Walter's jalopies, '07 Jag XJ8 L and '99 Miata

[wfooshee]

Jaguar has eaten the battery. Slow cranking after work Friday, again on Saturday morning, and had to get a jump at the store on Saturday.

Pulled the battery, found my receipt, and used the Miata to take it to store from whence it came. They put their tester thingie on it, it says "Replace battery." Turns out they owe me a battery because it's just over two years into a 3-year replacement warranty, but they don't have it in stock at any of their nearby locations. Saturday crew couldn't tell me anything about getting it in stock, so some phone calls on Monday, I guess.

After I had the battery out, I couldn't even close and lock the car properly! Battery is in the trunk, which has a soft-close lid, so no power for that latch motor. Can't work the lock levers in the doors without power, and only one door even has a keyhole. Powered the car at the main fuse under the hood with a battery charger set to 10 amps, got it all closed up.

I have to have the battery by this weekend, traveling to Orlando to see my sweetie for a few days. I could use the Miata if I had to, but I left my two cats there when I was there a week ago, rather than traumatize them with imprisonment in the carriers for the 6-hour trips so close together, and packing the carriers in the passenger seat of the Miata would be troublesome, to say the least. (She has 5 cats and a bunny, so what's a couple extra?)

 

[wfooshee]

Never got the warranty replacement, they couldn't tell me when they would have one, so they refunded. I went to Sam's Club and found it there, for 15 bucks less. And I start a whole new warranty period! Car cranked fast this morning!

 

[wfooshee]

The legendary Miata shifter, known far and wide for its lack of play, has suffered a setback, most likely the nylon bushing at the bottom of the shaft has broke and fallen off. No problem selecting gears, but...

Will be digging into it this weekend to confirm parts needs.

 

[wfooshee]

What I dug out of the car the other day. The lower boot is obviously shredded, but the looseness in the video above comes from the fact the the nylon bushing that's supposed to be on the ball at the bottom of the shifter indeed no longer exists.

 

[r_outsider]

Excuse for a quick shift kit?

 

[wfooshee]

Shifter reassembled and working as it's supposed to! Here's the pieces of the bottom bushing that I fished out of the thing:

And ready to go back in:

 

[wfooshee]

The Jaguar has become... flawed. It has needed a headliner for a couple of years now, and I've finally committed to a very well-regarded local upholstery shop to get it done, as well as to get the driver's seat re-covered. Headliner, including repaired Sunroof panel, all of the pillars, and the sun visors, is gonna run just under 800 bucks, and the seat is gonna be about $550. Today is Thursday, car goes in next Wednesday.

 

[wfooshee]

And it's back. New leather is a pretty good color match, although my guy didn't do the gathering in the panel seams, and it's not as "shiny" as the old leather. But it's not torn and cracked!

Passenger seat, still original, for comparison

And the new headliner!

 

[wfooshee]

So this looks like a complete engine disaster. No, I did no throw rods through the side of the block in the driveway. I was changing the oil, opened a 5-qt bottle and was about to pour it in, realized I hadn't installed the new filter yet after removing the old one, so I set the bottle down in front of the car and walked back to the trunk to retrieve the filter. Suddenly I'm almost standing in oil! Apparently my skill at setting a bottle down on the ground is not what it should be!

I had no oil-dry on hand, had to take the Miata out and get some, along with another bottle of full-synthetic oil. Used the whole bag of absorbent, had to go get some more. (Still ahead $-wise of taking the car to a shop for an oil change, but really ruined my afternoon!)

 

[wfooshee]

Another issue with the Jag... Minor. Most minor I've had with it, actually, and cheapest.

The intake pipe broke at its flex bellows, so the throttle was sucking unmetered, unfiltered air. Very strong effect on driveability, because the throttle position sensor and the airflow meter do not agree on what's happening, and the ECU gets confused. Sitting at a light, give it some gas:

Throttle positions sensor: GO!
ECU: OK, adding fuel
Airflow meter: Nothing has changed
ECU: Crap, shutting off fuel!
Throttle position sensor: What the hey? I said GO!!!
ECU: OK, but for real this time?
Throttle position sensor: YES, nearly wide open!
Airflow sensor: Hey you guys, nothing is happening
ECU: ABORT! ABORT!

(This does not happen smoothly... it's a very abrupt surge, coast, surge, coast, surge, coast, about a half second of each phase.)

Fixed it by wrapping the broken area with Gorilla Tape! Not a permanent fix, but makes the car drivable while my eBay replacement (fiddy bucks) ships.

My next issue is that my power steering system leaks. Badly! The reservoir drops by nearly half in a couple of days, just sitting in the driveway. I've been topping it off when I drive the car, which is only a couple of times a week, but I have to get under there and find out where it's coming from, then determine if it's something I can handle or if I have to take it somewhere. Could be a fitting, could be a pipe, could be the pump, could be the reservoir itself, I just don't know yet.

 

[r_outsider]

Another issue with the Jag... Minor. Most minor I've had with it, actually, and cheapest.

The intake pipe broke at its flex bellows, so the throttle was sucking unmetered, unfiltered air. Very strong effect on driveability, because the throttle position sensor and the airflow meter do not agree on what's happening, and the ECU gets confused. Sitting at a light, give it some gas:

Throttle positions sensor: GO!
ECU: OK, adding fuel
Airflow meter: Nothing has changed
ECU: Crap, shutting off fuel!
Throttle position sensor: What the hey? I said GO!!!
ECU: OK, but for real this time?
Throttle position sensor: YES, nearly wide open!
Airflow sensor: Hey you guys, nothing is happening
ECU: ABORT! ABORT!

(This does not happen smoothly... it's a very abrupt surge, coast, surge, coast, surge, coast, about a half second of each phase.)

Fixed it by wrapping the broken area with Gorilla Tape! Not a permanent fix, but makes the car drivable while my eBay replacement (fiddy bucks) ships.

My next issue is that my power steering system leaks. Badly! The reservoir drops by nearly half in a couple of days, just sitting in the driveway. I've been topping it off when I drive the car, which is only a couple of times a week, but I have to get under there and find out where it's coming from, then determine if it's something I can handle or if I have to take it somewhere. Could be a fitting, could be a pipe, could be the pump, could be the reservoir itself, I just don't know yet.

Thumbs up for the fix and a "we've all been there" on the oil. Most likely scenario for most p/s leaks is the pressure line. Would almost bet a free cup of bad coffee on that. Edelman makes good, reasonably priced hoses. Or you could probably get a replacement made at a local hydraulics shop for less than an OE, faster too.

 

[wfooshee]

New eBay intake hose arrived yesterday, it's in now. Strangely, the power steering fluid reservoir is still full, after sitting for 3 days. In the past, it's been down by almost half after that amount of time.

 

[wfooshee]

I've decided to tackle a valve clearance check on the Miata. My NB2 uses buckets with shims, no rockers, so adjustment entails lifting the cams and changing shims.

To begin, I located my feeler gauge set, which I've had since high school (C.O. '75) and have not needed but once since 1980 or so, when I checked the valves on my motorcycle, also buckets with shims and no rockers. Well, the feeler gauge set was a brick of rust. Awesome. Off to the parts store, found a set of offset feelers, and offsets were recommended by the service manual and by my Miata forum, because they're easier to get into the tight space in the head. Problem is, the package didn't specify the sizes they came in, and the smallest blade (.008 inch) is larger than the minimum spec on the intake valves (.007) and sure enough, it won't fit in one of the valves. Is that valve actually OK at .007, or tight at .006 or .005? Who knows? So off to the store tomorrow to get a set with a wider variety of blades, especially the smaller end. Intake valves are spec'd at .007-.009, and exhaust valves at .011 to .013.

In other intake valves, I had 2 that took the .008 snugly, and called them .008. I had 3 that took .008 easily but not .010, so I called those .009, still OK. I had one that took .010 but not .012, so calling it .002 loose at .011, and of course the one that I can't actually measure until I get a set with thinner blades.

I have a similar no-correct-blade for the exhaust valve range, with no .011 in the set but I do have .010, .012, .013, .014, and .015, so if .010 goes easy and .012 doesn't, I can call it good at .011. I did have 3 that took the .014 and not the .015, so those are .001 loose. Of course I'll be double-checking those when I get my "better" feeler set.

Once I have good measurements the next step is to lift the cams and measure the shims with my newly procured digital micrometer, order replacement shims in the right sizes (assuming I don't get lucky and find I can just move some around... I was able to do that with the ONE valve that was out of spec on my bike: swapped two existing shims so that BOTH of those valves were still in spec.) The shims are 27mm diameter, used by Nissan and Toyota as well as Mazda. theoretically I can zip-tie the belt to the cam gears, tip the cams up enough to retrieve the shims, and not have to re-time the engine when I'm done.

EDIT: added a sound sample

 

[wfooshee]

I did a thing today....

My existing Miata, a 1999 (solid valve tappets, no rocker arms) started producing a horrid valve clatter that I believe will require pulling or even replacing the head to fix. As I turn its engine over by hand from the crankshaft bolt, I can hear valve buckets popping up under the cams because apparently the didn't actually follow the cam up. I pulled the valve over, and all the buckets turn freely when the cam lobe is off of them, but not coming up freely is a real problem that will require more work than I am willing to put into a 27-year old car with nearly 135,000 miles, flaking clearcoat, and a rebuilt title.

My son says he wants the car, he can afford to fix it if he really wants it, or I might just junk it and be done.

I can't stand the idea of being Miata-less, and this one came up at a decent price. Just a tad over Kelly Blue Book, but only 70,900 miles. It's a 2001, has no cruise control, has stock suspension, and base (non-Bose) radio. The non-Bose is actually a good thing because it means it doesn't have the weird 2-ohm speakers of the Bose system, and it doesn't have the Bose amplifier with its built-in equalization and weird input impedances, so an aftermarket radio is a much easier proposition than it was in the '99.

So I'll move my radio over and get Bluetooth streaming, maybe move my Tein coilovers but I haven't decided that, yet. Definitely going to move my Momo steering wheel over.

Car has black leather seats which I actually haven't seen because they have cheap seat covers on them. Seller did say the driver's seat has an issue in the side bolster, but that's pretty much a standard thing. My 99 had it before I bought new leather and foam for it. I can't move the 99 seats over because they're tan, and this car has a black interior.

 

[05XR8]

That’s an interesting spec. 15” wheels with fog lights and no cruise, but has leather seats. I take it it’s a 5-speed and not a 6-speed. Nice and clean pallet.

 

[wfooshee]

Yep, 5-speed. I've moved my Momo wheel over, and I want to move my radio, which is BT capable, but I don't have the DIN tools to pop the factory radio out. Got them coming. I thought about moving the cruise over, which involved the clockspring, not an issue because I obviously can take the steering wheel off, but it also involves changing the accelerator pedal because the actuator works on the pedal, not the actual throttle. I think the brake pedal is different, to, to have the combination brakelight/cruise-disengage switch. Finally, the power switch is different, as cars can have fog light and no cruise, or both. (My '99 has cruise and no fog, but has the dual switch.) If you don't have the dual switch, which the silver car does not, then the harness connector only has 6 pins, not the ten required for the dual switch, so even moving the switch over, there's some wiring work. Lastly, the control module is apparently way up inside the dash, with difficult access (I think.) I would certainly rather move the cruise components over and have the factory setup rather than adding an aftermarket like the Rostra.

 

[05XR8]

Yeah, my car has an aftermarket cruise that doesn’t work. I wouldn’t use it anyway.

 

[wfooshee]

Shifter rebuild for the silver Miata. Didn't need it as badly as the blue car did as seen starting with post 93 above, but it needed it, which I knew on the test drive.

Well, the nylon bushing at the bottom has fled the coop. That's what makes the shifter sloppy, as without thaty bushing there is a lot of free play in the motion.

Old vs new. Like I said, this wasn't as bad as what I found when I did the blue car, but it was bad enough.

New bushing on the lower end, and a new lower boot above the ball. I had to cut the old one away, then grease the shifter shaft to get the new lower boot down over the thick section of the shaft.

Shifter back in place, with new upper boot.

A couple of examples of what the old upper boot looked like. It was time!

I also moved the Momo steering wheel that I'd installed in the blue car over to this one.

My blue car came with an aftermarket intake with a cone filter that replaced the air box, and it made a rather nice noise with some throttle, and the silver car's stock intake is not satisfactory in that regard, so I swapped all of those parts. Here's the intake in the silver car. I had to cut the sheath of the wiring harness to move get the connectors for the airflow sensor to reach that side of the car, and I've since re-sheathed the harness so those wires are no longer hanging loose.

The cone filter sits right where Mazda put the coolant recovery tank, so that had to be moved to the other side. Also, that little cone filter on the valve cover is where a breather tube went to the intake tube in the stock system, as seen in the next picture. In front of the recovery tank is a bracket with a couple of relays on it, and that bracket had to go to the blue car because it holds a bolt hole that is one of the mounts for the stock air box. The relays got bolted to that hole in the fenter, which is where they were on the blue car.

The stock system now in place in the blue car.

 

[wfooshee]

I got my Bluetooth-capable radio moved to the silver car. I obviously had to pull the factory radio but I didn't have the DIN tools to pop it out with. I talked to a local car stereo shop to ask him to pull it, and he was going to charge me 140 bucks! For 3 minutes' work! I ordered the tools on eBay for less than 30 and pulled it myself.

Then I discovered a new issue. The NA and NB Miatas use a different connector for the radio! Here's the adapter connector for the NA, followed by the adapter for the NB (which fortunately the local Best Buy had in stock.)

So I cut the NA adapter off of the radio's cable set and connected the NB adapter:

And my 16-year-old Alpine BT receiver goes into its 3rd car (the Aurora, the blue Miata, and now the silver one.)
The trim ring around the face is long gone, no recollection of what happened to it. One day if I'm feeling like I have disposable money I might get a double-DIN touch-screen radio, but all I was after was BT streaming. I don't care about navigation in the radio as I use the phone for that. The only reason for a new radio would be a more modern appearance, which actually doesn't mean much to me.

Another issue I did not have with this car that I did have with the blue one is Mazda's horrible Bose system. The Bose speakers are only 2 ohms, and the Bose amp has weird impedances on its inputs as well, along with built-in EQ designed to enhance the sound within the Miata, and not adjustable. To properly install an aftermarket radio in an NA or NB Miata with Bose, you have to bypass the Bose amp, which conceptually is simple enough, but it's located at the bottom of the center console under the A/C-heating controls where human hands can't reach it. Its connector has pins for power and ground as well as inputs and outputs for the left and right channels, so bypassing the amp is as simple as unplugging it, then jumpering the correct pairs of pins in the connector to make straight-through connections from the head unit to the speakers - once you get the connector unplugged.

 

[wfooshee]

And I have the radio from the 2001 put into the '99. I had to order this connector, which duplicates the connector in the NB that goes into the radio.

Then join it to the wiring adapter I already had in the '99 to use with the Alpine radio. Solder and heat-shrink tubing:

The long black wire was intended to be a ground wire, which strangely is not included in the NA radio connector. I grounded the Alpine to a bolt somewhere, I don't recall where the factory radio in the '99 grounded, like if it had a pin into the dash frame, or what. It turned out, though, that the radio grounded just fine through the antenna cable and I never hooked that long black wire up anywhere.

2001 radio in the '99 dash. It works fine, raises the antenna if it's on tuner, lowers it if it's on CD or off. Illumination is orange where the '99's gauges are green, but the Alpine was blue, so who cares? And yes, that's an actual dial telephone in the floor! I used to use it at work to test fax lines, look for dial tone, etc. I know I said in another thread that I'm not a hoarder, so we'll call that a 1-piece collection!