RookieE4

Well guys. The title says it all, But I'll tell the story a little. I bought this miata for 250$ from this guy that was just done with it. Got it running the first 2 hours I was off of the clock (I drive a tow truck and work at the shop ). Found that the cam seals were bad and the water pump was shot. Changed those 2 things out and got it running good. Well, I've been driving it since about the 3rd of this month and not a hiccup UNTIL... My battery slid around In my trunk, both terminals touched the trunklid and started toasting my 3rd brakelight wire and the padding around the trunk latch. My car shut off and Im looking around for the problem until I see smoke coming out of my trunk and I can't get it open. The Police showed up and tried to help to no avail. Then the fire department came along and do what they do best, Tear S@$t up! I'll let the pics do the talking for me.


Thats where they wacked my trunklid with the spike to pry it open.


Thats where they actually pryed it.


Thats what was burning inside the car. Now I have a small pool of water from the extinguisher in trunk. ::(

One sucky day man. Really sucky.

thirdgen

iTrader: (26)

How was the battery held (or not held down) in the first place?

triple88a

iTrader: (2)

For the water, theres rubber plugs that pull out under the spare tire or where the hole is at.

As far as the damage, the trunk is replacable, same with the panel between the headlights. the only part that will be a pain in the *** is the fender.

Hopefully you didnt fry anything else in the process.

RookieE4

Yeah. The battery that's in the car is almost twice the size of the stock battery. I never strapped it down and I know If I had've atleast done that to keep it out of the way I would've been fine. Well atleast until I could make a strap down for it and extend the cables. Now I have all the more reason to do so. Lol!

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

It's called a Halligan bar, and it's designed for the express purpose of opening things quickly.

On the plus side, your car didn't burn down, and you've learned a lesson you'll not forget about battery hold-down.

I learned this same lesson about 20 years ago with a '71 VW Beetle.

RookieE4

Actually I kinda did. The defrost/??? relay that runs with the positive cable melted a little also. Im going to see if they Miata at Pick & Pull has it in it still and if so im snatching that also. I need a AFM either way because Mine is bad. This car isnt as jacked as it seems. haha!

RookieE4

Thank you kind sir. I forgot that name and I used one of those in the Navy. smh.. Im so off today. But yes, I am very glad it didn't burn down like I thought it was going to. I am taking the trunklid off tonight and pulling whats left of the ground off and the 3rd brake light and wire. The wire for that is only half cooked so Im just going to cut it and when I find another one I'll redo it with butt connectors and heat shrink.

curly

iTrader: (25)

AFMs rarely go bad. You sure it's bad?

Also, take a puddy knife to the trunk, all the rubber insulation looks bubbled and ruined. Or cover it with carpet.

RookieE4

I do believe its bad. When I start it in the mornings I have to keep it at 2k rpms until it warms up or it just shuts back off. And during that time if I drops below maybe 1250 rpms, when I go to bring the rpms back up it sounds as though is kinda bogging. When it warms up its fine though. But Ive been wrong before. As for the putty, I don't really care to do that I kinda just want to swap the trunk and latch and be done with it. The other 2 dents they put into the rear quarter panel I can pop out with a wood block and hammer or a rubber mallet in the morning. And the lining Im probably going to redo that also because I didn't notice it until I looked at it just now, but it's burned right by the trunk latch. Im just finding more and more ish that's messed up. -_-*

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

The 1.6 cars are notorious for this behavior. I've owned two of them.


All the more reason why it isn't the AFM.

I'll be honest; I have no idea what causes this behavior. My usual solution is to toss the stock ECU in the trash and install a Megasquirt, which fixes it 100% of the time. I'm sure that a simpler solution exists, I've just never bothered to take the time to find it.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Please, please tell me this is simply a typo.

RookieE4

I would trash the ecu but thats kinda out of the question for right now. I've heard of some things I could try to stop this problem and ill look into those options first.

curly

iTrader: (25)

Definitely not the AFM. Look at the two idle valves. One, on the side of the intake manifold, closes when the coolant reaches a certain temperature, lowering the idle RPM. The other, below the throttle body, is a little more of a mystery to me, but works off of the engine load, such as AC, PS, and temperature as well I believe.

Nope, I used one of these:


In the inch, inch and a half width, occasionally a torch, and it peeled right off. Finished with a wire wheel and I have a perfectly clean trunk floor. Hard to tell the extent of the damage from the pictures, but it might work for the OP's situation.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Puddy:








Putty:






Adult-oriented hot sauce at Jungle Jim's Supermarket in Cincinnati:

curly

iTrader: (25)

Oh. I see. Whoops. I even missed the "did you mean" when I googled the picture.

jacob300zx

You can use a lawn and garden battery from Walmart for like $30 bucks that fits right in there. Its almost exactly the same size as the stock one. I have three of the Miata's my family owns on these batteries now. They are square post, just slide your round connection over it. Who knew a square peg in a round hole would save you money

RookieE4

I will definately look into those two when I get this issue taken care of. Thanks again. As for the adult oriented sauces....Idk what to tell you there bud.

RookieE4

I don't mind using one of those to be honest. That would've sooo been overlooked had I seen it in the walmart around the corner from me. What a luxury to live so close to one of those. :

RookieE4

This is a piece of wiring I didn't take out when I first got the car.


My trunk cable that I magically got to loosen. Still needs a little work.


My third brakelight wire.


And my damaged "third eye". lol!


My new swimming pool. Haha!


Its not as bad as I thought it was, but it still sucks. I got one of the dents out and the other I may have to use a suction cup to get it because of where it is. But Its coming along little by little.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

That could have been a hell of a lot worse.

Protip: There are a couple of rubber drain plugs down in the bottom of the recess on the trunk floor. You can pull these to easily drain out the water.

Sidebar: I had no idea that the Halligan was a part of Navy fire-control practice. Was that your MOS, or was everyone trained in its use?