Got quite a bit done on my Miata, and now it’s running, well.. a little better.
After spending a lot of time shopping, with not so much of money spent (relatively speaking…), I got most of the parts I needed for a little more tune up.
Started with something I’ve never done before… wrenching into the engine…
suppose not to be that hard, and ended up not at all, but it took me a few deep breath before I started this whole project.
I removed valve cover, clean it up using a lot of brake cleaner, simple green, and laundry detergent (believe or not, this worked the best…), and then painted with some left over brake caliper paint.
changed the gasket, changed the O-Ring for CAS, and put everything back together. Took me two evenings, as I needed to wait for the paint to be dried, and then baked.
A couple lessens learned…
1. Changing valve cover gasket is easy.
2. Do not paint under flash light… won’t be able to paint evenly with shadows…
I also replaced the spark plug wire at the time.
I spent another weekend replacing the brakes on all 4 corner.
Brake Lines (Rubber factory replacement by Centric)
Brake Rotors Painted the hut hoping to keep it from rusting
Brake pads (regular Organic Pads)
New Caliper Hardwares, Caliper Pin Boots for a good measure
Dot3 brake fluid
To be, or not to be surprised, the previous brake job was done very poorly…
One of the front, and both rear pads were missing springs, hardware was rusted, and used either not enough, or bad grease, one of the rear brake was seised.
I removed all parts, cleaned them with brake cleaner, and re-assemble with good brake grease.
Old brake fluid was nice and toasty, so flashed with a new fluid after replacing the brake lines. (I still feel like a little bit of air in the line, so will go back and bleed them one more time).
While the car was still in the air, I changed Transmission (RedLine MT90) and Differential fluid (Valvoline 75w90). First, I opened the fill plug (to make sure I can re-fill after draining), and found the tranny fluid was way over filled. it was jut pouring out of the fill plug. Probably the PO raised only the font, and then filled the oil. The diff has some leak from the seal around axles, so at some point, I need to look into it…
Oh, and of course, oil change.
I also spray some CRC Throttle Body Cleaner to the TB as well as the Idle Speed Control Valve. I do get the diagnostic read out for the ISC valve problem, and hopefully this will mend the issue…
After some driving around, I think I need to re-address the In-tank pump filter. I didn’t see it too dirty when I looked last time, but I didn’t pull it out completely, so I probably should and either clean or replace the filter. (and may need to drain the tank for a good measure… having a feeling that the tank has some dirt or rust in it and causing the fuel filter to clog…)
Anyhow, I think I did the most of the major work (except painting maybe?) done on Miata, and it’s now ready to drive around…
Should I take her to the next autocross event??? I will be in e-stock, and probably the least competitive car (if the car could finish the course) in the class, but bet it will be a lot of fun…
Any suggestion???
