4k all the way up. :)
BEFORE 
AFTER 
Then it was time for the intercooler. Flyin Miata has a very nice one available for over $500. A more popular solution among 'Speed Miata owners are the units available on eBay for around $50-60. The typical choice is 28" long, 7" tall, and 2.5" thick. Installing it requires a bit of a rearrangement of the power steering lines, and the top couple of inches is not in the direct air flow through the mouth of the Miata. So instead of that unit, I bought a similar unit on eBay that was only 5.5" tall. No rearranging of the power steering lines, the whole thing is in direct air flow, AND I just feel a little more comfortable with the radiator not being quite as blocked. Intercooler cost was $37 plus shipping, plus some silicone couplers and clamps. The front end looks MUCH nicer now, with this wide aluminum intercooler instead of that little factory unit.
Factory Intercooler 
New Intercooler 
More info still to be added.....
(some special touches in these installations, and before/after dyno runs)
October 28, at 27,565 miles.
I've installed Flyin Miata's Complete Intake Package, and a larger intercooler, which by the way looks much cooler!
Drove to Indy to have my cousin's help for all this. The Intake package consisted of the intake itself, a stronger throttle body inlet pipe, (the rubber oem unit is reported to expand and even blow off under increased power), a manual boost controller, a new blowoff valve, and an 02 signal modifier.
I delayed installing the 02 signal modifier, so that I could see the results of the rest by itself, and then see the change the modifier makes. Big difference. Okay, with all the rest installed, I CLEARLY had more power! But not all of those additional horsies were working until I hit about 5000 rpms. To test the difference before and after the 02 signal modifier, I did several identical runs starting from 4k rpms in 4th gear, both before and after installing the modifier. Before, I would have nice power from 4k rpms, but then at about 5k it would really start laying down the power. After, I had all that additional power immediately, from 4k all the way up. :)
Then it was time for the intercooler. Flyin Miata has a very nice one available for over $500. A more popular solution among 'Speed Miata owners are the units available on eBay for around $50-60. The typical choice is 28" long, 7" tall, and 2.5" thick. Installing it requires a bit of a rearrangement of the power steering lines, and the top couple of inches is not in the direct air flow through the mouth of the Miata. So instead of that unit, I bought a similar unit on eBay that was only 5.5" tall. No rearranging of the power steering lines, the whole thing is in direct air flow, AND I just feel a little more comfortable with the radiator not being quite as blocked. Intercooler cost was $37 plus shipping, plus some silicone couplers and clamps. The front end looks MUCH nicer now, with this wide aluminum intercooler instead of that little factory unit.
More info still to be added.....
(some special touches in these installations, and before/after dyno runs)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
COSMETIC CHANGES
.
1. COMPLETED '04 INTERIOR
As I commented in my first entry, I bought this Black '05, planning to install the '04 red interior accents: red insert seats and red insert door panels. IT'S DONE! I bought the seats soon after I bought the car, and just recently ordered the door panel inserts from Online Mazda Parts, out of Montgomery Mazda in Charlotte NC (better than average parts prices). Mike aka Droptopdrifter/Doppelganger had done this same installation a couple years ago in his car (different colors), and since he has a heating tool that proves helpful for a factory-like installation, and since I also knew I'd like to meet him and his awesome car (260 whp and Garage Vary front bumper), today I went up to Atlanta. We got the job done and just enjoyed talking Miatas and modding. And man does his car move.
Anyway, I wonder if my car is now the only Black Mica Mazdaspeed Miata with the red/black interior. Quite possible since that arrangement was never offered. That would be kinda cool. Whether or not, I think it looks great.
2. HEADLIGHT & TAILLIGHT BEZELS
For a long time I wasn't sure if I thought these were an improvement or not, but I was sure that (to me at least) the Black Mica cars are the only ones they look really good on. Well I just came across a Black Mica set for $25! -normally $70+ for new, and painting costs on top of that. So they're mine! I'll get them mounted in a few days and see what I think.
1. COMPLETED '04 INTERIOR
As I commented in my first entry, I bought this Black '05, planning to install the '04 red interior accents: red insert seats and red insert door panels. IT'S DONE! I bought the seats soon after I bought the car, and just recently ordered the door panel inserts from Online Mazda Parts, out of Montgomery Mazda in Charlotte NC (better than average parts prices). Mike aka Droptopdrifter/Doppelganger had done this same installation a couple years ago in his car (different colors), and since he has a heating tool that proves helpful for a factory-like installation, and since I also knew I'd like to meet him and his awesome car (260 whp and Garage Vary front bumper), today I went up to Atlanta. We got the job done and just enjoyed talking Miatas and modding. And man does his car move.
Anyway, I wonder if my car is now the only Black Mica Mazdaspeed Miata with the red/black interior. Quite possible since that arrangement was never offered. That would be kinda cool. Whether or not, I think it looks great.
2. HEADLIGHT & TAILLIGHT BEZELS
For a long time I wasn't sure if I thought these were an improvement or not, but I was sure that (to me at least) the Black Mica cars are the only ones they look really good on. Well I just came across a Black Mica set for $25! -normally $70+ for new, and painting costs on top of that. So they're mine! I'll get them mounted in a few days and see what I think.
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