No dice on the airbag resistor, the light started flashing again. Took me a few days to get motivated. Disconnected the battery this morning, when everything was back together the airbag light started flashing immediately. Double-checked the resistor and it is still showing the correct resistance. Probably going to try plugging the stock airbag back in to see if that clears the light, if not then I know something else went bad.
tsingson (07-04-2018)
chiefmg (07-08-2018)
Thanks for that info Charlie. I looked in my factory manual and there is a test procedure to see if the clockspring is ok or not. May have to check it (see below).
Pulled the steering wheel and connectors all out, reset the clockspring just in case I had messed that up and then put it all back together. Airbag light was out for a few drive cycles but it is back on. Time for some head scratching to see where that gets me.
The 'charger belt has been moving off by one tooth since I put her all back together. I tried a small adjustment with no success, so this morning I pulled it off completely to move the brackets around. Took a couple of tries to get it where it needed to be but finally got it done. I'll wait for a road test with some speed changes to see if it will be okay or need some more fettling.
Last edited by chiefmg; 07-08-2018 at 05:46 PM.
'charger belt has been staying in place so that is good. Unfortunately there has been some damage to the front edge from it walking so I'll get another one to replace it with.
Scraped a couple of the diffuser fins last night leaving the driveway of one of my wife's friends. No major damage but I will have to lightly sand and repaint the damage.
I've been doing some research on adjusting my VE tables. Finally manned up and made some changes to see what I could do. I am happy to report that it was an improvement. AFRs under boost are still high, but the gas smell is almost gone and she felt a little stronger. Now that I feel confidant in making changes I'll be doing more.
Finally got my thumb out today and measured the resistance of the stock driver's airbag. It showed 0.3 ohms. Now everyone and their brother say to use a 3.3 ohm resistor when you remove the airbag which is a lot different. The GS one I bought measured at 3.6 ohms, the ones I previously tried were 3.3 ohms. I'm not the best with electrical stuff but I can get some 0.3 ohm resistors cheaply from Amazon, so I'm going to give that a shot.
Agent☣Orange (07-14-2018),Bryan (07-14-2018),Greasemonkey2000 (07-15-2018),kung fu jesus (07-14-2018)
Since I am now headed for MATG, this morning I got my Recaros out of storage and swapped them out. Dropped one of the washers I had modified to use as a spacer for the belt receiver, a diligent search couldn't find it. Made another one and got that all together.
While the driver's seat was out I pulled the brake and clutch pedal switches that tie into the cruise control system. Since I have changed everything else with no change I figured might as well. The one on the brake pedal has two switches, one for the brake light actuation and the other for the cruise. Both of those tested good. The clutch switch was intermittent while I was measuring it. Sometimes I would get continuity/break, other times it would stay in continuity. Going to get one of those ordered to see if I can finally fix that problem.
I like your posts but love those with pictures. ;)
Ah, but if I posted more pictures you wouldn't appreciate them as much as the infrequent ones I DO post.
Replaced the 'charger belt this morning. You may recall I noticed some fraying of the edge from when it was walking off one rib. Figured better safe than sorry considering my upcoming trip.
This post is specifically for Slampen.
Ok, so picked up the clutch switch on Saturday and installed it yesterday. Due to rain wasn't able to get out for a test until today. Results of that to come.
So the switch I am talking about is the one on the clutch pedal that is closest to the driver. Mazda number here:
Here is what it looks like:
And here is where it goes:
Note the lock nut on it is what allows you to set the height of your clutch pedal. Getting access to this is much easier if you have the seat removed and also remove the plate below the steering column. A set of thin wrenches make this job easier, as so:
You can see the thinness compared to a normal wrench:
So on to the test. Unfortunately this did not solve my issue so the cruise still doesn't work. On to the next possibility.
Finally in case anyone has forgotten what the Recaros look like installed, here they are:
Since I am supposed to be getting some help with my tune at MATG, I decided I would go ahead and calibrate the O2 sensor. Got that done, then since I was already under there figured I might as well finally install the RB front sway blocks I bought from some shyster named YellowYata. Found out the bolts were wrong so measured the length I would need and paid a visit to Ace. Got what I thought were the correct bolts (M8 X 1.25) based on the stock bolt and some nuts to lock the blocks down. Unfortunately the bolts were jamming when I tried putting them through the factory sway bushings blocks. Going to have to go to a local hardware store, they usually have a wider selection of fasteners to see if I can find what is correct.
tsingson (07-25-2018)
8x1.25x70.Originally Posted by chiefmg
You should've asked me...I just installed a set
(Actually for you 45mm would've been fine since you don't have the cast sway bar brackets...I have like two sets of bolts)
Forgot earlier but also while I was underneath the car I touched up the slight damage to the rear diffuser done on my wife's friend's driveway. Here is how it looked before:
The impact only hit the two fins on the driver's side. I just sanded things down and gave them two coats of the paint. They ain't perfect but you won't see it if you don't crawl under the car.
Today's mission was to install the RB front sway bar bushing blocks, and troubleshoot the cruise control some more. I looked at the cruise first. Figured I'd take a look at the vacuum hoses to make sure I had no issues. As it turned out I did have an issue, and a big one. I am an imbecile. PSA, a vacuum motor (what the cruise actuator is) works a lot better when it is connect to a vacuum source. Way back when I was getting frustrated with this I removed the connection to the actuator so I didn't have any leak issues. Had to make a run to Ace for a tee (I am also running this line to the boost gauge), then made the actuator connection. Just got back from a test drive, and I have cruise control again! Note the problem was down to that clutch switch I replaced. I haven't heard of anyone else having this problem, it is usually the pad on the clutch pedal missing but it makes sense. How many times is that switch cycled during a normal drive?
While I was at Ace I looked at M8 X 1.25 bolts again. Ended up buying some that were 50mm in length. After the vacuum hose connection (but before the test drive) I hoisted her into the air and pulled the engine belly tray. Removed one of the bolts from a sway bar bushing bracket and checked it against the tap I bought the day before. It matched up so I knew I had the correct size. I then proceeded to check the tap against the new bolts. Again they were fine. Next was looking at the longer bolts I had bought previously. What I found REALLY pissed me off. Three of the bolts were the correct size/thread pitch, the other one was M8 X 1.0. Some fidiot had put it back into the wrong package. What is ironic is I had just had a conversation with an employee at the very store a few days ago about how people can't put shit back in the right place. I had checked the bolts against each other but totally missed that one was off.
With that mystery solved I proceeded. Removed all the stock bushing bolts and chased the threads with the tap. I then ran one of the longer (60mm) bolts in to check for clearance. It was bottoming out so I decided to remove a little length. Here's a tip, if you are cutting a bolt down put a nut on first prior to removing material. Once you get the length you want file the end of the threads to put a bevel on them (I used a thread file I have) and then remove the nut. It will clean up the threads for you so you will be able to get the bolt started. I cut them down to about 55mm. Then I put everything together. I found the blocks I have weren't drilled correctly so it was tough getting them on both bolts. After some trial and error I ended up starting the bolt enough to get the locknut on and have about 5mm of thread showing, then putting the block in place. After that what worked best was to run the bolt all the way up while backing off the locknut slightly so as not to jam it up. If you do it correctly you will end up with the bolt tight and the block close to where it needs to be so you minimize the amount you have to tighten the locknuts (and trust me, you want to do this because of the tight quarters you are working in). I was thinking about putting some blue LocTite on the threads for the locknuts but couldn't really get in there. Since I was short one longer bolt I ended up using one of the new 50mm bolts in the front position on the driver's side. Thanks to interference with the lower radiator support on that side that is what I needed to do anyway. Even then it was tight, if you look at the four o'clock position from the bolt head in this picture you can see the shiny spot where the bolt head rubbed on the bracket while being tightened (couldn't get the camera to focus on that spot):
Here is how they look, notice how they match the color of my front sway:
When you tighten up the locknuts be sure to go back and forth, front to rear and retighten the nuts. I had to do this many times on each side to be sure they were all tight enough. This may have had something to do with how mine didn't want to slide easily over the bolts, but it's good practice in any case.
Last edited by chiefmg; 07-27-2018 at 03:31 PM.
'00 SE, intercooled BRP MP62, Reverant MS2, Ohlins DFV, Konig Flatout (now X 2)
__________________________________________________ ____________
This ain't no build thread!
Demon I Am (07-27-2018),Greasemonkey2000 (08-12-2018),Grumpy (07-30-2018),JamieH (07-29-2018),MX5Wisher (07-28-2018),tsingson (08-01-2018)
Yeah, I found out the blocks I have weren't made by RB, and the previous owner had the cast blocks like you. It all came good in the end. I prefer having the most contact that I can so for the three holes the 55mm worked great. The 50mm worked for that one where I had interference with the radiator support.
Washed her before a trip to Cars & Coffee. Tested all modes of the cruise control successfully. Going to be a relaxing trip to MATG.
I also found that the hose for my lumbar air bladder had gotten trapped on the seat hinge and cut. Pulled it off the pump, cut it back and put it back on. Lumbar is working again.
Last edited by chiefmg; 07-28-2018 at 11:07 PM.
Since I have my cruise control problem fixed, I decided to reinstall the steering column switches that don't have the lettering worn off. Pulled the steering wheel to get at those. While I was at it also decided to try one of the 3.3 ohm resistors I had bought for the airbag light. Kept it simple on that this time, folded the wire on each end of the resistor twice and applied some solder. Cut a piece of heat shrink to protect from grounding and installed that (note: it's a PITA since the wire doesn't have anything supporting it. Needlenose pliers came in handy). Put the switches in place and assembled everything. I'll give it a proper test the next time I take her out.
Touched up a couple of small paint chips that have been bothering me. One on the front mascot, the others in the gas lid bowl. Tomorrow planning on doing a clay bar and waxing.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
