Fixed the timing, but it's still lumpy and dies after startup. I'm wondering if warmup enrichment is making it too rich.

edit: ok found a vacuum leak, and fixed it. It idles steadily and at 10afr. This I can try to work with because at least it doesnt cut out anymore. I still need to bleed the clutch and verify base timing. my timing light stopped working.

Please don't go a month without updates, it makes us want to send out a search party. Hopefully no news is good news? :eek4dance

Well... I still can't figure out why the basebase timing is off so much for an NB motor. Instead of being between 5 -7° its in the upper teens.

I'm waiting on a set of stock coils and might try that.

I'm a bit afraid to run the car with hoopty timing while trying to break the motor in, but it does start and run.

Maybe I have to call out the big guns and lure Braineack to my place with cats

I just finished moving into the place I've been renovating so I'll have time to touch this project again. I need to register the car then really figure out this timing thing. The car I'm using now just sprung a leak in the radiator and I'd really like to transition into using the Miata.

Anyone in the NOVA area want to lend a hand in a quick troubleshoot?

So electric taping a plug wire to the FAB9 cop, I was able to get a better signal for base timing. It looks like it was spot on around the 6.5 degree range so I'll take it.

Idle surges a bit, and there is a tiny coolant leak from the back somewhere I must find. I registered the vehicle and now have 30 days to get it inspected and emissions tested.

Anyone wanna help set the car up? (paging Brain)
I'm still in the process of finishing house renovations and have such little time to commit to getting the car sorted within the month (safety/emissions). Will $

Purchased some new suspension. Anything Vlad is trying to get rid of is probably more than good enough for my car.

Progress, slowly but surely.

What suspension is coming out?

Any idea where the coolant leak is coming from?

I'm going to redo the reroute a bit. The thermostat housing isn't sealing well, I think the t-stat gasket being used is the thinner one, and there's a plush fat one that can be used in it's stead. I also ordered a large 90° 1.25" silicone elbow so that might clean up plumbing a bit. That's it though. UV flashlights are awesome for leak hunting.

Hopefully that'll be done tomorrow, but I really am clueless on how to set the car up well. I tried calling two dyno places, left messages, emailed...no response.

I need to get things sorted before the end of the month (by law). Maybe I'll just go and fail safety and emissions to buy 30 days time.

The thermostat housing from the M-tuned reroute kit was leaking a bit. It may not have been tightened down enough, but upon inspection the thermostat gasket also looked to be in rough shape. Replaced the thermostat and gasket to the stant numbers thrown around on the forum. I used the fatter gasket with a square cross section that was referenced in the M-tuned replacement parts thread, but it seems like the thermostat is still able to shift slightly within the housing, even when fully tightened (I ran to home depot to use their PVC wrenches). Not sure if I should be using any thread sealant on the housing?

Anyway, ran the car, and refilled the coolant. I have the Dyno booked this Saturday at York Automotive in Mount Airy MD. Hoping for no surprises.

I'm starting to think there are 2 different versions of the housing, or 2 different thermostats and associated gaskets that were specc'd for the housing.

IIRC I had to lube up the gasket pretty aggressively so get the housing tight enough that it wouldn't leak. I think I used some Shin Itsu stuff I purchased for the window tracks because I had it handy. Bare aluminum on the rubber gasket would bind and I couldn't get it tight. I added lube and got more compression and no leaks. Its something to try anyway.

That's a great idea. If it ends up leaking again, I'll change the gasket once more and try giving it a snug. I wonder if the seal swells any bit once heat and pressure is applied. I'm going to start the car up again tonight (now that the whole engine bay is dry) and see if that leak came back. I need to have it ready for AAA to send up tomorrow morning.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1437848262


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1437848262

301whp @5800
308tq@4800
16psi

<p>That's so beautiful.</p>

Sorry, jsut got back. It's fun to drive, but it doesn't "feel" fast because delivery is so predictable. They said at 18psi it would spin second and third on a roll, so they just dialed it back because it's just silly right now. I need to put that new suspension in and maybe look into new brakes. Idle up during the fans is crazy, it's idling at 2500 right now, otherwise everything is ok. I do need to figure out if I'm keeping A/C, and maybe change to a 180° thermostat. It's got a 195° in there now and the fans kick on quite a bit in this hot weather. Also thinking about hood vents, especially if keeping A/C.

Still hoping Brain will find some time to comb through it. I trust him quite a lot more, I just had to get something done enough to drive it reliably to get safety and attempt emissions.

that is some good power man, congrats. now gotta iron out all the details, but you've got yourself a fast car :)
I bet with some more work on the ebc and timing tables, you can pick up more lowend too

Nice work Psyber, that is very nice looking for 16 psi!

Car is acting a bit funny, it just idles high and when restarting while engine is warmed it'll stall two or three times waiting for the o2 sensor to heat up.

Driving around sometimes under a little bit of load, it stutters then spikes lean. But it's random. I don't think it's setup too well and I'm still in fix-the-house mode. May take it for a retune somewhere else.

IAT heat soak? Mine does a little of that with a good IAT location. It would be worse with a bad one.

The IAT is right after the intercooler outlet tucked behind the bumper away from the radiator. But I may as well replace it just in case. I'll try to monitor it more closely especially after sitting and trying to restart

Sounds like a tuning issue.

Honestly it sound exactly like what my sensors do before they start to fail.

Did it ever run correctly or always do this?

It ran fine last Saturday when I got it back from the shop that tuned it. The idle when fans kick on was always an issue. But lately it's been a lot hotter and more humid out lately and that's when I'm noticing this stumble and stalling during several warm starts.

I'm also not too sure if feel too good about the map in general. I'll post up the msq when I get home. But I am a bit fearful to log a pull if the stumbling might be more serious. Maybe it's just spark blow out
(doubtful at a mere 16psi)? Maybe worse?

May have it towed to another tuner in PA. I wish I had time to deal with this, but I need to get it inspected and emissions tested far sooner than I can learn to tune it myself.

Mine has been stumbling under 2500 RPM. Also stalls out when I restart the car and its warm. As soon as I start moving it's fine though. I always thought it was because my IACV isn't being used.

Hmmm.... I have the IACV hooked up but maybe it's going bad and settings are off. I still cant figure out why it just idles so high. MSQ attached if any guru is interested.

I also think my o2 sensor is not reading correctly. I'll recalibrate, but this is the third sensor on the MTX-L after inaccurate readings. Maybe I'll look into a new wideband solution as well.

Engine bay is getting real hot in expected areas by brake booster. Need to figure out some heatshielding or wrap or both.

<p>Output test mode is your friend.</p>

It seems to be working. Just for shuts and giggles I tried switching the iacv frequency from 511Hz to 384Hz and it seem to do well even when the fans kicked on however when the fans came on again the idle shot back up to 2500.

you do not switch frequency of the iacv. you run what it was set up to run by whoever built your MS

I'll change it back :eek:

When I start the vehicle, it idles nicely around 1k RPM but as soon as I touch the throttle, even the slightest blip, it'll bring itself up to 1.5-2k RPM and hold. As soon as fans come on it'll idle up to 3k. I'm wondering if I need to back the idle screw on the throttle body or check the mechanical side of things or if it's really just in the tune. Would a higher output alternator help at all?

I got finicky o2 sensor readings the other day just cruising, minimal load, then it just gave an E8 error (MTX-L). I'll try replacing the sensor to see if that corrects it. The IAT seems to be ok, it'll soak a bit when sitting but temps drop as soon as it's rolling.

I scheduled a retune with another tuner, but ALLLL the way out in Carlisle PA. I hope they'll be able to smooth it out more, it felt like there was some misfiring on full tilt once, so I've just been taking it easy till it's in the hands of someone more competent than myself.

Then I get to worry about adding A/C back in; but with my luck......


Someday this thing will run right. Or be sold. Who knows!

tune.
don't ever touch the screw, leave it in oem position.

The biggest problem with TUNERS is the fact that most of them will only tune the power/go-fast part of your ecu, and the really important day to day stuff they either use canned settings, or settings that "should work", or something like that. Because they can't really tune them, you'd have to actually cold start the car to tune cold start, you'd have to idle it in different temps and idle loads to tune ide, and so on.

And that would take days if not weeks. Not 3-4 hours

That's what I'm afraid of. This has just become my primary car as the backup has a bad coolant system and it's almost not worth putting any money into.

It's just becoming a pain as driving around feels strange when it bounces between idle and vacuum decel so AFR is all over the place. Then idling at a traffic light at 3k, it nearly hits resonance and the car is just loud /old person rant

I just got back from trying to fix some of the warm idle stuff. I got it to where it isn't running pig rich, and the idle stopped hunting. But once those fans kick on, it stalls sometimes. I just reverted some settings back and let it be; confidence shook. I think I've just become a nervous wreck since the last motor bombed, I don't trust myself even if change are made incrementally. I'll try to do this on the weekend when I know I don't need to be anywhere.

Look for vacuum leaks and then work on the IAC and dashpot settings. What is the closed DC value? Screenshot that whole window, if you would.

Here is a good guide on tuning idle on a ms3.

Thanks for the suggestion folks and the link Shuiend. I'm going to have a crack at it again tomorrow. Idle doesn't hunt anymore, the RPM is down by 500. It does have a bit of a lean condition after restart during throttle tip in.

I did a lot of maintenance stuff today, changed the oil, replaced the dipstick oring which was mangled and seeping a bit of oil. Also replaced the suspension so it's not scraping everywhere. Good thing I have frame rails. I have to contact county about fixing the apron to the driveway of my house.

I cancelled the appointment for retune. It does alright and I should really try to learn this shit the hard way after I grow some balls to tinker in ms3 (with an inherent acceptance of catastrophic failure.)

Tomorrow I hobble it down to Rosenthal to see if they'll align it. I hope they'll accomodate custom number. Otherwise, it'll just have to hold me over for another two weeks. The caveat of fun car being daily.

I'm going to try to rework the hotside piping so I can reinstall the A/C compressor once I get some A/C lines to the condensor.

Attached are the idle settings

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1439086474

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1439086474

Changed the oil today and noticed some oil seepage at the oil pressure senders. Tightened them down, hopefully that eliminates some of the mystery oil spotting my car has been doing.

I also replaced the wideband with the LSU4.9 version of the MTX-L and used shielded wire. I grounded the shielding to pin 2 on the bottom MS3 connector as the hardware manual shows this as crank sensor shield, but was unused on my unit. I hope this smooths out the signal as mine was jumpy. I figure it was being influenced from being run behind the radio and whatnot.

Got the car aligned as well.

Trying to so some tuning today and just found out that the vvt intake (relative timing) is set to all '0'

Does this mean that vvt has been functionless the entire time? I think I've stepped way to far in over my head now lol. Maybe I will go back to throwing money at a tuner to set this up properly.

Reconnected the catch can on the PCV side after running a check valve all the while. I want to do a compression test just because I'm paranoid about what happened last time. Also finally got the rest of the bits in for AC so as soon as I put the charge piping behind the fender, I'll try reinstalling the compressor and plumbing. Hood vents are off to get powdercoated. Need to keep the car cool.

Circuit breaker that came with the Flyin Miata Airflow kit crapped out which exposed what a poopy idea this shroud is. It does not contain a divider between the fans so if one stops, air is just being pulled from the adjacent space. Either I'll remove it to weld in a thin piece of aluminum with some weather stripping, or if that poses to be a great risk of fan ingestion by fan, I'll ditch it altogether and go for a single big fan. That'll leave more space for an oil cooler somewhere perhaps.

On highway, oil temps are 220-240°F. Thanks 6spd/4.10.

Running a large single fan as a two speed is an option using an older Volvo fan control arrangement with a resistor (or pwm if you're fancy.) I'll use a 100 watt .33 ohm resistor to drop the speed on the low speed trigger. I've tried it out on the bench and that drops the speed 50% or less for my 3000cfm Spal. I ran the same fan before (no shroud) at full power and its on/off cycle was about 10 seconds on the hottest day, stopped after multiple boosted runs.

Which spal are you running? Is it shrouded at all, or just pushed up against the radiator?

Don't recall the model number and can't find one on it. I thought it was the highest cfm (3000) straight blade Spal made at the time. Complete overkill but seemed like a good idea at the time. No shroud. I mounted weather stripping to fan frame and then mounted the fan to the top flange (see pic) on the aluminum radiator I use (hot rod Ford style). Created an excellent seal and protection for the radiator. I probably put 4k miles on it like that and it was the same when removed.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440618340

Hi, finally made it to the end :) Ready to do this all over again with me? lulz

Yea dude, let's get it goin'.

As far as my car goes, I just have to: tighten some fittings, drill some holes, cut some hood, redo some piping, throw in the A/C compressor, figure out VVT settings and tables since it was empty, retune, and get it ready for winter and rust repair.

Or just sell it; by which I mean replace the fuel system with new lines and a flex sensor, get a new rear and, and fatter tires.

Rain ruined my plans for the weekend. Was going to tend to some sensors and put together a remote filter relocation setup which I'll then try to use with an oil cooler.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442083838

Ok, starting this thing back up.

I really need to scope out the oil leak coming from a oil pressure sender. I can see where it's leaking. I can feel where it's leaking. But the terminals are pointed upward toward the coolant lines to the water heater, and it's just really really difficult for me to reach short of removing the squaretop.

I have almost everything ready to go to switch coil setups to the LS2/7 coil packs. In the LSx coil megathread, folks have used stock wires but the terminal ends are completely different. The terminals do not even contact the leads on the coil side so there is no 'clipped in' feeling. It's a different style altogether so I think, while yes, the spark will jump the gap because of the voltage potential, I'd rather just have the appropriate ends so these will have to be ordered before running them.

I need to install hood vents. I have them sitting pretty and powder coated, but just haven't had time or facility to do so. I think that'd help greatly with cooling. I also want to rework the intercooler piping through the fender so that might happen this weekend. Does anyone have a good way to clean out an intercooler? Just a bunch or break cleaner or dump some other solvent like acetone in there and let it flash out?

There was one issue where my injector fuse kept blowing. I found where it was shorting, and it's the power from the cam position sensor. What is even worse, is the sensor was loose because the bolt was backing out slowly.

I am about to buy 3.63 ring and pinion and am wondering if I should just have the dealer remove my diff and rebuild. I have nowhere to do this myself. Also wondering if there is any benefit to getting an aftermarket diff versus sourcing another Torsen as a donor.

Also looking at updating my fuel system to add Flex capabilities. But I think I'll need to add new wheels and tires to this idea as third gear is already a bit squirelly.

Trying to figure out how to properly sound deaden the car, what the strategic locations are. 3400 RPM is loud as hell. This just happens to be the sweet spot to cruise on highway. Might try to throw the resonator back in in place of the cat. My car doesn't need emissions inspection anymore, but I don't know which is louder. Metal substrate cat or resonator.

Hopefully more updates and pictures soon. I want to get a lot of stuff done before winter.

https://teens.denverlibrary.org/site...?itok=d8luMd2_

These are just my opinions, but I'll play. Remember I'm no expert.

Unless you plan to remove the engine I'm not sure what to do here. I can't think of a good option for you :(

I believe someone posted up a part number for crimp on ends for those coils? Slice off the old ones, crimp on the new ones and go. I've also seen guys pinch the contacts inside the boot to make them bite, but that seems really ghetto to me. I know somewhere buried here on MT there are a set of part numbers for making completely custom wire sets, but of course I can't find it at the moment.

Inside? How bad is it? When I flushed my Precision 600 I got a gallon of acetone, dumped some in, shook it around, dumped it out. Repeat as needed.

At least you found it, that would make for a bad day.

The dealer will probably just farm it out to another shop that specializes in this stuff. Unless the dealer has a super competent guy, it might be worth trying to find a local shop who can do this kind of work yourself. I lucked out and bought my 3.63 already mounted up on an OEM torsen and its been working great. I think Kaaz and OSGiken make diffs for the 1.8 but they are BIG money and I've never seen anyone buy one for anything other than a big money racecar. 949 has the OSG listed last time I checked.

Heh, my car is the same way. 1st and 2nd are a joke and 3rd struggles to hook up. You are going to LOVE the 3.63s, better tires will also help. Watch the wheel hop thouth.

What muffler? If you can fit it in there, the Vibrant 17950 is the biggest sumbitch resonator I could find and it seems to work fabulously. Super high quality part too, much better than the Magnaflow ones I ordered and returned. Its positioned just to the rear of where my stock cat was located.

Godspeed sir! I look forward to the updates! :party:

I might try to tackle the oil pressure sender leak this weekend. If not, I'll just wait till I pull the intake manifold off when revamping fuel system.

I ordered some terminals from summit, I hope it's the right version, but we'll see. It looks like they only claim that their 45° boots fit the ls coils, but I ordered some straights and will retain the 90's that are on the stock wires. I just matched up the terminals to that shown in the product image for that part number. It looks like the spring loops are a tighter radius which definitely resemble the fitment type for the coils. I'll have to learn how to build and crimp these, hopefully before this weekend. Will re-read dwell values to use.

Well it looks like my air filter placement is garbage until I re route the charge piping. So the filter heated up and the turbo sucked all the oil out of the element. That and I think it's taking on oil vapor from the driver side crank case vent as I see it condensing a bit more around the engine bay now that it's cooling down outside. Perhaps the hood vents in conjunction with some fancy future fab work to find a new home for an AEM dry filter will help mitigate this. Or a catch can. (Speaking of which PCV catch can->VTA is bone dry). I'll try the acetone trick. Wouldn't hurt.





I'm walking distance to Rosenthal. But perhaps I should investigate diff shops in the area. I'd really like the longer gearing. I was looking at the OSGiken but am having a bit of a dilemma justifying the cost. Do I go for it, and wonder if I'll die in the rain/snow when or just use a torsen donor and risk spending all that labor for a diff that performs - just well. Should I just save a lot of cost and try to be happy with a 3.9, or will spending this money on a 3.63 torsen really be worthwhile if not coupling it with a sexier diff.


I already know that the power it's pushing is enough to make me nervous when driving fast. I feel that even after changing the suspension and a fresh alignment, the car feels like a roller skate. I am thinking more seriously about a diffuser up front but have all these other projects to complete before I cover it all up. That and my fab skills are pretty lame.

Currently I have a Magnaflow that Abe/Artech welded up for his whole EFR 3" exhaust system. I have an alternate cat pipe with a maganflow resonator, but I don't recall which was louder. I am skeptical of available space given the FM butterfly brace down there. Maybe I should just have a shop hack the existing midpipe to include the resonator. The vibrant one does look sexy indeed, but real-estate is tough down there.

cat will always be quieter than resonator

There are drivetrain shops in your area. You just need to find them. Pop the axles out of the carrier and unbolt the chunk from the carrier. Take it to a shop with a new distance piece from Rosenthal and a new pinion seal and let them set it up.

So another terrifying thing happened aside from last weekend being stranded on a busy bridge with no breakdown Lane due to a short from my cam sensor blowing out the injector fuse.... I had also found that the cam sensor itself had rattled loose, but luckily was able to simply tighten the bolt back down.

Today I drove and noticed my oil pressure at about 15psi. It couldn't have been more than aa couple minutes when it happened but I delicately drove it (since it was stop and go traffic) to the closest gas station. Oil was low so I added a quart. No change. I was about to call AAA to tow it home thinking it was a pressure relief valve being stuck when I noticed the VVT solenoid popped out. Luckily I had a spare 10mm bolt on hand and all was fixed.

I'm paranoid now if there was damage done to the engine. Am I on borrowed time or is there a way to check? Why is my motor rattling itself to pieces?

Last weekend Downmented loaned me some space to install some hood vents. I should have worn ear protection. I need to figure out how to duct things or just suck it up and ditch the A/C condenser. Last thing is to swap in a 185°F thermostat and hopefully my fans will stop cycling.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...p;d=1445646140

I had to pull the oil warmer off to be able to remove one of the two oil pressure senders. I cleaned and teflon taped them then snugged them back hardcorezorzor. Crossing fingers for no more leak!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll finally try to reroute the charge piping through the fender. This should allow more space for the A/C compressor. But I'm still a bit out of luck when it comes to finding a new route for the filter.

Should have used the yellow pipe paste stuff. The Teflon tape can gum up the oil system if you aren't careful, or put too much on.

Fuck. I guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow.

Teflon tape also can mess with grounding.

I've seen this recommended.

Locktite PST, Item Number 37615

Both gauges work so there's no grounding issue. But the last thing I need is an oil related fubar failure.

Thanks for the heads up

Replaced missing bushing on my rear sway bar.
3.636 ring and pinion came in straight from Japan, I just need to source a spare diff to have built on the side.
I really want to revisit my intercooler piping. Still debating if I want to change intercooler setups but that's not a high priority. I just have to finalize the routing before I start cutting holes for the charge pipe in the brand new LRB aluminum undertray that came in.

Next is to:
1) Wire up the LS2/7 coils with singular mounting brackets
2) Change front brake lines, bleed brake fluid
3) Bleed clutch fluid
4) Swap in 185°F Thermostat, top off coolant


How does one make sure the knock sensor is working?

Made a small harness for the coils
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1446683396
Went for a walk during lunch and took a photo. Autumn mode.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1446683396


Hopefully get the coils on this weekend and change thermostat. Then take it to get it tuned in the coming weeks.

Finished up the mounting of the LS coils and all the spacers. Essentially I just used flanged nuts on either side of the coils separated by generic hardware store 1" long 1/4" I.D. spacers. It fits perfectly across the length of the valve cover. Just need to shim maybe one or two washers per side and cut the threaded rod. I don't know if I should try to get the nuts welded on one side or just drill through and use a cotter pin on all ends just in case. Things have a tendency to rattle apart on my car (for instance cam sensors and VVT solenoids).

Got some fantastic input on muffler options to try to quiet the car down. Excited to explore these in the future.

Ordered new control arms because all the balljoints and bushings are destroyed. Could be causing a lot of the shake and rattle that I'm getting just driving around.

Also powdercoated NB rear subframe came in (thanks Cordycord). I have NB uprights coming in, but as I understand it, that'll push the rear out a bit. I'm probably shooting myself in the foot when I try to run wider wheels/tires next year.

I'll probably rebuild the front end first, then as soon as I find a donor diff to install the 3.63 gears, do the rear next season.