Hello everyone.  I’m a happy owner of a 1999 Mazda Miata that has seen
better days of late.  Due to economic circumstances beyond my control
(read:  The Economy), I’ve had to drive around my poor beat-up Miata
for a long time now.  I rear-ended someone a few months back with the
unfortunate issue of having only liability insurance.

Thanks to the airbags both deploying (why I didn’t have the passenger
side bag disabled, I don’t know), I suffered some damage to the front
end and of course, the windshield since the bags popped, smacking the
rearview into the windshield and creating a lovely spiderweb.

Beyond that, I’m now suffering the ill effects of some mechanical
problems.  Forgetting the body work necessary for a moment, I’d like
to focus on the under-the-hood problems I’ve been having.

Just recently, I noticed some peculiar issues when driving it.  I
would find that after parking it briefly, when I would try to drive it
again, it would often backfire on me.  Also, it was experiencing
difficulty delivering full power to the vehicle as i’d shift in gear –
I could hear it struggling to achieve speeds that normally weren’t a
problem.  Eventually after a few minutes of driving it, it would "kick
in" and start delivering full power again and operate normally.

During those times when it would have problems, it often died on me
when idling.  Now, I would have normally had this looked into much
much sooner but I was not in an economic position to do so.  And
recently this weekend, it came to a head – my Miata died on me.
Regardless of which gear i’d shift into, the car wouldn’t move.  I
immediately thought I had a clutch problem (60K miles and never had
replaced it yet).

Well, luckily for me I have just got a new job (and was meaning to
start getting the car worked on next week).  It’s currently in the
shop and indeed the mechanic says the clutch needs to be replaced.  He
hasn’t looked at any other issues yet.

I’m present here on the list to basically become more informed about
my car.  despite my obvious negligence in taking care of the vehicle,
I’m really not stupid.  I swear .  I was just broke and only had the
Miata as my primary means of transportation.

I don’t want to sell the car.  I want to get it fixed.  I know there
will be more issues in regards to getting it fixed (considering the
engine problem I had that I described).  What I’m hoping for here is
some feedback from the Miata experts.  What’s the best way for me to
learn more about my car so I don’t sound like a complete neophyte when
talking to the mechanic?  Can I come here for advice on what needs to
be fixed?  Once the under-the-hood issues are fixed, i’d like to get
the bodywork done and I would hope to not have to spend a fortune on
it, so I’m hoping you folks here can steer me in the right direction.

Maybe if I’m lucky enough, I may learn enough to do some of the work
myself.

What are the best sources for becoming less mechanically inept?

Even though i’ve been cruel to her with my lack of funds these past
two years, I really love my 1999 Miata and I don’t plan on selling it.
 She’s only got 60K miles on her and I’d like to put thousands more.

Any help or comments or sugestions you have would be most appreciated.

Myron Mychal
Owner of an ill 1999

I’m looking for new springs for my 96M.  The shocks are gone,
and I wan’t to do springs at the same time.

I’d like something a little lower than stock but not too harsh
— progressive rate would be ideal.  My mechanic recommended
Eibach. But, they’ve been on back-order for 2.5 months, and
there’s no sign they’ll ever ship.

I asked about H&R, but he said they were a lot harsher than the
Eibach springs and wouldn’t be much fun for normal street use.

So, I’ve got two questions for the group:

 1) Does anybody know a retailer that might have Eibach springs
    in stock?  I’ve checked with mmmiata.com, and they don’t
    have them.

 2) Can anybody recommend something similar to the Eibach
    springs?  They need to fit a 96M (which has ABS), so Tokico
    is out, and I don’t know which others will fit an ABS
    equipped 96. Jackson Racing?  Apex?

–
Grant Edwards                   grante             Yow!  Have my two-tone,
                                  at               1958 Nash METRO brought
                               visi.com            around…

 What synthetic weights of oil can be used in the manual transmission,
turret, and differential in my 91A? I went to Mobil 1 in the motor last
week. Would 75W-90 do for all the above? Redline or something else?  And if
Redline, where might a guy find the stuff locally?  This ought to be a long
thread Thanks in advance!

I’ve had my 94 Mazda MX6 sitting for an extended period of time. Now I
have moisture in the engine or gas tank or possibly both. I get heavy
duty white smoke out of my exhaust now. Is there anything I can do now
to cut this short? Do I have to burn off a couple of tanks of gas or
what? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am buying a 2000 Miata and it’s comes with the 14" OEM wheels.

I reallly like the new "Swept Spoke" OEM wheels. Does anyone know if they
are available in sizes other than 16"? (It seems they are not.)

If not, can anyone recommend some after market wheels that look similar?
(Aside from what I’ve already looked at on Tire Rack).

Thanks

I’ve checked the little pan and drain tube under the dash as suggested
in a previous post, and it’s not plugged.  After about 1/2 hour of
driving with the A/C in my ’97, water spills on the floor quite far to
the right on the passenger’s side, to the right of the drain pan.  It
seems as if it is sloshed out of something when making a left turn.  I
pulled over and stopped when I saw it today and pulled the drain hose
off.  It seemed almost dry, but it was hard to tell.  There were a
couple drops of water hanging from the grill of a fan at about the
place where the water seems to come from under the dash.

Thanks very much for any help.

i have a 94 v-spec roadster, the speedo only goes up to 110mph ( i live in
the uk and my car is a jap import,so the speedo was changed from kph to mph
when it was imported)
i have had the car off the clock – how fast would have been going in top
gear at 6250rpm?(my car is standard set-up with oem 14" wheels)

any ideas?

ferris
black 94 v-spec

Hi – some adviceplease on my Softtop.  The cloth around one of the soft-top
crossbars has come unstuck from the soft-top.  Can you use Evostick or d’you
need a special adhesive?

Regards and thanks to anyone who knows
KH

I just came back from a gorgeous drive home from our faculty
meeting, with temperatures ranging from about 80F to 70F.

It has made me think about how silly it really is to have the
summer period in summer.  During summer, it is often too hot top
down during the day, while the drives to and from work are just
great.  On the other hand, during winter the temperatures
are unbearably cold, (and may even be hovering near freezing,)
in the morning and evening, while mid day is nice, also an
excellent time to work in the yard, and great for finding more
congenial climates down south in Latin America.

Whose idea was it to have summer in summer, anyway?

Leon

Earthlink reset all message numbers, so I may miss some messages.

–
Leon van Dommelen    Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .)
  To reply to me, the word Miata must be in the subject.
                  EXIT THE INTERSTATES       (Jamie Jensen)

I’m no mechanic and I replaced the oxygen sensor in a 93 B2200 when the
light on the dash came on at 60k. How do I reset the light?  I have a haynes
repair manual and it indicates that some wires need to be reversed but it
doesn’t identify the wires or location of the wires.  Thanks for any help!