Madison - Demon's other-other white Miata

[Demon I Am]

now THAT would suck

[Demon I Am]

Pushed the car, UPHILL back up to the driveway. Huge thanks to my wife and neighbor for the extra muscle!

The battery CCAs were testing very low (3 year old battery), so I bought a new unit. No change in the symptoms. My wife and I could not hear any noises coming from the fuel pump. Swapped out the relay to test, but I heard no change. I tried my best to work in the "well, since it's easier to replace without the top, maybe we should buy a new top". Persuasion attempt failed.

Tonight or tomorrow, I'll pull the plugs, verify sparks, and give the motor a spin to verify timing.

[Demon I Am]

The torrential rain that we've had recently has kept me from getting this finished as quickly as I would like. This morning I got back in the car I turned the key to run it sounds like the fuel pump turns on turns off and then turns back on. or at least that's what I'm assuming is for the fuel pump. I know I'll probably need to pull the carpet and covers off to get a better listen

I also pulled the green egi main relay fuse and replaced it with a spare one from the old car. No change in action. I tried looking up some methods of actually testing the relay, but I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing with a multimeter.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Do you have a spare Circuit Opening Relay? The one under the dash? Mazda part JE16-18-811

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r51quXJ3vl0

https://www.miataturbo.net/general-m...failure-91002/

https://www.rockauto.com/en/partsear...tnum=JE1618811

https://www.flyinmiata.com/main-relay.html

[Demon I Am]

My goodness you are a wealth of knowledge

I still have the entire wiring looms from the 2000. The parts on it may be questionable, from sitting outside for a few months unprotected, but for free, it's worth the try. I'd only read of this being a larger issue with upgraded fuel pumps. That's not something that I'd consider until either the old unit fails, or the turbo fairies smile upon me. Saving that MT thread in to compare with the existing unit.

Not having access to 80% of the world's websites makes research a little more difficult. Yay for working in secured facilities

[—Martin—]

I'm guessing your company's IT folks are smart so this may not work, but:

https://www.howtogeek.com/167418/5-w...and-filtering/

[— kung fu jesus —]

My goodness you are a wealth of knowledge

I still have the entire wiring looms from the 2000. The parts on it may be questionable, from sitting outside for a few months unprotected, but for free, it's worth the try. I'd only read of this being a larger issue with upgraded fuel pumps. That's not something that I'd consider until either the old unit fails, or the turbo fairies smile upon me. Saving that MT thread in to compare with the existing unit.

Not having access to 80% of the world's websites makes research a little more difficult. Yay for working in secured facilities

When my NA went down suddenly, it was extremely difficult to pinpoint and test for that relay. I thought it was something entirely different. Now it seems quite frequent and common as the cars age out. Lesson learned, and if I can help you save the hours of frustration and exasperation, so be it.

[Demon I Am]

well, it wasn't the relay...

[— kung fu jesus —]

No codes at all?

I suggest looking over the connections disconnected when the clutch was done, including the grounds.

I'm trying to think of why the car ran when parked, then no fire.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Wondering if it's the cam angle sensor or crank position sensor?

[Demon I Am]

Hopefully, it's something easy like that. If real life could stop making me do things, I'd get some time to look. Unfortunately, the car is at the bottom of the driveway and not in the garage. the slope of the driveway would make jacking the car up dangerous, if perhaps the timing belt broke. That seems unlikely, as it was running strong for 2 weeks.

[Demon I Am]

Pulled the VC off, after trying 2 different fuel pump relays. Timing looks set properly, no wear issues on the belt. Plugs look a little grey, but not toasted. Jumped the Fuel pump circuit in the diagnosis port, The pump is humming, so probably not bad. Next step, I guess is to put a fuel pressure gauge on the line. That should bring me 1 step closer.

Also, received notification that a certain package is on the way from Retromodern. Now I really need to get it running, so I can pull the wings and fenders off.

[Demon I Am]

Put in a fresh crank sensor and she purred to life! At least I didn't do the fuel test first. Currently getting a wash and wax. Partly insured by the recent threads, I pulled the junk from the trunk and there was a little standing water in the spare tire well. Took everything out and dried. Thought about giving the engine bay a scrub, but when your hot has a giant hole in it, it's not going to stay clean for long

[Greasemonkey2000]

Awesome! Glad it was something inexpensive. I'm sure you are relieved, way to keep at it Tony!

[— kung fu jesus —]

Awesome! Great job!