Tim in NC left me a comment regarding the Miata's wobbly crank case pulley. He said "Don't ignore it" so I looked into the matter and it appears the Miata needs a new engine. I kinda wish I didn't kn0w that. According to the Miata specialist mechanic here in Vancouver the only way to fix the problem is to either rebuild the engine or swap in a new one. Since spending $2000 on a new engine is not an option for an out of work actor I have to try something else. I could sell the car but I don't want to saddle someone else with this problem and if I did declare it I wouldn't be able to sell it for as much as I bought it for so I'd be loosing as much as a new engine and the whole Miata itself. For now the Miata runs and it will continue running until the worn out crankcase pulley messes up the timing so bad that it can't pull away from an intersection or the pulley comes off and it's end of story. The only option I'm left with is to attempt the Loctite fix. This basically involves gluing the pulley into the right position. Hopefully it works. Stay tuned.
How many cars out there have an internet community like this one? Or specialist mechanic shops? Not many. The Miata is special.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Bowen Island
Well the Miata had it's brakes done; new pads all around, new rotors on the front, and a new caliper at the right rear, and a new battery, so it was time for a short road trip to Bowen Island where my good friend was having his birthday celebration. I insured the car just for the two day excursion. It ended up costing a lot more than I expected because I had to pay some old traffic violation tickets, (see the busted post a while back). 
The new brakes worked great. And a good thing because a deer jumped out in front of me twice. I think it was the same deer trying to commit suicide. It would have done more damage to the Miata than to itself tho. It really explained why Bowen has a 40 kilometers per hour speed limit; suicidal deer.
I went by myself because my girlfriend had to work and no one wanted to carpool with me; some crazy rumour that I drive too aggressively (hey I spun out only once on this trip). It's a good thing because I realized just how small the Miata's trunk is. That's a sleeping bag, a pillow, a back pack, a foamy, a camping chair, and some beer and hot dogs in there and the trunk is totally full. If another person came with me they would have to carry their stuff on their lap.It was really great to have the Miata back in action again. Bowen Island is really beautiful. Life should be lived with a convertible sports car. I hope the Infiniti sells soon so I can drive the Miata more and more.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Oils They are a Changin
The Miata, 
the Infiniti, 
and my Dad's Honda
and Mom's Toyota (not pictured) had their oils changed in my garage. It took all of fifteen minutes for all four cars and cost very little compared to doing it a dealer or quick lube type place. Plus who wants some fifteen year old making eight bucks an hour changing your oil. Because there's no labour cost involved I was able to spend a bit more on a better type of oil: Mobil 1 Synthetic. I believe this is the choice of oil for Porsche, Mercedes and BMW so it should be good enough for the Miata. After the change was done I used the Infiniti to jump the Miata and after four months, it started right up and ran fine. That's good.
My dad did all the changes and he's a pro mechanic. It was also the first time he'd had a good look at the Miata. Of course he found some things.
1. The battery is toast
2. There's a very small oil leak from somewhere (probably transmission) that has to be investigated
3. The main accessory belt is loose and glazed and has to be tightened and eventually replaced
4. The crankshaft pulley is vibrating weirdly (if this is a problem, it's so big I'm choosing to ignore it completely; I'm going ostrich on it if you will)
5. Brakes: the front pads are kinda worn and the back is a mysterious mess; The pad on one side isn't worn at all
and the pad on the other side is completely worn. 
This could indicate seized caliper($). I remember in some earlier post I complained about the brakes well...
There is nothing more indignant for a car than to be parked on jacks in someone's garage or worse on someone's drive way or worse worse on someone's lawn. It's one step away from being one of those abandoned project cars that can't move under it's own power and rots away into oblivion. That won't happen to the Miata. It has to stay this way for now until it's properly inspected and diagnosed, which should be today. I did some long days of extra work last week to get the cash to cure these ills.
My own inspection of the brakes found this pupae lodged in the caliper.
Did Buffalo Bill work on this car? I wonder. Nearby in an oil stain that emanated from the Miata I found this dead moth. 
I think this might be some kind of beautiful metaphor about birth, death, transformation and the automobile. It could be the universe reaching out and talking to me but it could be just a dead moth.
the Infiniti, 
and my Dad's Honda
and Mom's Toyota (not pictured) had their oils changed in my garage. It took all of fifteen minutes for all four cars and cost very little compared to doing it a dealer or quick lube type place. Plus who wants some fifteen year old making eight bucks an hour changing your oil. Because there's no labour cost involved I was able to spend a bit more on a better type of oil: Mobil 1 Synthetic. I believe this is the choice of oil for Porsche, Mercedes and BMW so it should be good enough for the Miata. After the change was done I used the Infiniti to jump the Miata and after four months, it started right up and ran fine. That's good.My dad did all the changes and he's a pro mechanic. It was also the first time he'd had a good look at the Miata. Of course he found some things.
1. The battery is toast
2. There's a very small oil leak from somewhere (probably transmission) that has to be investigated
3. The main accessory belt is loose and glazed and has to be tightened and eventually replaced
4. The crankshaft pulley is vibrating weirdly (if this is a problem, it's so big I'm choosing to ignore it completely; I'm going ostrich on it if you will)
5. Brakes: the front pads are kinda worn and the back is a mysterious mess; The pad on one side isn't worn at all
and the pad on the other side is completely worn. 
This could indicate seized caliper($). I remember in some earlier post I complained about the brakes well...
There is nothing more indignant for a car than to be parked on jacks in someone's garage or worse on someone's drive way or worse worse on someone's lawn. It's one step away from being one of those abandoned project cars that can't move under it's own power and rots away into oblivion. That won't happen to the Miata. It has to stay this way for now until it's properly inspected and diagnosed, which should be today. I did some long days of extra work last week to get the cash to cure these ills.My own inspection of the brakes found this pupae lodged in the caliper.
Did Buffalo Bill work on this car? I wonder. Nearby in an oil stain that emanated from the Miata I found this dead moth. 
I think this might be some kind of beautiful metaphor about birth, death, transformation and the automobile. It could be the universe reaching out and talking to me but it could be just a dead moth.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Wipers; Wiping
On Wednesday I went and picked up the wiper control arm for my Infiniti. It was right where they said it would be and cost only $22. The fix took about 2 minutes of snapping the joints to the motor and pivots and then voila the wipers work again. I wonder how much this repair would have been if I chose to pay for the labour. Probably over $100 bucks at least. This was really one of those cases where doing it yourself payed off. Since this was such a simple fix (anyone with minimum amount of mechanical skill, a screw driver, and a 14mm box wrench could do it) it took just a few minutes. If I took it in to get fixed I'd probably be without a car for at least a whole day. I did the fix just in time as it's absolutely pouring outside. Summer can't get here soon enough.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Junkyard Dog
I love going to the junkyard. Often there's some really sweet deals to be had. Like the set of alloy wheels with tires I bought for $250 that were in perfect shape or the spare fob I got for free. There's also something really cool about looking at all the smashed cars. What motor head doesn't like a good car crash. But sometimes going to the junkyard can be unpleasant, usually when having to deal with the people that work at the junkyard. For some reason customer relations is not a high a priority at junkyards so you always have to expect a little attitude in your service while there.
Case in point: Today I ventured out to the yard to find a replacement for the broken windshield wiper control arm in the Infiniti. It's a cheap little plastic and aluminum part that takes two minutes to swap out. When I informed the guy behind the counter that I was going into the yard to remove the part he rudely informed that I wasn't and that he doesn't sell just the arm you have to buy the whole wiper assembly for $75. First, $75 is a crazy price for a second hand wiper assembly. Second, removing the whole assembly would take a long time and in the process require first removing the one piece that I need. Third, no one will ever need the whole assembly because it's always just one piece that will fail. I tried to explain this to him but he had a fit and yelled at me that it's his junkyard and I don't tell him how to run it. I called the Infiniti dealer from the junkyard parking lot expecting an egregious price and a two month waiting time while they get the part from Japan but the part was only $20 and it would be there on Wednesday. I went back in and told the guy how much it was at Infiniti and he told me to f@*& off and buy it there. I will. If individual pieces of the assembly are that cheap new at the dealer, that guy will never sell that whole assembly. What a maroon. Lesson learnt: Always check the dealer first.
Another thing I've realized recently is that things like fuel, air, and oil filters should be bought at the dealer as well. The ones I've bought at Napa or Lordco have been of really low quality and these are important items that prevent future serious problems from occurring. Sure the ones at the dealer are a little bit more but they're specifically designed for your particular car and for performance cars like the G20 and the Miata that really matters and can make a big difference. If you drive a Sunfire you can keep buying your filters at Wal-Mart, they're pretty much the same as the ones from GM.
Case in point: Today I ventured out to the yard to find a replacement for the broken windshield wiper control arm in the Infiniti. It's a cheap little plastic and aluminum part that takes two minutes to swap out. When I informed the guy behind the counter that I was going into the yard to remove the part he rudely informed that I wasn't and that he doesn't sell just the arm you have to buy the whole wiper assembly for $75. First, $75 is a crazy price for a second hand wiper assembly. Second, removing the whole assembly would take a long time and in the process require first removing the one piece that I need. Third, no one will ever need the whole assembly because it's always just one piece that will fail. I tried to explain this to him but he had a fit and yelled at me that it's his junkyard and I don't tell him how to run it. I called the Infiniti dealer from the junkyard parking lot expecting an egregious price and a two month waiting time while they get the part from Japan but the part was only $20 and it would be there on Wednesday. I went back in and told the guy how much it was at Infiniti and he told me to f@*& off and buy it there. I will. If individual pieces of the assembly are that cheap new at the dealer, that guy will never sell that whole assembly. What a maroon. Lesson learnt: Always check the dealer first.
Another thing I've realized recently is that things like fuel, air, and oil filters should be bought at the dealer as well. The ones I've bought at Napa or Lordco have been of really low quality and these are important items that prevent future serious problems from occurring. Sure the ones at the dealer are a little bit more but they're specifically designed for your particular car and for performance cars like the G20 and the Miata that really matters and can make a big difference. If you drive a Sunfire you can keep buying your filters at Wal-Mart, they're pretty much the same as the ones from GM.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
It's Getting Absurd...
This was the view from my car today. Today! It's days away from April and it snowed? And it was weird hail/snow. Notice also how the windshield isn't clear; that's because the weight of the hail/snow broke the windshield wipers on the Infiniti. Yippee! I know I know it's record snow falls in Ontario and stuff but I don't care. I don't live in Ontario I live in Vancouver and this is just plain annoying. I want to be out there in the Miata driving around with the top down. Instead I'm going to be digging around the junk yard looking for parts to fix the windshield wipers on a car I'm trying to sell. (It's a great car by the way you should buy it.) Anyway I still don't believe people are causing global warming. Peace.
In other news; I recently noticed the Miata's battery is starting to loose it's charge. I sometimes sit in the car and pretend I'm driving it (don't judge) and when I would open the door the dome lights were kind of dim. I've had this old trickle charger lying around forever and I've never used it so I thought this would be a good time. I attached it and left it over night and when I came back in the morning the charger was super-duper hot and the Miata's battery was super-duper completely dead. Lesson learned: don't use old trickle chargers that you find lying around. So I attached jumper cables from the Infiniti to the Miata and idled the Infiniti for about 30 minutes. It seems to have put some charge back in the Miata's battery but there's a good chance I'$$ need a new one.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
It's Getting Warmer...
That's right the earth is spinning and tilting this hemisphere toward the sun which can only mean one thing; Spring! It's been a long and cold winter but it's time to bring the Miata out of hibernation and out into the sunshine where it belongs. Maybe plop the girlfriend down in the passenger seat and enjoy some well deserved top down driving. I can't wait. There is of course the small matter of selling the Infiniti first, changing the oil, charging the battery etc. etc. I hope I find the time.
Hey anyone wanna buy a 93.5 Infiniti G20 with new tires and a new clutch?
Hey anyone wanna buy a 93.5 Infiniti G20 with new tires and a new clutch?
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