Service items/periodical jobs - reccomendations?
Discussion
Righto - I've done a few miles now to get to know the car, and have collated a list of jobs I need to do.
I guess this topic might become a bit of me thinking out loud, but any input or pointers with all of these is appreciated...Apologies if this is extremely tedious to you all!
I guess this topic might become a bit of me thinking out loud, but any input or pointers with all of these is appreciated...Apologies if this is extremely tedious to you all!
- Change all fluids - Engine, Box, Diff (Plenty of info on the the forums, any specific reccomendations?) Do I need different diff oil depending on which diff I have? Its definitely a LSD as I tested it.
- Turret oil plus maybe new rubber boot?
- Plugs + Leads (Leads look a bit old)
- Clean air filter. Its some kind on K&N "high power air cleaner". Any ideas? It looks filthy....
- Fuel filter - presume there is one somewhere!? Where is it, and how much are they?
- Strip pads out of calipers, add a bit of copper slip, paint calipers. There rather grubby and VERY squealy at the moment!
- Bleed brakes with quality 5.1
- Reset the idle screw and throttle cable tension - it seems a bit wrong at the moment. Any hints? is there any adjustment at the pedal end?
- More cleaning of the hood. I've used a turtle wax kit on it, its in very good nick and no leaks, but rather grey? Anything products that will make it a bit blacker?
- Headlights are shockingly rubbish. I dont have sealed beam units though, what are they likely to be? Bulb reccomendations?
- Car needs alignment doing and suspension setting up properly. Again, I've got a lot of info on other forums to do, but any reccomendations for alignment appreciated. I'm in Yorkshire.
- Underseal. This car will get used on wet/muddy/salted roads. Its completely rust free at the moment, and I want it to stay that way.
- Where/what are these various drain tubes I hear off? The areas in the corners of the hood are a bit of a maze of channels and seals, I cant actually work out where water runs off? Where does it come out?
- Hardtop squeaks like a b
d. Can you adjust the tension on the catches? Treat the seals with anyhting? (Theres LOTS of rubber seals on these cars isnt there!) (Squeaking also partly down to the fact that an MX5 chassis is about as rigid as spaghetti, coming from a tintop, and the Ohlins shocks are ROCK hard. Currently got just an engine bay brace and cabin brace, feels, er, Al Dente! Future plans may include aiming for more of a uncooked spaghetti feel.)
- Change all fluids I always use Redline Synthetic. I think it's 75W90 for dif and MTL for gearbox but might be the other way around. Available from Performance 5.
- Turret oil plus maybe new rubber boot?[/b]2 rubber boots. Chances are both are torn. You can use any oil in the turret, it doesn't have to be gear oil[/b]
- Plugs + Leads A good idea to have new plugs & leads when you buy a 2nd hand car
- Clean air filter. I have a N&N (copy) on mine and use K&N filter cleaner & oil from Halfords. Not the cheapest but it lasts ages
- Fuel filter under the car, behind a flap near the right rear wheel arch. Available from MX5 Parts
- Strip pads out of calipers... Replace the pads with genuine Mazda pads. You'll get a full shim kit that way and the pads are about the best for road use.
- Bleed brakes with quality 5.1I used Halfords own DOT5.1. Normal DOT4 would probably be fine in a road car though
- Reset the idle screw and throttle cable tension Base idle is adjusted using the screw on the throttle body. Cable adjustment is at the throttle-end, probably attached to the intake manifold. You do need some slack there so don't tighten it too much
- More cleaning of the hood. Renovo cleaner & protector (2 products) again available from MX5 Parts
- Headlights Ring or Osram 90% bulbs. Take a look at Autobulbs website
- Car needs alignment doing and suspension setting up properly. Ask Tony at Wheels in Motion for a recommendation. Either phone him direct or use the forum on his website.
- Underseal. Never a bad idea but make sure you don't fill the sill drain-holes
- Where/what are these various drain tubes I hear off? Look under the car near the rear ends of the sills - there is the end of a tube each side. That's the exit of the drain-tube. The top end is right in the corner by the seat-belt turrets. Probably easier to feel it with your finger than to see it. I use a length or coax cable to clear mine
- Hardtop squeaks like a bd. i don't have a hardtop so can't help much but the latches are adjustable. With the latch half open (i.e. open the top but not so far that it comes up like a scorpion. There is a plastic cover over a thread. Lift that and you'll see a nut. Adjust this nut to change the tension
Armourfend is great for the hood. I've used it and it stays black. Usually used for tyres.
I've posted a great garage at Brough.
They are very good and not expensive. I had a service and MOT ofr 100 quid.
They have a rolling road, do MOT's and are MX5 specialists.
Contact Nick Wallis 01482 668088
Like your Motor!
Cheers
Ian
I've posted a great garage at Brough.
They are very good and not expensive. I had a service and MOT ofr 100 quid.
They have a rolling road, do MOT's and are MX5 specialists.
Contact Nick Wallis 01482 668088
Like your Motor!
Cheers
Ian
for the hardtop i've discovered that you can adjust it at the back and the front too - adjust the front catches so it pulls in nice and tight (but not overtight).
then on the chrome bits sticking out the back that go over the frankenstein bolts there is a screw on each, on the inside edge. undo this screw and the clamps seperate by the top rotating out the way. then undo the two bolts (12mm from memory) and push the clampy thing right into the frankenstein bolt and do them up again.
i don't have side catches on mine as the roll bar is in the way and one of my screws has totally rounded, but i think doing the one side that i was able to helped...?
also, for box and diff - if you want to go redline, use MT90 for the box and 75W-90 for the diff, or 75W-90 for both. otherwise silkolene syn5 for both.
then on the chrome bits sticking out the back that go over the frankenstein bolts there is a screw on each, on the inside edge. undo this screw and the clamps seperate by the top rotating out the way. then undo the two bolts (12mm from memory) and push the clampy thing right into the frankenstein bolt and do them up again.
i don't have side catches on mine as the roll bar is in the way and one of my screws has totally rounded, but i think doing the one side that i was able to helped...?
also, for box and diff - if you want to go redline, use MT90 for the box and 75W-90 for the diff, or 75W-90 for both. otherwise silkolene syn5 for both.
Edited by skinny on Thursday 30th October 14:38
Superb advice as ever Lazza. I'll bear all that in mind.
Willburo - I'm not a mechanic or anything. Just learnt on my past cars, starting with easy stuff, got advice and help from others. Doing bits like this yourself is satisfying and easily within the reach of most people with a basic set of tools, some common sense, and some hints from a book/the internet.
ETA - the car is on 14" wheels, Economy Michelin types on the front, st chinese jobs on the back, all are very new though. Rather annoying. Always used good tyres on my cars - one of my first jobs. I'm just not sure whether I'm gonna get some 15" wheels soon aswell though...
Willburo - I'm not a mechanic or anything. Just learnt on my past cars, starting with easy stuff, got advice and help from others. Doing bits like this yourself is satisfying and easily within the reach of most people with a basic set of tools, some common sense, and some hints from a book/the internet.
ETA - the car is on 14" wheels, Economy Michelin types on the front, s
t chinese jobs on the back, all are very new though. Rather annoying. Always used good tyres on my cars - one of my first jobs. I'm just not sure whether I'm gonna get some 15" wheels soon aswell though...Edited by snotrag on Thursday 30th October 15:46
snotrag said:
ETA - the car is on 14" wheels, Economy Michelin types on the front, st chinese jobs on the back, all are very new though. Rather annoying. Always used good tyres on my cars - one of my first jobs. I'm just not sure whether I'm gonna get some 15" wheels soon aswell though...
for the sake of £80 i'd ditch those rears and at least match the fronts, if not doing the whole set. as the only thing that keeps your car attached to the road, personally i'd never scrimp on tyres.t chinese jobs on the back, all are very new though. Rather annoying. Always used good tyres on my cars - one of my first jobs. I'm just not sure whether I'm gonna get some 15" wheels soon aswell though...toughie about the 14/15 dilemma tho - i prefer the way the car looks on 14's. but you just can't get decent rubber in that size for a reasonable price. equivalent tyres on 15's are about half the price, and in the end that swayed it for me - running 15's road and track now.
skinny said:
snotrag said:
ETA - the car is on 14" wheels, Economy Michelin types on the front, st chinese jobs on the back, all are very new though. Rather annoying. Always used good tyres on my cars - one of my first jobs. I'm just not sure whether I'm gonna get some 15" wheels soon aswell though...
for the sake of £80 i'd ditch those rears and at least match the fronts, if not doing the whole set. as the only thing that keeps your car attached to the road, personally i'd never scrimp on tyres.t chinese jobs on the back, all are very new though. Rather annoying. Always used good tyres on my cars - one of my first jobs. I'm just not sure whether I'm gonna get some 15" wheels soon aswell though...toughie about the 14/15 dilemma tho - i prefer the way the car looks on 14's. but you just can't get decent rubber in that size for a reasonable price. equivalent tyres on 15's are about half the price, and in the end that swayed it for me - running 15's road and track now.
)wouldn't have thought they are that much different - both fully synthetic.
the syn5 is a multi-spec oil and is suitable for GL3, GL4, and GL5 applications, whereas MT90 is GL4 (typically box) and 75W-90 is GL5 (diff). but as the mx5 box can take a GL5 then you can use redline 75W-90 in both box and diff, same as the silky syn5. the viscosity is the same between the two oils too.
that said, i tend to prefer euro oils rather than american oils as we have a better 'oil culture' in terms of quality - you only have to know about jiffylube and the other franchises to realise that - they generally use poor quality oil but change it a lot, whereas we use better oils and change less often - we have the option of changing more often but i'm not sure if there's much in the way of 'normal use' oil upgrades for the states. US performance oils might be closer to euro performance oils but i'd still stick with what i know
the syn5 is a multi-spec oil and is suitable for GL3, GL4, and GL5 applications, whereas MT90 is GL4 (typically box) and 75W-90 is GL5 (diff). but as the mx5 box can take a GL5 then you can use redline 75W-90 in both box and diff, same as the silky syn5. the viscosity is the same between the two oils too.
that said, i tend to prefer euro oils rather than american oils as we have a better 'oil culture' in terms of quality - you only have to know about jiffylube and the other franchises to realise that - they generally use poor quality oil but change it a lot, whereas we use better oils and change less often - we have the option of changing more often but i'm not sure if there's much in the way of 'normal use' oil upgrades for the states. US performance oils might be closer to euro performance oils but i'd still stick with what i know
Edited by skinny on Saturday 1st November 11:30
[quote=MX-5 Lazza* Reset the idle screw and throttle cable tension Base idle is adjusted using the screw on the throttle body. Cable adjustment is at the throttle-end, probably attached to the intake manifold. You do need some slack there so don't tighten it too much
[/quote]
How do you do this/what do you need to do?
Our car seems to be suffering from a drop in revs under load (lights/radio/heater) which it recovers quickly and then idles with no problems.
We also seem to be using more fuel than usual which I had put down to the cold weather and short journeys but i'm not sure if there is something somewhere causing the problem!
Planning on the following work over the coming month or so:
[/quote]
How do you do this/what do you need to do?
Our car seems to be suffering from a drop in revs under load (lights/radio/heater) which it recovers quickly and then idles with no problems.
We also seem to be using more fuel than usual which I had put down to the cold weather and short journeys but i'm not sure if there is something somewhere causing the problem!
Planning on the following work over the coming month or so:
- Purchase/fit new suspension
- Oil and filter change
- Plug change (I changed the leads under a year ago but not the plugs)
It sounds more like your manifold, throttle and idle control might be a bit gummed up. You could try using some sort of fuel additive though I can't tell you which is best as I haven't used any for 20 years or so.
In the states they rave about SeaFoam but I have no idea if you can get that here.
In the states they rave about SeaFoam but I have no idea if you can get that here.
MX-5 Lazza said:
It sounds more like your manifold, throttle and idle control might be a bit gummed up. You could try using some sort of fuel additive though I can't tell you which is best as I haven't used any for 20 years or so.
In the states they rave about SeaFoam but I have no idea if you can get that here.
It's got to be worth a try! In the states they rave about SeaFoam but I have no idea if you can get that here.
Cheers,
Phill
MX-5 Lazza said:
Or possibly it could be the battery losing voltage (the other thread about idle dipping with lights on reminded me of this one). Any idea how old your battery is?
No idea, it seems to be shifting around in the boot as well. I'm going to remove it at the weekend and clean up all the contacts, reposition it and see how we get on.
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