car died while driving...stranded...fuel delivery issue please help
 

Ok so basically I bought 18psi's old car from Ed and started driving back from utah to texas. The car worked flawlessly till I reached the texas state line and then rpms, acceleration just stopped and gas pedal was unresponsive. Some passerbys stopped and discovered the fuel inj 30A fuse was blown. We put in the head 40A fuse and that blew as soon as trying to start the car. They then hooked up a volt meter or something and had me turn the car again and it started smoking where their wires were placed. They said I have a short somewhere thats not letting fuel get to the engine. The car tries to turn...battery and engine seem fine and all fluids are at good levels so it seems it has to be related to the fuel delivery system. Im writing this as I wait for a tow truck as I have no tools anyway and am still 6 hours from my home city of san antonio. Please chime in on what this could be. If ots a short...where is it likely to be found? Fuel pump dead? Fuel pump relay issue? Injectors even? I also dont know enough about megasquirt but could that be a cause even though nothing was adjusted...didnt even hook up a computer to it. Cars breaking down is nothing new to me, but being stranded sucks so all help is appreciated!!!

28 views and no input :(

This should help, it doesnt have NB2 stuff but it should mostly be the same. Miata Information

Does that car have a diypnp? Or some other form of standalone megasquirt? Trace the injector wiring and go all the way into the ms. Something has to be making contact or grounding out that shouldn't be.

Pull the fuel pump out and check the wiring. Then bench test the pump. I'm going to guess the pump is fried, but you'll need to test it.

Unplug the pump and check the resistance.

The car has an MS2e built by reverant as far as I understand. Wish I was more help :( just didn't have the car long enough to get to know it.

I agree with sixshooter.

*

Would a dead fuel pump cause the fuse to keep popping? seems to me that it's a short rather than just a dead pump, no?

If the fuel pump died because of an internal short...

I've seen a walbro melted so badly that I'm surprised the car didn't explode.

OK Ed, since you're passing Vlad's shoddily constructed junk onto innocent noobs like the used-car salesman from Hell . . . what, exactly, is it that you REALLY want. I gotta' know.

Vlad, JK babe.

I'd rather not derail the thread (though it seems that Chris has really just got to get it home and pull out the testing stuff) but one of two things: something cheaper but more track-prepped, or something nicer and more comfortable. E.g. an NA with stuff like high quality suspension and a roll bar and stuff, or something along the lines of an MSM. This car was just kinda too stuck in the middle. Also, something with original paint.

There was just too much stuff about this car I wanted to change or add for my personal taste, and I don't have the time or money to do it and selling it put us in a better financial situation until I can get a solid job. I would have wanted to: put quicker spooling turbo, quieter exhaust, fix paint, add rollbar, full retune, change suspension, and at least a couple other things. But I lived and learned and now I'm more prepared for when I'm ready to choose my next car.

Sorry for the late reply...its been a busy couple of days. Made it home late last night and pretty much passed out all day. Turns out a wire came loose from the megasquirt behind the dash and was the culprit. Attached the wire back up, replaced the fuses, and let it run for 30 min just to make sure it wouldnt burn out again. Finally got back on the road around 4pm friday. Definitely an easy fix just a very inconvenient place and time for it to happen. About halfway between Carlsbad, NM and Pecos, TX on a highway with just 1 lane each direction and nothing but open land inbetween. It worked out I guess...allowed me to rest for another night after the tow (almost completely covered with my insurance) and to miss a huge storm that I would have run right into. Down side was the amount of time it took to find the wire...since I didn't even think to look inside until I spent a few hours in the engine bay. In the end, car still pulls hard and is a blast to drive. With some improvements, it will be even better! I'm happy with the purchase overall though and thanks to everyone who offered input. I found those wire diagrams very useful as well.

Thanks for posting the update! Glad to hear you got it sorted, and that your insurance covered you, and that you're happy with the purchase overall. Freak happenstance that it happened like that but hey, stuff happens.

Yea it was just an unfortunate circumstance that nobody could have predicted. I honestly blame the combination of poor bumpy road conditions throughout some of the drive plus the stiff suspension. I did enjoy a lot of the drive though too. Some very nice mountain views and the best part...passing slow 18 wheelers!! :)

I know exactly where that is. Glad you're up and going. This is the main reason I did a MSPNP . . . to completely reuse the factory harness.

Ed, really sounds like you need a couple of cars to me. A track car and a fast DD. Good luck on the job search.

This would definitely be the ideal situation. The problem with this car was that my wife HATED driving it and she didn't even like riding in it. Because of this, it was my toy only. It was worth too much money for it to be just my own toy, and yet I still couldn't track it. If I could pick up a cheap miata and throw a DIY turbo kit on it then I don't care how raw it is, it would be just mine and wife doesn't have to like it. An MSM would be fun enough to fulfill that role and likely nice enough that she would like it. Can't afford both right now though, and can't afford to go to the track. So rather than be an idiot and half-ass everything, I decided to let it go for now.

If I were single there's no way I would have sold it. Haha! That's how it goes.

Many decisions make different, we would :party:

Hahaha... That being said, my wife is pretty awesome. I don't regret that decision though it definitely makes other decisions more complicated.

Chris! Didja take any pics?

No pics as of yet...spent tonight getting the horn hooked back up so I can pass inspection tomorrow. I'll be disconnecting it as soon as the inspection goes through too...I hate horns personally!!

one of the stupidest things I've ever heard of coming from a miata owner.

:dealwithit:

If anything you should be modding it to have train horns. Aint no body can see us.

Oh man... Yeah I never got to fixing that but I would definitely keep it, it would have come in handy for sure. Sometimes I would just rev the engine but that takes a lot longer than beep beep.

People have been able to see me just fine in this miata, as well as my NA. Throwing louder horns on a car will only create a distraction. Its a matter of personal opinion really. From my experience, horns simply distract good drivers from what they are doing and I've seen several accidents occur because of them looking around for the vehicle making the noise. Instead I choose to drive in such a way that I put myself at minimal risk in general.

:rofl:

How many good drivers do you drive around? I drive around none. The horn is there for mommy driver her triple door sealed lexus suv on her cell phone yelling at the 4 kids in the back that are watching TV at max volume.

and all honking at that woman will do is piss her off...instead you could simply be aware of her and move around.

Its hard to move around her when she's merging on top of you and about to squash you into the jersey barrier.

Seriously the first mod I did was a Wolo air horn after I almost got plastered several times on the highway. People would not even flinch while cutting me off with the stock horn blaring (well whining is more like it).

two objects cannot occupy the same space. true story.

I would have just let off the gas and let her merge in front then. Granted driving styles of people are different from state to state and in Texas we mostly have nice, friendly drivers. I'm not telling you to disconnect your horn or not use it, I'm just saying I never do. Not to mention, this car is rather loud to begin with.

Let off the gas? She coming in that lane and she's cumming now! And you're being tail gated by the guy behind you for only doing 85 in the left lane.

I dunno... to each their own I guess, but I think there's a reason a horn is required to pass inspection. In Michigan they didn't inspect so I didn't fix, but it was on the list. I had people move in to my lane and I had to swerve to miss. Thankfully I was following safe driving protocol and not driving next to someone so I had room to swerve, but sometimes traffic is so heavy that is not the case. Typically I find that if someone is changing lanes and they hear a horn, they know it's likely coming from the lane they're changing into.

I honk on average at least twice a day. Accidents caused: 0. Accidents prevented: more than 0. Douchebag made go on green: countless.