Am I stupid for indiscriminately cutting to find a wire?
 

I bought this car to learn. $1000 for a longnose held together with zip ties. So far I've done the suspension and stuck the big brakes on it, and as soon as I finish this post I'll be at 10 so I can send a PM to a dude and buy a Greddy kit.

When I bought this car, the (Wal-Mart) battery was flopping around in the back, with no tray or tie-down. It had eBay coilovers assaulted with a bench grinder to make them fit. There was newspaper in a spark plug hole. I've ironed out all the dangerous stuff, but one thing still needs to be done:

http://pics.livejournal.com/rawt/pic/0003ptsy/s640x480

It needs a cooling fan. When I bought it, it was just missing. The AC fan is still there (though the system is gone), so in traffic I just push the AC button and it keeps the motor cool. But god I feel like an idiot.

http://pics.livejournal.com/rawt/pic/0003sfea/s640x480

I thought this was the plug for it, but when I did the paperclip test, it saw no voltage. I took out and tested the coolant fan relay (works), the thermoswitch (works), and the fuse (good). Then I discovered the wonders of a wiring diagram and found out that it wasn't even the right plug. I needed to find yellow.

http://pics.livejournal.com/rawt/pic/0003qg47/s640x480

Here is the yellow wire coming out of the fusebox, disappearing into the bundle. I couldn't find it by trying to follow it and poking around the engine bay, so...

http://pics.livejournal.com/rawt/pic/0003r7wy/s640x480

I did a potentially stupid thing and just cut open the bundle that it seemed to disappear into: the one on the passenger side near the igniter. But it's not in there! What the shit!

...

God damn it, I went back to the garage to double check and I think I found it. After wasting all this time taking pictures and writing about it asking for your help. Fuck it, I'm posting this anyway so I can get that 10th post. Mods, delete if you see fit. Plz don't baninate me! These people are cool and I can actually use obscenities here.

Here's a picture of my car. XD There, this can be an intro post or something.

http://pics.livejournal.com/rawt/pic/00035c97

That's some funny shit. Welcome to the forum!

The reason the fan was missing = Weight reduction. In fact I'd suggest you go ahead and remove the engine too, that's a couple hundred pounds you don't need.

Haha, welcome aboard! So when your car falls apart you're gonna give me your big brakes kthx.

BTW: You'll love the Greddy kit.

haha nope you told an entertaining story for your post so Im ok with it.

looks good to me but i am not a mod welcome to the turbo network buddy :D :bigtu: :yippee: :pitlab:

the plug for the fans will be under the headlight.

first plug is a 12v switched power....if you aren't getting power there......


...whatcha need is a wiring diagram.

ya know, something like this:

https://www.miataturbo.net/~web1_bra...ooling_fan.jpg

Brain do you have that in PDF? Or are those from that site

I must learn to read those wire diagrams better.

you're soooo not with it.


https://www.miataturbo.net/~web1_bra...vicemanual.pdf

thanks scott, been waiting for you to post that link up for awhile now :)

good freaking god ... you are almost at 10k posts!

I hope so. Low cost of entry and lots of room for upgrades? Just what I always wanted!

A wiring diagram is what helped me find it, but what you posted is way more comprehensive than the one I had. Thanks for the link.