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Thread: Working on the Miata

  1. #1
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Working on the Miata

    Finally, after 22 years and 80,000 miles, I pulled the Miata apart yesterday to install a timing belt. While I'm at it, I'm replacing the water pump, radiator, hoses (with new clamps), cam and crank seals, CAS seal, valve cover gasket, fuel filter, plugs and wires, brake fluid and clutch fluid change, doing an oil change, rotating the tires and replacing the Redline MT90 in the transmission and Redline 75W90 in the differential.

    Did I miss anything?

    Oh, and I'm getting quotes to replace the convertible top.

    The timing belt didn't look bad.

    This is the first serious work on this car.


  2. #2
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    Re: Working on the Miata

    Don, timing belts almost never " look" bad, but with miles can go at any time! You're doing it right to change everything in the cover!

  3. #3
    Forum Member melody's Avatar
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    Re: Working on the Miata

    I had a timing belt go on a low interference motor not a cheep fix compared to the time to just replace it when the time comes..

  4. #4
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Working on the Miata

    This is a non-interference motor. Still, you don't want to have to be towed far from home, plus this car was meant for fun and it's hard to relax knowing that you're pushing your luck.
    I have a valve from when the timing belt broke on my step father's Jetta GLI. It's shaped like the letter S!

    Check out my collection of service manuals for first generation Miatas! The Enthusiast's Shop Manual is the best one for this job. I have a bookcase full of manuals for the cars that I've owned.


  5. #5
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    Re: Working on the Miata

    Paper manuals!
    I have a bookcase of Chilton and Motors manuals going back to the 50's, but since the mid 90's, everything is digital. Of course, even with a Mitchell, and an Alldata program, sometimes you can't find what you want, (but you might on the web!)

  6. #6
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Working on the Miata

    I bought most of these manuals 15-20 years ago. On newer cars, I use PDF manuals and other online sources. The PDF manual for my son's 2008 Dodge Ram 3500 dually with a Cummins 6.7 liter turbodiesel (that was a hell of a head gasket job, and the front ball joints were no picnic!) was over 10,000 pages! It was searchable and really useful! The thing is, it covered every version of the truck. If you notice, these manuals are very specific. The Enthusiast's Manual only covers the second version (1994-1997) of the original version of the car.

  7. #7
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    Re: Working on the Miata

    I have a shelf for some of those also, Don, mechanics call them "parts store" manuals. Generally they don't get into detail about things a DIY fellow wouldn't be interested in.
    I only have Mitchell, and Alldata now, so what one is light on the other may cover. (Mitchell has the best wiring diagrams, color coded, the ability to highlight different circuits with different colors, zoom, etc.)
    Did you do the EGR and DFP delete on your boys truck? That fixes a lot of problems here!

  8. #8
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Working on the Miata

    The enthusiast's manual is extremely detailed and assumes that you know nothing and have a limited collection of tools. The huge manual for the truck was the factory manual and assumed that you knew a lot (and had Mopar tools). My biggest problem with tools is that my son races and a lot of them are in the tow vehicle this time of year.

    I went to trade school for auto repair and worked as a mechanic, but that was a long time ago.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Moore View Post
    Did you do the EGR and DFP delete on your boys truck? That fixes a lot of problems here!
    We did the EGR delete. Unfortunately, the DFP was removed before he bought the truck and it could never pass MA state inspection because of it. The reason we had to do the head gasket was that it had a Smarty tuner on it and it was abused. The truck was a rocket ship, but, from what I've read, exhaust back pressure related to increased flow through the engine blows the head gasket. Destroyed his transmission too! He paid almost $6k to have someone else do that job).

    That truck has been sold and replaced with the biggest Escalade available.

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    Re: Working on the Miata

    I have my grand daughter's 24 valve here now. The machine shop has an engine I picked up, and he was able to sleeve the front and rear cylinders, and we'll go back with standard pistons. Her engine suffered the same fate as the one we're building, over fueling the 2 end cylinders. Need to get the injectors checked/rebuilt.
    We are lucky here in that the only emission inspections are in Bernalillo county, (Albuquerque). The problem you run into is selling a vehicle in Texas, or Arizona!

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