<p>Did I miss something? What happened to the &quot;tell us the voltage when running&quot;</p>

nope, nothing missed, I'll get that measurement this evening, just wanted to be prepared if I determine the alternator is indeed bad.

also arrived today:
heat shield
http://pre09.deviantart.net/7cdd/th/...-d8vwjht.jpg?4

fan shroud
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1433377830

brake pads
http://img10.deviantart.net/e74c/i/2...ug-d8vwjaj.jpg

i have the same pads on mine.

ive been meaning to ask, how do i get a hood vent?

Okay, so results:

Battery measured 12.50 even when I took it off the slow charge.
Battery measured 12.18 when car was running at idle with no other load(lights off, no radio, etc).
Battery measured 11.3 when I put electrical load to the car(AC on full, all lights on, etc).
Battery measured 12.10 when I turned the electrical load back off.

I'm thinking now I ought to pull the alternator and I'll get it tested at the FLAPS.

<p>Bet you a tow hook the alternator is dead :P</p>

haha, what do I get if it isn't? I'm not taking that bet anyways. :idea:

<p>I'll pay you for one lol? Idk. Sounds like an alternator.</p>

definitely bad alternator.

If you already checked your fuses and none are blown then almost definitely an alternator.

fog light fuse was blown, replaced that before pretty much all other testing.

http://img09.deviantart.net/18e2/i/2...-d8w19e8.jpg?1
fans soon I hope!

this heat shield was designed by joeereid on the mazdaspeed forum. he sent me a paper template, i put it in CAD and cut it. We will see how well it fits.
http://img15.deviantart.net/54ee/i/2...ug-d8w19bu.jpg

Unless it's the 100amp, in which case your main relay won't trigger, it's never going to be a damn fuse. Stop talking about the fuses.

Double check the Alternator you buy has a life time replacement policy, I just picked one up for $165 at Baxters Auto. They're known to be bad out of the box, keep an eye on it for a few weeks, checking voltage at the battery every few days. If it doesn't hover around 14.5, just take it out and replace it for free.

I've seen the "room" fuse do some WEIRD crap on both my MSM and my brothers '03.

That said, it's clear it's the alternator, I'm going to pull it tonight. I'm a cheap skate with 3 kids to feed, so I'm gonna try to re-build using the write up I linked above. Mikes Place here in phx has the bearings, autozone has the brush, and we will see if I can locate a regulator. If not, or if it still won't go then I'm only out a few bucks, and I've got a line on a lightly used MSM alternator that someone swapped with a NA alternator to solve an issue with their hydra.

You do know that there is a fuse in the miata that stops the alternator from charging if it goes out right... it was very possible that "it's a damn fuse" and they are easy to check, and now we know that's not it. It would suck to buy an alternator and find out that wasn't the problem, always start with the low hanging fruit.

How much for the intake heatshield? I hate where FM puts it, and was actually thinking about this the other day.

Joeereid on mazda-speed designed it. PM him and he will send you a paper template for $0. I've yet to install this, it was kinda funky getting it into CAD so we will see if I got it right. If it does I might work out a deal with joe over on the mazda-speed forum to sell them for pretty reasonable, or just make the CAD available and anyone can get it waterjet cut locally. Whatever Joe wants to do.

Sounds good to me, there's not a water jet places around here.

well, brushes look good, bearing is fine, looks like it's the regulator. New alternator time :-(

New alternator in, charging at 14.5 volts when I've got the AC and lights on. Thanks everyone who helped me diagnose my issues!

Called it! What did I win!

2 stickers, you got them last week lol.

They're already on lol

Well, the deed is done, I found a good deal on the fans I wanted on eBay:
Spal 30101504 12?? Medium Profile Fan Pull | eBay

$133 for both fans shipped.

so...
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1433777740
+
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1433777740https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1433777740
=
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1433777740

I hope...

Are you running a stock radiator?

I was thinking about doing cooling upgrades as well, my MSM doesn't overheat, but it feels like the A/C can't keep up in this TX heat.

Nope, 37mm koyo, but still have heating issues, my MSM is cursed. To be fair, the general consensus is that the 37mm koyo has more capacity, but is really only about as efficient as the OEM unit.

Brake questions:

about a 3 weeks ago my brakes started squealing a tiny bit, I made a note, ordered pads.

Last friday week they started making noise even just driving down the road. Alternator died monday so I quit driving the car and borrowed my wifes minivan for a few days. Got the alternator done saturday, and I was replacing my pads tonight, no problem with the fronts, when I got to the driver rear I couldn't get the caliper in. I had the car on a jack stand, in gear, no e-brake. I put a C-clamp on the piston but no matter how much I pushed, the piston wouldn't budge. Also noticed the boot on the slider was torn. See this pic:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1433821354
So I assume I need to either rebuild or replace my caliper, yes? Any recommendations on a kit?

front pads had a bit of life left, but I put in the new ones anyways.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1433821354

Intro turned build - Humming's '05 Lava Orange
 

<p>lol. remove plug in back, retract piston with allen wrench.</p>

<p>Damn it Sean I wanted to answer, go to bed you wake up too early.</p><p>hes right, common rookie mistake, RTFM :)</p><p>theres a bolt on the back that covers up an Allen head adjustment bolt.</p>

Intro turned build - Humming's '05 Lava Orange
 

and don't forget to adjust the parking brake when your done. going to bed now.

Turn until tight then back off a half turn or so.

yeah, someone on clubroadster pointed me the right way. I've literally never once changed rear brake pads on anything I owned, I've never needed to before. At any rate, glad I don't need to rebuild them or anything. Thanks!

Don't feel too bad. This thing threw me for a loop as well. I was even following the brake guide in the garage thread from M.net. The rear Miata brakes are very interesting.

Yeah, when I first did the rear I couldn't get my ebrake to work. My C-Clamp was able to push it in, when I found out about the rear adjuster, it had a note saying I could have killed the rear calipers.

I almost wet myself.

Anyway, for adjustment, I could never get it right, so I pulled the ebrake up, and tightened the adjuster until the wheel wouldn't move. Then I backed off the adjuster until it would allow the wheel to move. Then I put it in the middle point, and all is well.

<p>inhave to admit the first time i did mine, i did the same thing.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>rob- i have a spare slider boot somewhere if you need it, theyre also only a few $$ at vatozone and oreallys</p>

Thanks, it's already taken care of. Got it done after work today. I backed it out a half turn on the e-brake adjuster thing and that seems about perfect.

Did you replace the oem alternator? Be ready to swap them every few months now. Or stock up on TCM $45 oem ones.

Yeah I did. Are the parts store ones really that bad? :-(

Yep. I swapped 2 in one day on the MX6, then got smart and started having them tested before i left the store. 2 more failed out of the box before i got a 3rd one that passed.

Which i then installed.

And 2 months later it got flaky again.

Parts store alternators and starters are the worst things ever.

guess maybe I should buy that one for $35 from m.net.

Probably. You didn't turn your stock one in for a core, did you?

I did :-( I tried to find a greasy small shop alternator rebuilder but the two recommended by my friend had like a 2 week lead time. I start a new job monday so I wanted to get it taken care of by then. I guess I'm just gonna have to hope it's not too much of a pain, and if it is then I'll buy another OEM one at that point.

Yeah, I check them out of the box after reading up on them here. First was bad, 2nd failed in a few months, 3rd is still on there running great.

Our enduro car was reading a perfect 14-14.5 volts when we drove it to get an alignment and back again, then after a trailered drive up to the Ridge, showed 20v. OEM MSM alternator (no different than NB2 alt) lasted around 14 hours of racing, showing a perfect 14-14.5 volts the entire time.

Alternator is good so far.

Fans will hopefully be here tomorrow. If not then probably monday, they show up as having arrived in phoenix today.

I got a press brake and so my fab game is going way up! How do I not have a mig welder yet?

Intro turned build - Humming's '05 Lava Orange
 

<br /><br />at home? envelope?

Small, but good for what I need. 20" wide.
Press Brake For 20-Ton Shop Press — 24in. Length | Shop Press Accessories| Northern Tool + Equipment

http://img07.deviantart.net/e99c/i/2...ug-d8x7i9u.jpg

Very pleased with how it turned out. Also, these suckers are LOUD.

Video (I sound extremely nerdy) of the things turning on and off, they sound like turbine engines spooling up. I LOVE it. I used to work in the turbine engine industry, and so it's fun to have a bit of that sound around, even if it's not real.

I had a single 16" 3000cfm spal straight blade and it would startle anybody next to me with their window down when it came on. But it would drop my temp and shut off in a matter of seconds.

Well, first day of a longer commute, hottest day of the year so far.

Last week, 95-100°F, coolant temps reached max of 220° before I rolled down the windows and turned on the heater to help cool it down(so it never reached it's max temp really).

Today, 110°F, coolant temps peaked at 213° and I never turned the AC off. Most of the drive home temps were around 204°.

I'm not done fighting this yet, but I'm very happy with the fans!

Awesome! Glad things are finally cooling down for you.

I'd like to get temps down to 190 for the cruise home. We'll see. I have a cursed miata I think.

Intro turned build - Humming's '05 Lava Orange
 

I know that car should have the revised flow path hg, but have you done a re route yet?

From what I understand, a coolant reroute on an MSM won't work correctly unless you swap out the head gasket.

That's not true

That's not the consensus on the MSM forum...

An idea regarding the coolant rerouting..
Coolant reroute/head gasket swap
Coolant reroute modification modification.

Edit:
M.net up in the mix
Head gasket for 1999 and 2001+ different? - MX-5 Miata Forum

<p>im known to have a shitty memory, but i thought ive read here on mt.net that it didnt matter, and that some of the turbo track guys have tried both with no differnce. these were new head gaskets obviously. i can see an older head gasket having clogged arteries to the point of casuing the overheating;&nbsp;like one of the guys in the link you posted had. i could be wrong.</p>

no coolant reroute yet. It doesn't seem like something I could do on a saturday, so it's gotta wait until the MSM is no longer my only car for getting to/from work.

Plus side: The fans are working great, highest temp today was 210, but stayed at 199-204 for most of the drive with 109 ambient temps.

Next I'll get a 180F t-stat and drill a bigger bypass hole, and also go to 100% distilled+water wetter. Currently running 80/20.

<p>ozbrock is right, i think i was confusing na1.8 and nb1.8 head gaskets. so igonore me, sorry for the misinfo and no reroute for you, unless you want to do head gasket.</p>

yeah, the MSM is problematic. oh well. IIRC it has an even weirder/more wrong cooling path than normal miatas.