My First MX-5!

[rojer]

I have always wanted an MX-5, so after the sale of my Civic the hunt began. I went and saw a few example which were all rot boxes, I found this on eBay and went to take a look.






The car is a 1.8 Sport, 53k, FSH, LSD, Bilstiens, 6 Speed, Leather etc etc. The colour is awesome in the sun it really shines and you see the pearl, the sills are in good condition with one side just starting to show surface rust. There is one thing that worried me and the only thing I have doubts about, when I opened the boot there was water on the inside of the boot lid, it ran down the hinges and behind the carpet. I got my hand under the carpet behind the seats and was wet there too. The seller guaranteed the roof didn't leak and it was just condensation as it had been sitting around for 10 days. So further investigation required! I did poor some water on the roof and the hardtop catches and didn't seem to drip into the car so maybe he is right.



This is my first RWD car and my first MX5 so I got the roof back and took the scenic route home, the car is very comfy and very grippy even if it does roll a bit. I also noticed the oil temperature gauge sat around 60/70% the whole time, is this normal?



Plans wise its a daily driver so will inspect it and carry out some maintenance and generally tidy it up, once that's done maybe some wheels and lows, maybe even a turbo!



Any help and advice is much appreciated as I'm an MX5 noob!

[boringgit]

Sounds like you might have a few seal issues. May be worth checking the condition of your soft top seals, rear light seals and perhaps the boot. It will probably only leak afyer sustained rain.

While you're at it give your drain holes on the sills a good poke out.

With regards to the oil guage (it's pressure not temp). It's a dummy guage and won't move. It was changed sometime around 96 because people were worried about a proper moving oil guage!

[rojer]

The plan for the weekend is to strip the car out and get a hose on it to find out where the water is coming from, I'm going to check the drains holes as well because I think that may be an issue.

I have a couple of little niggles so far. The gear stick moves quite a bit left to right when in gear, not sure if this is normal? Will inspect the gear gaiter when I strip out the interior as I know they are common to fail. Also when pushing the back of the car out I almost get a delayed reaction, its hard to explain probably just bushes. Since I have never driven one before I'm not sure how its supposed to feel!

Once the water issue is sorted then the fun can begin!

[boringgit]

Yup sounds like the rubbers gaiters for the gearstick are a bit knackered. Does the trans tunnel get hot? When they go they Leak hot air into the cabin like a bugger.

[rojer]

Over the bank holiday the weather was pretty shocking so I spent most of my time on the Xbox! Friday was half decent tho, so stripped out the interior and boot to check for leaks and to inspect some items. I could really do with someone to take pictures while i'm working!

Anyway once i had removed the carpet i could see the state of the shifter boots.




In this photo you can see the difference in the nylon bush in the gearbox!



Luckily I had ordered the new parts so fitted them without to much drama, the car is full of dog hair so need to try a bit harder to remove it all. I then got my new drain brush and poked the drains through, needed doing but wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

Next up was a boot inspection as this is where i first saw the water, I must say since I have owned it I haven't seen any water since. So removed all the carpet and trip and under the plastic cubby box on the left had side was a layer of mold! Gave the whole boot a good scrub, removed the rear lights and cleaned them up and fitted new seals as they were probably letting the moisture in.





One question I do have, in the new rear light seals, I received two small circle foam pieces for each side. I replaced the ones that were on there but I have a spare one left for each side, any idea where they might go? Also the clips that hold the rear carpet in seem really loose, not sure if they are the wrong size or just old. This weekend i'm determined to tackle all the service items as the leak from the cam cover is leaking oil all over the engine now making a mess