90LowNSlo

EDIT: My first post was due to me freaking about an issue and all I managed to do was confuse everyone. I'm leaving the original post unedited below but I actually start doing some stuff at post 16. Thanks to everyone that has helped and a pre-thanks to everyone that is going to help. I wouldn't be anything with out MT.net

I'm going to be strait. I need a lot of help.

Quickish back info: Bought a 1990 na6 with 260kish miles on it for $1600ish. Leaked some oil but ran like a top. I installed a new top (Robins), got the AC working, installed a new timing kit/water pump and vinyl wrapped it to cover the bad paint.

Then one day I was passed hard by a minivan with a mom on her phone. This rooted a determination to add some power. I started reading and acquiring parts. Tight budget but highlights are: radiator, diy coolant re-route, Used ms2, rx7 injectors, Td04 turbo, a used 1.8 flywheel and a FM clutch. THEN oil leak level reached over 9000 (over a quart a week if memory serves). Also, throw hitting a deer into the mix somewhere. Pulled the engine, replaced all seals (except valve stems) that were coolant or oil related. Put it back together with the re-route, shifter rebuild, FM clutch and no O2 sensor installed. The (old) guys that were helping decided to finish up some stuff for me one day while I was at work and seared the cable off the OEM O2 sensor. We (wife) only had the miata and her car at the time so I ran it with no O2 for a while. Shortly after we got her a new car and had a baby (first child). So now we have three cars and the miata sat for a couple of months with little to no drive time (omg rain go away). I started driving it to work every day (10ish miles one way) because of miata withdrawals and to help motivate me to get out and finish it up.

The problems now:
Idles rough
way down on power
AC doesnt engage now
horrible bouncing/banging when trying to launch

I have the wideband O2 installed in narrowband mode as of yesterday, I thought that would help out some. It hasn't. I think my timing is off by a degree or two (8 or 9 before TDC). I'm going to get that set right in the next day or two. Then I will try to readjust the idle and see how it goes. The AC was engaging sometimes and sometimes it wasnt. Now it doesnt at all. I'm thinking (hoping) something electrical is loose. I really need it for defrosting the windscreen right now! The issue I'm most worried about though is "bouncing" during launch. Yesterday after installing the wideband (spartan II lambda) I took it for a drive. I decided to give it a hard launch... rev'ed it up, dropped the clutch and it shook and bounced hard while making a loud banging noise. I immediately pushed the clutch back in and drove it the 2mi or so back home like normal. I was kinda worried about it but I'm on summer tires and it was about 28f outside so I thought maybe it was wheel hop. I had never felt anything like it before. Tonight coming home from work it was a bit warmer and raining. It did the same thing. After that I set off like normal and then floored it and gave it a clutch kick and it spun the tires like you'd expect it to in the rain. Something is very wrong, I'm really worried about it and I have no idea what to do about it.

I'm very much a noob when it comes to mechanical stuff. I have changed alternators, starters (rebuilt one last time) and other basic stuff but that's it. To help paint the picture of noob... I didn't own any tools before buying the miata except screw drivers and a soldering iron. The idle and other stuff I think I may be able to handle myself but I don't know where to start on the "launching issue".

Seeing how this is a build thread I will throw up some obligatory pictures soon. Right now I'm just nervous about the car and I've gone to full "ask for help mode". The second launch in the rain was just about an hour ago.

(eh what the hell, here's some pictures of pre deer damage :

)

hks_kansei

AC not working is probably as simple as the gas leaked out after a seal dried out while sitting.
I think the NA may also have a pressure switch on the AC that stops the compressor from kicking in if the gas is low.


As far as the other 3 go, have you pulled the spark plugs and checked them?
Getting spark on all 4?
they wet? black? white?

The fact you were running it without an o2 sensor at all, and also using a narrowband on a standalone ECU, there's a likely chance your tune isnt amazing.
Might be flooding on crank and then running like **** because it's fouled a plug. (plus isnt the entirety of the US basically Antarctica right now?, so cold starts may not have been done for temps that low)

ryansmoneypit

iTrader: (6)

Horribprobably sounds when clutch dump...a broken and or completely disconnected engine mount

Maybe check that the bracket connecting the trans to the PPF is connect

90LowNSlo

Ms2 isn't installed yet. Running narrowband on stock ECU for now. Car smooths out with a bit of gas...

Ugh... We did have a he'll of a time getting the engine seated on the mounts when putting it back in. I switched over to a (used) set of Mazda comp mounts also if it matters. I don't think we missed a mount but we damn well may have. I should be able to throw it on the lift this weekend and I'll check it out. I hope it's that easy.

I'm picking up a 1.8 rear this weekend don't know when I'll have time to install it. I'll check the PPF when I get it on the lift though, not sure how I could botch that but anything's possible.

Thanks guys O7

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Make sure all the ground straps are clean and tight and were actually installed.

90LowNSlo

Oof. I have one extra ground strap that came off, I think, on the passenger side. I don't remember where it came from but I wanna say it came from the starter/trans/ and went to the block. All the other grounds I thought were part of the harness...

I'll grab a picture of the unistalled ground strap when I get home

bahurd

iTrader: (8)

How are you expecting the car to do much of anything idle/power wise if you're still running the stock 1.6 ECU and have Rx7 injectors?

90LowNSlo

My mistake on the confusion. I was in a panick stricken stupor when I made the first post. I only installed the re route, radiator, and FM clutch as far as upgrades go. The fuel system and everything thing else mechanical is stock right now. Injectors and MS are standing by to be installed.

I wanted to get everything tip top before changing the ECU to make sure it would go smooth(er).

bahurd

iTrader: (8)

So you don’t have the turbo installed either? And you installed a wideband but it’s setup in narrowband mode? Is it even wired into the stock ECU and do you know for sure it outputs the same signal as the stock O2 sensor?

hks_kansei

if it's 100% stock at the moment i'd put money on it having ignition issues.

Spark plug fouled
ignition lead gone ****
coil on the way out

Start it up, while it's idling like crap pull one of the plug leads off. See if the engine runs worse, or stalls.
if one of the 4 leads makes no difference when removed, it means that cylinder isn't firing, probably for one of the reasons above.
if all 4 make a diff when removed, then it's probably firing on all 4, and you'll want to look beyond ignition issues.

I'd also change the spark plugs anyway, it's under $20 for a set and takes all of 10mins to do.





engine mount wise, just grab the rocker cover and try to rock the engine around.
it will move a little, but shouldnt knock anything etc, (unless a mount is torn, then it'll likely rock around easily)

cpierr03

If you drove for a while without an O2 sensor you may have ran rich enough to foul an old catalytic converter. See if it gets really hot after a long drive, or just bolt in a test pipe if that's viable...

Also wideband in narrowband emulation mode often doesn't provide the results you might expect, so YMMV on that.

For the rear end noise, you've really gotta get under the car, start shaking stuff and looking for any abnormalities. It'd really just be rampant guessing without more info/photos/video. Look in the diff/axle area, try rotating with the rear end off the ground etc. Axle hop can break rear end parts.

90LowNSlo

Its a Spartan Lambda Controller 2 from 14point7. I have read other using it with stock ECU but I dont' know 100% if its compatible. I have it soldered to the factory O2 sensor wire so the ECU is reading... something. My check engine light doenst come any more if that helps.

if i rev it to 1k it "idles" smooth. but at ~800 I get a lot of vibration. WOT to any rpm and it seems fine. Plugs were put in last summer and Im getting spark to each plug. I havent check the plugs since running with no O2 sensor but I will. I need to double check my timing as well. I think if it is one or two degrees off that would make a difference... I can barely move the engine when throwing my weight at it. I have a used set of mazda comp mounts installed they looked to be in great shape. I will post pics of the original mounts though just to show people what shape they were in. the original mounts basically fell a part from just removing them...

I hope the cat is ok. If it isnt i will probably put in a generic one I really dont want a loud exhaust.

I crawled under the car best I could this morning and it looks like there are two bolts in the PPF going to the diff... isnt there supposed to be three? That may be the issue >_<

I am picking up a 1.8 rear and hardware this weekend so I should be ok after swapping it in assuming that is my current issue.

I'm at home babysitting the next two days but I may get some time to tinker on it. I will report back ASAP. O7

HmoobDude

I'm pretty sure it's only 2 PPF bolts to the differential (but someone correct me if I'm wrong). Did you happen to align the PPF correctly as shown here:



Also since you are going to be changing the rear differential soon, I would check the condition of the U-joint on your driveshaft. Hopefully that isn't your issue with the clunking.

90LowNSlo

The rear diff swap comes with a DS. It's a 1.6 to 1.8 diff swap.

I didn't do any measuring when installing the PPF. I did though have a jack on the trans and diff to assist me....

90LowNSlo

I did some things Friday but forgot to post

Timing was 1 mark low (two degrees?). I readjusted it to 1 mark high which I think is 12°. I also pulled the plugs for visual inspection and they look pretty good. I have less than 5k miles on them...

My car still has a lot of vibration at idle but a bit less than it did. I'm thinking it might just be from the Mazda competition mounts. I think I'm going to go ahead with installing MS this weekend...

Should I get Tunerstudio Ultra vs getting MS and megalog viewer? Ultra has a log viewer built in and buying them separately comes out to the same price.

I picked up my 1.8 rear and I couldnt be happier. The housing has surface rust but the Axel and DS look great. The Axel ends don't look like they were beat with a hammer and the rubber boots look great. I ordered some diff bushings so I won't be installing this weekend. I'm hoping that fixes my shaky launches. One of the Old Farts at the shop (they let me use their shop for free) thinks it could be the rear main leaking on the clutch. I generally try to listen to the advice of Old Farts but I put a new rear main seal in when I did clutch. I really don't wanna have to pull the tranny...

Hopefully I can start the actual "build" soon. All I will lack is installing the IC and having the DP made. I'll probably have to trim the back shelf but I don't see what that could hurt.

90LowNSlo

Ugh babies take a lot of time! (Baby laughs are worth it though)

Super slow progress so far:

I replaced all the stock vacuum lines coming directly off of or attached to the engine. (no pics)

Deleted the Charcoal canister, but did so in a way that it could be easily re attached. Also took the stock air *****/intake off and temp/crappy installed the IAT sensor.



I also ran the vacuum line through the firewall for the MS. That took forever... I ended taking the cabin air blower out to have enough room to get to the opening. Seems worth it. I was fortunate that the stock firewall grommet was exactly the right size to run my line through. Also my cabin air intake was 90% blocked with trash. I need to figure out how to remove the cowl to clean it out.

I also identified an air leak in the factory intake:



Seems the intake ***** and the alternator were fighting for space and the alternator won. Can't really tell in the picture but it did manage to rub all the way through.

I recently found out my air box had been modified for "high flow". Probably cost me a precious pony or two seeing how it basically sits on the unshielded header. Had no idea till I saw a picture of a factory box a while back. (They are more rare than I thought)




My temp solution to replace it will be to use the factory tube (minus damaged *****) with the cheap filter I picked up to mount on the turbo. I was lucky again because I found a piece of silicone tubing at the local store that fits both pretty tight. The OD of the stock tube fits over the silicone and it's ID fits the filter. The piece they had was so short they didn't charge me (It will be clamped)




I know I need to use the IACV and I want to later mount the IAT sensor to the cold side endtank of the IC. I wanted to Install the sensor near the throttle body for now so that I don't have to run the wires twice. I had long ago removed the vacuum pipe from the DS of the valve cover and capped the nipple on the intake pipe. That's where the sensor now lives. I cut the nipple off, drilled the hole out, and screwed the sensor directly into the plastic. I should have angled it "down" more so it could be thread in more. It's as far as it will go. It's in about five full turns so I don't think it's going any where, it may not however be completely air tight. I believe this is an example of a good idea poorly executed.




Installed the vTPS. It came with the Ms2 I bought and my only info on it is it's from a mustang, I have no clue as to year or model. If anyone knows feel free to elaborate.

90LowNSlo

I also made a thing:




The Thing ™ allows me to run two positive connections from two different circuits into a single output. Why do this you ask? Because it sorta kinda "converts" a single filament light into a dual filament light (kinda sorta). I have mounted motorcycle led amber "fog lights" as turn signal replacements. They are very bright as far as blinkers go but then I have no front running lights. This simple circuit let's me use them as running lights and turns. I have also spliced in the front side markers and installed led bulbs there, they now run and blink with the front turn signals. And both lights combined draw less power than the old turn but turn bulbs. I'll later do this to the rear side markers too.

Here's a pic of one of my "turn signals"




I had some eBay credit and ordered a new steering wheel, hub, NRG disconnect, and some 2" IC piping.

While I have the column area taken apart is there a good way to clean the ignition switch? I've heard corrosion in the ignition cause slow wipers and other issues. I swear I had found a thread on how/what to do but I can't seem to find it now. Seems like a good time to do it.

I also removed the drives seat. I ordered a smaller wheel so that I won't bump my legs with my hands while turning. I've also wanted to lower the seat to remove my head as the highest point of the car. I *think* I'm going to remove the slider assembly and rear seat mounting humps. Then mount the seat strait to the floor. I'll reinforce the area with some plates and or large washers, I'm not overly concerned with safety but the seat coming lose seems like it would be a bad time... I've seen some others do this and loose about an inch in seat height.

I'll also do a foamectomy but I'm more nervous about that. If I cut out enough material to lower my butt 2-3 inches will the seat still be comfortable enough for long trips? I drive the car about 8 hours (one way) a few times a year so losing a huge amount of comfort would be a deal killer.

Bank on more serious topic, I still need to:

• Run the wires to the MAF plug for the IAT
• Tee into the FPR vacuum line for the MS
• Wire in new horn (old one is dead)
• Wire the WBO2 out of narrow mode
• More permanently mount the WBO2 controller
• And last but not least, make sure my OE to MS harness is up to snuff (haven't laid eyes on it in about a year, not sure if I finished it)

It's late and I made the two post on my phone so it very likely contains an erroneous amount of errors.



(Can a mod edit my title? I would like to change it to "Cheap NA6 Td04 build" if possible. Help still needed though.)

90LowNSlo

Found the write up on cleaning the ignition switch: https://www.miata.net/garage/Cleanin...ionSwitch.html

Don't know why I couldn't find it the other day.

Another question though... Right now I have he Spartan O2 controller on the driver's side sourcing power from the blue wire behind he headlight. I'd rather have it on the passenger side away from all the heat. Where is a good place to tie into 12v switched power on that side? Or am I just better off moving up against the fender on the far side of the brake booster? I dunno...

I have the lines for the IAT ran, when I get back from lunch I think I'm going to chop the factory connector and install so water proof connectors I have laying around. I have to do so double checking but I think I'm ready for MS after that.

Then to be road ready I need to throw the seat back in and wire up the new horn. The new horn is... Excessive. I'll need a relay and power directly from the battery if possible. I need to see where to source that from.

Wish me luck guys. O_o

90LowNSlo

Ugh... Got everything ready (i think), went to download TS and...............

Laptop wouldn't boot. HDD SMART failure

Tomorrow is my last off day that I wont have to watch the baby for the foreseeable future. I MUST get it up and running/drive able tomorrow or Ill likely die of boredom while traveling to work. I've been pushing my daily a bit more aggressively than I normally do and I think its pent up miata-less frustration.

der_vierte

I had the same problem 10 years ago, just turned off s.m.a.r.t in the main bios and it would run for a week or so...
Maybe worth a try!