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Hey guys, is this Miata worth checking out? http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/1441810589.html I did some reading on the miata.net buyers guide and a back window fix is said to cost around $400, is that about right? I know kbb values don't much apply to miatas, so how is this price? Edit: I'm gonna email the owner, but are there any immediate red flags that I don't see? Russian Bear fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Nov 19, 2009 |
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Nov 19, 2009 01:32
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meltie posted:"deep snow version"? "Great in bad weather - as long as you like to slide around in the snow and imagine yourself sliding under pickup trucks"? Hm, you have a point. I was hoping it was just jokes, but you can never be too safe. Maybe a better question would be, is a miata a good idea if I want a decently reliable car under 4 grand? Was just hoping to have some fun driving along with it(and there's something about roadsters).
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Nov 19, 2009 07:36
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I'm going to look at this car tomorrow, anything particular I need to look at on 1990s? Going to ask when the timing belt was changed because it will be due at 120k assuming it was changed when it was suppose to be, otherwise could I use it as a bargaining chip or should I run from a miata that didn't have a timing belt done on time? Does the price seem high for this car? I'm bringing the used miata buyer's guide checklist from miata.net with me to run down. http://stlouis.craigslist.org/ctd/1453388883.html
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Nov 21, 2009 07:09
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Ziploc posted:If what hes saying is that closed loop can occur BELOW 4,00rpm due to load and throttle position then he is correct. As far as above 4,000rpm I believe it's always closed loop. How serious is the crank shaft issue in 1990s? Google says less than 1% of all cars were affected. Anyone here had experience with this?
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Nov 21, 2009 09:12
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Went and drove the car today. 1990, 105k miles was owned by a 60 year old lawyer(allegedly) no records, clean carfax. I'm told it's been garaged all its life(it is being garaged now) and it looks that way to me. The paint is very good, a couple of places(where it's not really noticeable) it's starting to chip away but other than that it's good. So going down the list, here's what I made note of: Front/rear underneath: There is surface rust on the springs, the right rear has been replaced at some point looks newish. I read that I should expect more than usual cabin noise in a miata, but when I started it up you could really hear the exhaust and i'm not sure if it's a good noise or just how loud the car is suppose to be. Gut says it sounds like there's a hole somewhere in the exhaust. Also, when I idled for a few minutes top up, windows down I could smell a little exhaust. I'm not sure if it's coming from outside or not. Tires/wheels/brakes: Tires look great, even wear, plenty of tread left. Break pads have just been replaced there's lots of pad left. Rotors look good. There's a bit of a scuff on one of the tires on the rim(scuffed on a curb maybe). Trunk: First thing, the battery is not the Panasonic original. It's a duralast(i assume lead acid battery). If I do buy this car, should I replace it with a panasonic one? I didn't see any leaks or rust in the trunk. Interior: Things look nice. The guy is replaced the center console plastic because it was cracked at the bottom(OEM part). No apparent stains, scratches or hard wear. (soft)Top: Guy says it's original. There's a repaired tear(?) on the right side of the top on the seam where the support bar is(about 8 inches long). Other than that it looks good. How do I tell if it's a mazda part just to double check? On the inside it looks like there's some discoloration. Under the bonnet: Looks clean, oil just changed, brake fluid looks good. No cracks in the drive belt or hoses. No corrosion damage on anything. I tested the clutch on my test drive, still feels ok even though the guy said the clutch hasn't been changed(that he knows of). He wants $3950 for the car, but he wasn't expecting to sell it till next spring, asked me what I'd pay for it and I told him i'll think about it and get back to him. Also planning on calling a dealership to see how much it would cost to have an inspection done. Edit: any miata savvy stl goons here? I'll buy lunch for taking a look at the car. Russian Bear fucked around with this message at 20:33 on Nov 21, 2009 |
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Nov 21, 2009 20:21
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This price seems a little high for this car. I was emailing with the guy and he said the car started mis firing, he is going to change spark plugs and wires to see if it fixes the issue. He asked me to post pone the test drive till he can do that. How much is fair price to offer assuming i like it? I think around 4k? http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/1466257702.html Russian Bear fucked around with this message at 09:27 on Nov 23, 2009 |
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Nov 23, 2009 09:17
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What's a reasonable offer to make for 94 miata(107k miles) no maintenance records except for a replaced radiator? I drove the car, the clutch seemed fine, top is a year old and it's been garaged all it's life. The only thing i found wrong with it is a cracked windshield that's not spreading and it doesn't obstruct vision. Guy wants 3900 for it, I was thinking more like 3200. This is in the midwest.
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Jul 26, 2010 16:38
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Picked up a '94 today and loving it. There's a squeaky belt noise when I turn the AC on, but just at the moment when I push the button then goes away. The guy I bought it from only drove it in nice weather and didn't use AC i'm guessing, could not using AC to me using it cause that? Aside from that it was pouring down rain on my way back home and having never driven rwd car experienced lift off oversteer for the first time 
Russian Bear fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Jul 31, 2010 |
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Jul 31, 2010 05:40
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 94 from a few posts up, it's so tiny compared to everything else I can't wait to park it to my step dad's avalanche. What do auto shops usually charge to do the timing belt/water pump/seals all at once? I'm debating if it's worth paying someone else to do it or just going to our friend's lift in his garage and taking a weekend to do it ourselves. Edit: AC squeak went away. Russian Bear fucked around with this message at 03:20 on Aug 3, 2010 |
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Aug 2, 2010 05:02
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IOwnCalculus posted:It's not hard work at all, and the lift will be convenient a few times but the vast majority of the work is done from up top anyway. I was just reading up on miatanet about the whole ordeal and I guess the lining up of the timing belt sounded something that's really easy to gently caress up and it spooked me a bit. My friend with a lift is into cars(uhh he has a lift in his garage) but I don't know if he's worked on miatas before, but I think with his help we'll get it done. Where is the cheapest place to source all the OEM parts? I also had a question about changing oil; I've seen some guys on miatanet use full synthetic in their cars and go for 10k intervals which seemed a little long, i would probably feel better with a 5k interval on synthetic since it's suppose to last longer and all that. Should I use synthetic oil and if so, is there a preferred brand?
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Aug 2, 2010 05:41
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What kind of oil filters do you guys usually go for when you do your oil changes? OEM or something else?
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Aug 27, 2010 05:25
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Is it worth upgrading suspension bits if the car won't see autocross or should I stay stock when I go to replace them? I'm just starting to get interested in modifying things, what's the first few things that people start with(easiest to do)?
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Aug 30, 2010 06:08
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Frank Dillinger posted:
What's advantage of springs/shocks vs coilovers?
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Aug 31, 2010 04:19
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What's a good exhaust that's not too terribly expensive(like under 250), but a little deeper and throatier sounding than stock? (Non autocross car)
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Sep 24, 2010 09:10
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I have an odd noise when driving my miata(it's a '94). It sounds kind of like rocks bouncing around a tin can; it happens only in the higher RPM range(like above 5k) several seconds after I let off the accelerator. It also seems to be worse when the engine is cold. I can't quite pin point where the noise is coming from though, doesn't seem to be coming from any particular direction just kind of there. Any ideas what it could be?
Russian Bear fucked around with this message at 06:25 on Oct 12, 2010 |
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Oct 12, 2010 06:11
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Miatas aren't some death machine with monster power/torque that will make you wreck first day driving. Go for it.
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Oct 28, 2010 19:36
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^^^^^^^^^^^gently caress you and your nice weather! Just kidding, it's been pretty awesome in the STL area lately weather wise, had the top down couple days ago. Replaced the CAS oil seal today. I bumped the little tooth thing when taking it out of its housing so I didn't really get the chance to mark it off. Tried to estimate where it is.. took like 4 hours all together of loving with it, getting frustrated, chilling out, going back to it.  Good thing I probably won't have to do it again. Then again this was bad planning because I need to replace the valve cover gasket(since it's leaking oil) and could've much more easily done the CAS o ring thing then. Oh well.
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Nov 10, 2010 07:13
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I wanted to to my own plugs and wires since I'm getting into wrenching. But when I try to pull them out just the rubber part that slides on the wire pulls out and I just can't take the wire of the top of the plug. What gives? Am i just not pulling hard enough? Edit: Crutt, nice miata!
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Nov 17, 2010 07:13
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Having a weird issue with my tach. At highway speeds it will stick sometimes for a few seconds. I'll be cruising at 75ish, take my foot off the gas, speed will drop 5-7 mph but the tach stays at the same rpm for a couple of seconds then quickly jump down to where it's suppose to be. Is it the instrument cluster?
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Nov 19, 2010 04:35
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It's a 94, oops forgot to put that in.
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Nov 19, 2010 07:31
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Miata is hibernating: Click here for the full 1098x1836 image. On a completely different note, Top Gear UK is taking a miata through the middle east(along with a Fiat and a Z3) this year as a special! Edit: Is $104 the best price /shock for Bilstein HDs? (NA 1994) Russian Bear fucked around with this message at 07:49 on Dec 14, 2010 |
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Dec 14, 2010 05:40
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Can you guys help me diagnose a clutch issue? Recently I noticed whenever I'm doing my usual three pedal dance, the car is jerking a bit/i'm having to give it a little more gas than normal to take off in first. This is the clutch slipping right? When I do the 45 mile an hour clutch test, the rpm needle moves back pretty quick. The car has 113k miles on it and I'm not sure if the clutch has been changed ever. Or could it be the clutch slave cylinder leaking? I haven't taken the wheel off yet to check, it's been so loving cold. Edit: typos Russian Bear fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Dec 17, 2010 |
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Dec 17, 2010 03:07
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Ooops i typoed and didn't really explain it well. I meant this from the miata.net garage section: At 45 MPH in 5th gear, disengage clutch. Rev engine 2k above what it was doing and pop the clutch. If engine immediately drops back to original RPM area, the clutch is OK. I'm gonna do the plugs/wires/filter next week. Wait, so if at 25mph in 5th it stalls then the clutch is gone? My fuel economy lately has dropped by 2-3mpg as well, but I chalked it up to winter mix gasoline.
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Dec 17, 2010 04:32
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Dramatically by how much? Like a quick small(500rpm) jump or way higher?
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Dec 17, 2010 04:48
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Thanks guys, I'll check it out tomorrow.
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Dec 17, 2010 06:31
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Any things to look out for when changing the head gasket valve cover? Changing the spark plugs, wires and airfilter as well. Going to follow the garage guide from mnet but if there are any other pro tips I'd like to hear them.
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Dec 28, 2010 20:57
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Figured I should cross post from the stupid question thread:quote:I went to change the spark plugs on my 94 miata and when I was pulling #4 it wasn't really coming out.. so I tugged a little harder on the top of the boot and:
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Jan 3, 2011 19:20
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That happened to me too. I would pull the boots out with needle nose pliers and the lead was still attached to the plug. So I just yanked the lead off after that. All went well after I got through the first one. The process was just hosed up - pull the top of the boot off/break the wire(which actually became beneficial because the wire gets in the way when you're trying to get a grip with pliers) then try to get a grip on the crumbling part of the bottom boot as it is disintegrating, then pull out bits of hard rubber from inside the case then spark plugs out, new one in, new wire on. Rinse. Repeat. Ugh.
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Jan 4, 2011 03:10
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Drove my miata through 4 inches of unplowed county highway to work this morning. All the other vehicles I saw were trucks so I felt pretty  didn't break 30 mph though
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Jan 11, 2011 15:12
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We got hit with the snowpacolypse here in the midwest. My girlfriend's dad asked me, "your car is rwd right?" my response was, "in this weather, its fun wheel drive " I can't wait to snow rally to the store tomorrow!
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Feb 2, 2011 07:59
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The weather finally warmed up and I put the top down in what seemed like forever. Driving with it down I noticed the valve tick being kinda loud. Either this just showed up or I wasn't paying attention before, but it seems kind of loud (increases with rpm etc). Last fillup I put half a can of seafoam in the tank, drove it like a motherfucker - got a few more mpgs than before. The weird thing about the valve tick is it gets really loud when the fuel is low, but when I fill the tank it mostly goes away. What's going on here? I've been changing oil every 4-5k with full synthetic since I do primarily highway driving. When I changed oil in the fall I went to a 10w40 for the winter. Going to switch to 5w40 this oil change coming up; will a lighter weight oil make the ticking worse? Russian Bear fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Feb 17, 2011 |
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Feb 17, 2011 20:50
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Maybe I got some bad information last year then. The car started every time this winter even when it was like 0 degrees. So what's the recommended oil weight for spring/summer use? (St. Louis area if climate matters)
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Feb 17, 2011 22:57
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Phone posted:Replacing the HLAs isn't exactly hard, but it's not easy either. Depending on the severity of the tick, you can do an oil change and see if that gets rid of it. Usually it'll start ticking when you don't have enough oil and switching to a higher weight usually kills it completely. Thanks for all the info guys. I'm looking in to the HLA cleaning on mnet. Does oil get less viscous as time goes on and it gets broken down?
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Feb 18, 2011 03:09
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Who says miatas aren't practical
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Mar 12, 2011 02:59
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Has anyone driven with a gated shifter before? Or done a conversion on their car. They look pretty awesome and who doesn't want more clanking in their interior, although googlefu says it's reduces the ease of shifting.
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Mar 16, 2011 07:14
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Falken Ziex are usually recommended, so check those out as well.
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Mar 24, 2011 04:12
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Got out of class tonight, went to start the car and it wouldn't go in reverse. poo poo. Turned off the car, could shift through all the gears with the clutch in no problem, with the car on though it barely made it into any gear. I had to push my car back out of the parking spot (NAs are so light it's awesome) and managed to get into first and nurse through the gears. My commute back is all highway so the only problem was the speed bump on my street, almost stalled it. I still can't get reverse, the clutch pedal feels like I'm just pushing against the spring and there's no hydraulic pressure. It was dark when I got home so I'll check the reservoir for fluid tomorrow morning. I'm thinking it's the slave cylinder because there was no slipping or any signs of this earlier in the day and I'm pretty sure it's never been replaced. Car is a 94. Any other ideas? (I'm praying to many gods that it's not something like a throwout bearing)
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Apr 12, 2011 05:14
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Car is shifting buttery smooth again after slave replacement/bleeding the system. Turns out I'm a huge dummy and didn't bother to actually check the clutch fluid before all this, I just saw the outline on the reservoir and figured it was fine, joke's on me, the prior fluid gummed on the the side and bottom of the reservoir and only looked like it was there. So I don't know how long there hasn't been fluid in the system, hopefully not long enough to gently caress the master as well. The hardest part of this ordeal for me was getting the vacuum line screw into the new slave because I was following manual directions and installing the bolts in reverse order of taking them off and it wasn't working at all because of how it jams the line sideways. gently caress directions and lesson learned.  Edit: Unrelated note, is it common for the miata tick to come back after about 3k miles after changing oil? Using 10w30 synthetic.
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Apr 13, 2011 21:59
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Oil level is good.
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Apr 13, 2011 22:26
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Phone posted:It's more a part of the bad HLA design. Switch to thicker oil or try to run some detergent through it. If that fails, I do have a spare set of HLAs in good condition. $60+shipping? (Mazdaspeed's price is something ridiculous, I'll look it up tonight) Thanks for the offer, but I'll try a heavier oil next time. How much work is it to get to the lifters though? By detergent do you mean something like seafoam or another product?
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Apr 14, 2011 03:44
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