Have pics and questions. FM2 an LINK. help a NOOB :)
 

i bought a wrecked 90 with a FM2 and LINK ... now trying to fix it..

just thought id get more eyes on this as im trying to figure out the car and get it on the road.

thanks for your responses.


ok, i have been working on the car a bit and here are some updates.
please pardon the pic size as its 56k no way

please post if you can be informative... still trying to figure the car out.

Ok, so i pulled off the busted wheel and im happy with what i see. as in....
1. i dont see any suspension
damage, please let me know if you see otherwise.
2. i guess those are koni yellows? now i wonder what the springs are... hmmm..
3. can someone id the sway bar?
4. that rusted pipe under the sway bar is the IC pipin . can i salvage that? im thinking of pulling them, knocking off most of the rust and then spraying with a high temp paint. please recommend products or process if you can.

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/1822/msuspension.jpg

ok, here is some engine stuff

i started the car today and it ran, but ran rough, im assuming that its due to the fact that the IC pipes are off and the vacuum is kind of wacky....

1. first pic looks nice and clean. yay! now the hot pipe that runs by the fans is actually attached to the fan frame. anyone heard of that? is that a bad idea?
2. please id the item labled as 1 in the pic.
3. in the next pic we see one of the LINK components, obviously.... what is it and where are the rest of them? i have the controller part that hooks up to a flat cable inside the car, but isnt there like a main brain that i have seen. that looks like a normal ECU? its not in the trunk as i have see on other cars. where could it be mounted?
4. please id the item labled under 3 in the pic.
5. please id the item labled under number 4 in the pic.
6. whats all that white stuff under number 5? should i be concerned?

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/1064/mengine.jpg

ok, now some interior shots...

the comments are on the picks. any input would be appreciated. thanks.
PS... what is that think poking out of the floor? anyone?
also, when the car i running.. i dont see the gauges working... where do i look to resolve the issue?

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1424/minterior.jpg

now for some misc stuff.

1. can we id the exhaust?
2. rusted ic issue mentioned before.. and theres an oil leak i need to look into.
3. the busted rays wheel. +39... you guys should be proud as for the other 3, im thinking of either selling them or fining a good knockoff... anyone know of one? ... maybe ill ask that on the wheels forum.

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/2759/mexhaust.jpg

I hate people that post in another forum and then expect us to look at it. I hate miata.net!
Anyways why don't you give us a few details about the car (year, what upgrades, motor, etc.)and how much you paid for it

if you look at the thread, you would find out that its a 90 an im around 2k atm.
mods according to what i was told... FM2, LINK. anything else, your guess is better then mine.

so please get over the hate of m.net and help me out with some answers so i can get the car on the road. i can duplicate things here, but seems like a waste....

"The car reminds me of the theme of "Toy Story 2." Someone used to love that car and put the effort into making it fast, but over time, outgrew the love and neglected it."

-Ron M @m.net

lol

Sorry, if you can't take the time to copy/paste your information, I can't take the time to be redirected.

Lol, that's awesome.

mmk... ill copy and past just for you guys...

This guy couldn't/wouldn't even measure his I/C piping. He asked what size coupler he needs.:facepalm:

mmmk... got it all posted up here...
and how about you guys back off... and instead of bashing, how about you actually post something thats helpful.. and m.net gets bashed on... at least i got some answers there.

but anyways... your HELP is much appreciated.

I've already answered some of those questions for you. Didn't you believe me? :)

You may have a bent lower control arm. Get the car aligned, that will tell you.
Definitely Koni yellows, you'll have to show us what the springs look like.
I think it's a Racing Beat sway bar, but it's hard to say for sure. Not that it matters, what's important is what size it is, and you can measure that.
Rust on the IC pipes: go to your hardware store, get some good rust paint. Clean pipes and spray.

Ziptying the IC pipe to the fan housing isn't unheard of, the IC routing in that kit was tight.
Item 1 is the hose for the ISC valve, and the wires coming out are for the air temp sensor. I ID'd that for you over at Miata.net.
Item 2 is the MAP sensor for the Link. The "main brain" is in the passenger's footwell, inside the stock ECU box. If you follow the ribbon cable from the keypad, that's where it will go.
Item 3 is the boost control solenoid.
Item 4 is the diagnostic connector. It should say "DIAGNOSTIC" on the top.
I wouldn't be worried about the white stuff on #5. That's a hot area, and it looks like residue from something being burned up.

Based on those exhaust tips, I'm going to say that's one of the older FM turbo dual exhausts.

As for the gauges not working - do you mean none of them work at all? Time to dig into the wiring.

i do and you have been most helpful. thank you.

Item 3: is that boost control solenoid supposed to be working with the link? can you control boost from the link?
as for gauges, i didnt run the car long enough to examine everything. just check to make sure its alive :) but the gauges didnt move, except for the boost gauge.. that was in vacuum and vibrating like crazy.. as was the car.

oh m.net a poster said that the car should still run fine when the IC pipes are disconnected. can you confirm? in my experience if a key vacuum line comes off or get block, the car starts to run rough.

thanks.

=Keith's attempt at ball busting!

Pasha, if you don't listen to Keith on these issues, you are hopeless!

yeah.. i figured that much.. lol
hes good knowledgeable ppl. thanks Keith!

1-Car shouldn't run fine if the IC pipes are disconnected.
2-yes link controls the boost too ( I wouldn't mess with it though since you have no clue on tuning) get a link ecu tuning manual and a installation manual at flyinmiata.com read it and learn than ask questions. You will get 80% of your answers

thanks man. ill try to get the pipes hooked up today. see how it goes.
i have no intention of messing with the LINK unless there are issues, i hope there wont be and shouldnt be.

thanks.

Actually, a car with a Link (or any other MAP based ECU) will run fine without the IC pipes connected. It won't see boost because the turbo isn't connected to the intake, but otherwise it won't have any trouble. This is not the case for a system that uses a MAF or an AFM, such as piggyback setups that retain the stock ECU.

If the vacuum lines to the MAP sensor are disconnected, I'd be surprised if you were able to get the car started at all.

Link tuning manual

The vacuum/boost gauge is mechanical. If the other gauges don't work, then you have some electrical issues to deal with. If the car is running badly, there are a whole bunch of potential reasons. First step is to determine if all four cylinders are running. Just for fun, I'd also do a compression check.

This is not a website that will spoonfeed you, if you picked up a manual for your car you would have answered 90% of your own questions...

Figure some of this stuff out for yourself or you should sell this project to someone else.

And I would advise changing your attitude if you expect any help from anyone here.
Keith has already answered all of these, but you should open up for the little airplane...
:)

#1 looks like the hose for the IAC valve that should be connected to your charge pipe somehow... but I really can't tell b/c your pic is shit and I'm not up on the 1.6 intake design
#2 I'm proud of you b/c you answered your own question
#3 As Keith said it is your EBC sol.
#4 is a diagnostics box for your obd1 system (hence the name diagnostics on the cover)
#5 looks like someone used some grease to seal the dp to the turbo? my guess at least, wouldn't worry too much about it.

The thing sticking through the floor looks like a bolt from a set of frame rail braces, but I don't see any in the other pics...
Your swaybar looks exactly like my RB Hollow, hard to tell though.
Good luck, you'll need it.

Pasha,

With your responses and questions are you sure you want or are able to tackle getting this car back on the road? It's some pretty basic stuff you are asking and common, popular parts you are asking about. Most could be found and researched with a little effort of your own.

Seems you may be out of your element and depth. Not hating, just calling it as I see it.

thanks for your responses guys. i guess i have a goo bit of work ahead of me.
love the little airplane!!! :p
as for being able tackle the project... mmmk.. now i feel a bit discouraged... lol thanks.
im going to try and make it... its a learning process more then anything..

... and yes researching would work. so would reading a book or 2, but its allays more effective to take the practical approach and get pointers from those that know.

thanks.

pasha I'm about 30 mins away if that...., if you need help feel free to ask me I don't know anything about the link crap but I'm handy and able to help If ya need it, But for god's sake you need to read up on the miata I honestly don't think you should get involved with this car unless you know how everything works..... My :2cents:

Wow, so this guy totally disregarded all the info myself and others posted on m.net and he hopes to be spoon-fed on here?? Good luck!!

thanks for the offer. will keep it in mind.
but why not get involved? miata doesnt seem to be any more complicated than any other car out there..
knowledge will come with time, sweat, blood and tears... :)
... i have the time and sweat part covered, so far... lol

oook, i must be missing something...
hey, sorry if i offended anyone... sorry if asked a question twice..

Then why are you asking a bunch of questions to which the answers already exist? If it's so simple why haven't you figured it out? Reading is your friend!! How old are you, 17?

im reading... unfortunately... here its mostly bashing... thanks.

it's what we call tough love don't look for a spoon fed meal here... lol

i would call it something else.. but ill refrain. lol
im in awe, really... oh well.
... ill bring my flame suit next time...

Rule number 1 when interacting with mt.net members: have thick skin and don't get your panties in a wad every time someone jumps on you.

Over at miata.net they spoon feed you and caress you like a fucking ------ that just came out of the closet. For every 10 "suggestions" there are 5 or more that are completely retarded and wrong.

Here you have a bunch of assholes that will give you good advice as long as you learn to get along.

Don't get discouraged, once a month we have a spoon feeding ------ fest here too:makeout:
Or you can just PM hustler and he will make all your dreams come true.:giggle:

ROFL lolololol epic lolololol

@18psi - yeah, kind of figured out that was the vibe on this forum.. its all good. i grab my flame suit every time i get on here...

whats rule number 2?

rule number 2 is you have to post nudes of your wife/girlfriend/sister:D

mmmk... ill have to pick which nude to post of your gf.. :P
... i think im getting the hang of this mt.net thing lol

Don't you mean BF?:giggle:
PM hustler. He has em;)

dood... i didnt know your gf was a tranny... :o now wonder the picks are only waste up... eek!!!

... no response... i guess i win.. w00t w00t!

naughty naughty :nono: I feel a :noob: bash slowly creaping up on you..... :bowrofl:

Pasha, are you Greek?

when in rome... :jerkit:
lol

nope. not Turkish either. why?

My olive oil is warmed up and ready.

Pasha, what do you want next, I have nothing else to do today, your questions have been answered. Do you want the whole crew to show up and do your shit for you? I have advice to give, one noob to another, if you want to know where to go next, you want that?

sure... ill take any advice you got.
problem is that im not only limited on knowledge, but also on time. just trying to gather some knowledge for now.
right now, i want to reconnect the IC piping, check the plugs and try starting it up again. see how it runs. i tried starting it with the ic pipes disconnected and it ran rather rough. Keith is saying that it does not matter if they are connected or not, since its running a map sensor, no MAF. so i guess thats the next step.... if its still running like crap, i will need to figure out why.

Connect all IC piping, get new plugs, maybe wires while you are at it. Start the car and run for a while, if it's still running like shit, pull the plugs and look for anything obvious. Maybe do a compression test at this point to see if there is any cylinder ugliness. A light service will be in order before you go too much further: maybe new fuel, fuel filter, etc.

Once running well enough at a standstill, make sure all IC piping is tight, maybe take this opportunity to take it apart and clean and paint it. Please, once it's running well enough, clean that fucker up a little, I for one don't want to see such ugly bay pics again, and if you want to post more pics, stand back a little and post full bay pics. Your pics make me dizzy and not want to help you any longer.

Get the link manual and read it front to back. Get your laptop to connect to the link, but don't make any changes! GET A WIDEBAND O2 SENSOR. If the link can datalog with the wideband, hook it up so it does so. If not, get a WB02 that can datalog! Take this opportunity to set baseline timing.

Call a reputable dyno operator, see if he can work with the link. If he can't, if he can at least work with efi standalones, good enough, all the standalones do the same fundamental things: VE, spark, and maybe AFR targeting if available. If it runs well enough, and can roll, get it to the dyno. Don't be a dick and ask for moar power. Get a reasonable tune with conservative timing values. Use this opportunity to see if your WBO2 is reading true to the dyno's numbers.

Now you can be reasonably sure your shit won't blow up when you get in boost. Further, you have a baseline car and setup that you can work from. When it's running really well, you may want to do full service: timing belt and water pump, look at the rad and replace if necessary (with a heavy duty one, no less), change all the fluids out, check the belts, etc.

As mentioned before, get it aligned to check for suspension damage. Take care to look at the a-arms and the front subframe for bendage. Change out the brakes and brake fluid, you will die if you keep the shit that's in there now! Make sure your caliper slides are nice and free, and lube them up while doing brake service.

Tell us what you are doing with the car: track, autocross, drift, canyon runs, etc. That is not enough wheel for a strong turbo car, so don't waste a bunch of $$ on tires for those without thinking about some 8" wide wheels (at least), especially if tracking or autocrossing. Pay attention to how your suspension works, the shocks may be old, but you may be able to rebuild/revalve those konis, do some searching around for that. If you want to track the car, find some local scca spec miata racers, they can help you with suspension setup and look over the car. Sell me your front sway bar for cheap, I really want it, and you don't.

If any of this doesn't make sense to you, you really need to do more research. I am a total noob, and some of these are the steps I have already taken to make an already well built car to meet my specific needs.

If there is something disconnected downwind of the map, it will not run correctly. Connect the pipes and run it.

@webby459. thanks for the comprehensive response. much appreciated.
now a few followup questions.

any recommendations on the plugs? gap? .. but i guess i can search for that.
cylinder ugliness = low compression?
engine bay cleaning will happen after its running.
WIDEBAND O2 SENSOR - not much experience here.. this will tell me if im running rich or lean?

everything else is quite understandable and reasonable.
thanks for taking the time to write that up.

Cylinder ugliness=low compression and especially unequal numbers. Search for the normal range you should be looking for.
Search for the gap, and good luck, mine runs .025 with no blow out on a plug originally gapped at .040.
Clean the fucking engine bay.
WB-wikipedia.com

And, dude, for real, use the search function a little. Maybe I have a weakness for noobs with ready-built cars that need some help (me being one), but even I am not above flaming your ------ ass when I feel inclined. And maybe tell us what you are doing with the car, it will matter.

will do some searches..
i found a box of old spark plugs in the trunk and someone wrote .044 on the box.. guess thats a hint..

what am i going to do? for the most part, run around town, drive it every other day, or so.. i have another car that im keeping and this will be my "other car". eventually i would like to do some autox and maybe some some drift. imo, too early to think about that, got to get her fixed first.

i do realize that autox and drift are completely different setups...

Want to see video proving otherwise? Stop posting incorrect info :noob:

Not that I need proof or don't believe you, but if you have one, I'll take a look. Would that not mess up the map signal the ecu was getting vis. what the manifold was 'seeing' for pressure/vac?

The map signal is referenced from the manifold, how is an intercooler pipe going to affect it? Most of us built our cars, you bought yours as it sits, who do you think is right?

on a side note...
as i was working on the car yesterday and today at 6AM before work!!!
... a thought came to me, i wish i had a nice clean base car that i could just strap stuff on too.. man, i would be so much simpler... here i have to take crap off, inspect, fix, put it back on... blah blah.. seems like double the work...

so you guys need to lay off the whole being dickhead because "i built my car and you bought yours." because its a different set of crap that ppl have to go through with a built car. now if you spent mega bucks and the car is perfect, that maybe a different sorry, but shit.. good for you, if you can allow your self that.

/rant!!! :)

-Having a clean base car doesn't make it much easier if you don't know what the fuck you're doing.
-Most members here will always be harsh with you. Just gotta learn not to be a pussy and take a lashing every now and then.
-Mega bux does not equal perfect running car. Most setups here are done on the cheap, but with lots of thought and work put into them. They work well.

Anyhow, what's the progress? Have you started the car yet?

only had a bout an hour and a half to work on it yesterday.. fixed some body stuff, pulled off the IC and some IC piping. got the piping resprayed . any idea how hot the IC piping gets?

today the plan is to do a little more body work, reconnect the piping, put some fresh 93 in and try to start it up. if its still acting up, ill pull the plugs and see whats going on there..

unfortunately i dont have much time to work on it.

1. You're right, I looked at my car, map is referenced off the i.m. No changes to plumbing before the i.m. would change map ref.

2. I wasn't doubting you, you offered proof, I accepted.

3. I did buy my car with turbo.

4. I didn't really buy it as it sits, I made some changes/optimizations to suit me.

You really get zero style points for busting my balls for something I already readily admitted, ie that I bought my car already built. Better luck next time. Otherwise, I think my points were pretty valid, especially regarding WBO2, getting help from a knowledgeable dyno operator, and using search function.

The hotside gets pretty hot. The cold side stays cold.

i was looking for numbers, but thats fine.. the stuff i sprayed the IC pipes with is up to 200 degrees.. should be good enough.

now i have been researching some spark plugs.. what to get and such.
so far i see we want to use.
NGK ZFR7F-11 or BKR6E .. one is extended something or other.. is there really a difference?
it seems to have the gap between 30 to 35. i found some bad plugs in the trunk with .044 marked on the box.. thats a bit odd.
do we want a smaller gap for more boost or bigger... this i got a bit confused about..
ref page: Turbo Spark Plug Gap?? - MX-5 Miata Forum

thanks.

the BKR6E gapped to 30 did the trick for me. lots of other people too

First step is to find out why it's running rough at idle.

If the car's rough at idle, it's probably not a plug gap problem. I'd clean the plugs. Always clean the plugs, you can spend days chasing running and starting problems from dirty plugs and it's easy to do. Correct gap for that car is 0.28-0.30". Yes, there is a difference between an extended plug and a normal one, go for the extended.

Has the car been sitting for a while? If so, you may need to get the injectors cleaned. I'm not sure if the gas has changed or if the cars are just more likely to sit for a long time now, but a year's disuse can easily clog them up. Of course, your fuel gets stale as well.

Check the A/F ratio at idle through the Link keypad. This is a test, read the manual or call us :) That'll tell you if you need to do anything with fuel. One rule with buying a used turbo Miata is that you have to assume everything's screwed up. If it can be mis-programmed, it probably is. Go through the whole car and check it out.

The Link can log any wideband and use it for autotuning.

thanks guys! i love useful responses... lol
i guess ill pull the plugs first and try to clean. then get a new set if thy look screwd up. if the guy had a gap of .044 on them, would that make it run rough at idle?

my guess is the car has been sitting for a couple month. is that enough time to clog injectors or make the fuel get stale?

Keith.. can you tell me how well the MAP sensor box is sealed from the elements? we had rain couple days ago and after the rain i get to the shop pop the hood and there was some water on the box... so i wipe it off and put a bag over it.. the battery is dead, so i doubt things shorted anyways.. thanks.

Pasha, I run the Link and that box has been wet before without issue. As for the gas, might want to add some Techron injector cleaner to the gas tank to clean things up, I do this once a year to all of my vehicles. And call your local Checker or Pep Boys for the NGK's, Autozone doesn't have them. The V-Power plug is what a lot of us use with great results, and run $1.89-$2.49 each, you need 4 of them.

good to hear.
as for the techron, does it matter how much gas is in the tank? i know many aditives say add 1 bottle per tank.
Advance auto is by the shop, so ill stop by and check there. and with telling me i need 4, your being really nice to the NOOB :) lol

thanks.

The Techron comes in 2 sizes, up to 12 gallons and up to 20 gallons, the choice should be obvious. I can't recall if Advance carries NGK or not, I haven't lived near one for 3 years. As for being nice, I got enough sleep last night and have a fun evening planned with my lady.