Flash to Pass

I’m sure by now every MX5 or Roadster owner has done this mod, or it’s already been done by the previous owner of their car.  However, in my case it wasn’t and gave me the opportunity to do a job that didn’t involve rust!

For those who don’t know, without the Flash to Pass modification pulling back on the indicator stalk to flash the main beams of the car only serves to illuminate the engine bay as the pop-up motors don’t engage at the same time.  Making this mod allows the motors to pop-up when flashing.  Its a really quick job, 30 minutes max and really satisfying.

Don’t for one second think that I have worked out what to do and how to do it on my own.  The Internet already has a number of guides and I used this one from robinm on MX5Nutz and this one from JSeaman on the same site.  One thing to note from robinm’s write up is that the link to the diode he uses seems to go the the wrong part.  I chose to find the correct item https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/1n5408-3a-silicon-rectifier-ql87u rather than buy the one linked to directly.

Step one

As with all electrical work – Disconnect the car battery.

Next, remove the covers around the steering column.  Differing from JSeamon’s guide, my cowl had four screws with one being deep inside the recess at the back left hand corner.

With all four screws removed the cowl comes apart very easily and moved out of the way.

Step two

With the cowl removed you can now see the white electrical connector we’re going to deal with.

On the underside of it there is a small tab which needs to be depressed in order for the connector to slide backwards.

Step 3

Now we have access to the connector we can identify the two wires we need to connect.  Find the red wire with a white stripe (lights) as well as the white wire with the black stripe (lamp motor) as these need to be removed from the main connector temporarily.

To remove them find a small screwdriver or flat blade and slide it in to the relevant block from the side opposite to where the wires go in.  You should feel a small plastic tab, gently push down whilst pulling the wire from the other side and the spade connector should slide out quite easily.

Step 4

Next we need to bridge the two connectors with our diode, so using the same tool used to remove the wired from the main connector slightly open up one tab that is gripping the spade to the wire’s plastic jacket.

Now slide the legs of the diode between the metal tab and plastic jacket before crimping tightly back up.  It’s important to note the stripe that goes around the top of the diode’s body as this is the end which the current flows out of and this is the end that needs to go in to the motor (white wire) connector.

If the legs of the diode are too long just trim them slightly.

Step 5

I’m no electronics expert and didn’t feel as though it was a good idea to have the legs of the diode exposed so I wrapped some insulating tape around them before refitting the connectors back in to their original blocks.

Step 6

Push the main connector back in to it’s housing and test before replacing the cowling around the steering column.  Once the battery is reconnected it should just be a case of pulling back on the indicator stalk and seeing the results of your handy work.

The first cut is the deepest

Whilst having some spare time at home I decided to start on one of the big jobs on my list – Wheel arches.  I’ve spent enough time reading online about rusty sills and wheel arches so when the MOT man marked mine down as a failure I wasn’t overly surprised or worried.  The two rear wheel arches are the biggest detractor from my Roadster and I have always planned to getting round to it eventually; So much so that I already had the rear quarter replacement panels stored away and luckily the remainder of the off-side sill from when I repaired the front section a year ago.

Although prepared for what the job entailed, it is a nerve wracking time when making that first cut in to the body work of a vehicle.  I love reading Retro Rides and came across a thread about metal work and rust treatment from one of the resident experts.  In a post they explained that although a job can look complicated if you want to fix the rust (properly) its got to come out so don’t stress too much about cutting.  So I didn’t.

 

For the drivers side, the rust wasn’t as bad as I had expected.  It will need cutting out, but I had expected it to really extend down the sill towards the front of the car much further.  I possibly had made one mistake, in that I chopped out a good section of a rustless sill when I could have cut just past the join of the rear panel but we live and learn.

Next job will be to apply some rust converter to the rear face of the wheel arch.  It doesn’t look as bad as expected and hope that with some wire wheeling to the visible side that will clean up without needing to be totally replaced.  I don’t fancy having to match up the threaded holes for the arch liner.

Shopping List

Online record of all the items that need purchasing to complete the project.

Fixings

• 8 x M6 12mm flange nuts:  Autolink or Westfield Fasteners.
  • Forward facing read wheel arch liner
• 10 x M6 washers: DIN 9021 Washer M6 in A2 Stainless from Westfield Fasteners.
• 4 x M6 16mm  flange nuts: Autolink
  • Nose cone to wing support bracket

Brackets

• 2 x Nose cone to wing bracket: Autolink.

Research

Information about bolt grading and their usage.

MOT Failure

Since owning the Eunos I’ve been really pleased with it’s reliability, however underneath does look like it’s the 28 years that it is.

I’ve put it through MOT twice now, both times failures but the first re-test came back with a clean bill of health and no advisories.  With that in mind and probably covering less than 300 miles in the year since, I was surprised to receive another failure the second time around (from different garage).  This wasn’t just a fail, it was a fail!

Reason(s) for failure

• Nearside Headlamp aim too low (1.8)
• Subframe mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded both front chassis sections (2.4.A.3)
• Offside Rear Seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded outer sill (5.2.6)
• Nearside Rear Seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded outer/inner sill (5.2.6)
• Offside Rear Body has a sharp edge caused by corrosion wheel arch (6.1.C.1)
• Offside Front Shock absorber has a serious fluid leak (2.7.3)
• Nearside Windscreen has a sticker or other obstruction encroaching into the swept area by more than 40mm outside zone ‘A’ (8.3.1e)

Even the advisories were fairly strong.

Advisory notice item(s)

• engine undershield insecure
• underbody and components showing heavy age related corrosion
• coil springs corroded
• screen chipped zone a
• fuel lines corroded

Whilst I accept most of the issues found, I do feel the tester went out of his way to find issues and a couple I don’t agree with.  Still that’s their job so now it’s mine to get it back roadworthy.

It was always my intention to have this as a project car to learn on, it just so happened that I bought a mechanically sound car without putting too much thought in to it and so keeping it drive-able was my main aim.  With this long list of issues it frees my conscience so I can really go to town and dismantle the car with the aim of putting it back together in a better state than it is now!

The Project

All good projects start with a To Do list and this is no different and with all good car projects this includes a whole host of nice to haves as well as the must dos.

 

Overheating

It’s been a classic British summer so far in 2016 – Fairly mild with the odd sunny day thrown in. This week however, it has been HOT! The perfect time to get the Roadster out of the garage and use it as my commuting car.

Ever since I’ve owned the car I’ve been confident in it’s reliability but I’ve never been driving in such hot weather as on Tuesday. During the 20 minute drive home the temperature gauge was higher than normal – Sitting at the 12 o’clock position and as I pulled on to the drive way it was well past. After opening the bonnet, the reason was clear, the cooling fan wasn’t on.

This weekend I set about trying to workout what the problem was. After a bit of research on the MX-5 owners club forum and MX5NUTZ it was clear there were three possible points of failure. The fan motor, the fan relay or the thermostat. Checking each of these components was really simple and any DIYer can do it.

How to check the cooling fan motor

Open the diagnostics box on the near side of the engine bay (Its a little black box).

Take a paper clip that you’ve straightened out and push one end in to the terminal marked as GND and TFA.

Paper clip bridging GND and TFA

Turn on the car’s ignition and if the fan motor is working it should turn on.

How to test the relay

From the fuse box inside the engine bay on the offside, remove the smaller black relay marked LA10.

After setting my new multimeter up to check for continuity I attached the probes to the larger two of the four terminals.

In this state the multimeter should show OL or Open Loop, indicating there isn’t a circuit.

At this point I realised I needed a power source to trip the relay so headed off to Maplin for a 9v battery and connector. Once, connected touching the two wires from the battery to the other two terminals in the relay I heard a click and the multimeter beeped letting me know the relay was functioning fine.

Replace the relay back in the fuse box.

Testing the thermoswitch

To double check the relay I found a suggestion on how to test the thermoswitch, This is the connector that attaches to the thermostat on the front of the engine right in front of the rocker cover. Remove the connector from the thermostat gently and push the same paper clip as before in to it.

With the engine running touch the paper clip on to bare metal – I found the intake manifold and the rocker cover both worked. If the fan runs that you know that this switch and the relay are working fine.

Temperature sensor

With the thermoswitch, relay and fan motor all confirmed to be functioning the next item to test would be the temperature sensor. It’s possible to remove this item partially immerse the sensor in water and test for continuity at 91c. However I decided that this was most likely the part to have failed so ordered http://www.autolinkmx5.com/temperature-sensor-mazda-mx-5-16-mk1-fan-switch-front-of-engine-376-p.asp as a replacement.

MOT Failure

If history is anything to go by, I’ve not updated this blog for a long time.  I’ve not been wasting my time though I’ve been trying to get my Eunos through it’s MOT.

Sadly, on 22nd June 2015 the Roadster was issued with a MOT failure notification a year to the day.  The failures didn’t make a terribly long list, but for someone not used to working on cars it has taken a while to work through them.

The list of failures consisted of:

• Perished rubber boots on the tie rod ends
• Inefficient front braking
• Faulty fog light
• Rust

Perished rubber boot

Shot of what used to be the jacking point on a Eunos Roadster

After completing my introductory evening class I was well equipped to replace the tie-rod ends and the brakes however, the welding would be more of a learning curve!

Coolant Replacement

Continuing on from my list of odd jobs that I want to be getting on with I made the decision to replace the old shredded radiator drain plug with the larger spec one, assuming that I had the original rad still in place.  So after hearing good things about Autolink I made my first purchase. The new plug arrived in time for the weekend and I got started with replacing the coolant.

Plastic Radiator Drain Plug

So in my last post I suggested that I might need to drill out or melt the plug out, however it was much more simple.  Hammer + screwdriver = moving radiator plug.  It really was just as simple as knocking a flat head screwdriver in to the old plug and star turning.

Old coolant, not very dirty coolant

With the radiator cap off the old coolant flowed out and with a few litres of clean water put through it was soon running out as clear as it went in.  My manual tells me there is a six litre capacity but only about 4 came out although it wasn’t that low.

So now in with the new anti-freeze. First, the big moment – Does the new plug fit… Yes it does. A great choice! That goes in nicely and I wipe the area with a paper towel to make it easy to spot if there is any leakage.  The new anti-freeze was another choice to make, but after some reading online and despite the fact OAT based anti-freeze has just come out I opted to put in blue silicate fluid in.  Even with filling up the expansion tank, the system only took 5 litres.  I knew to fill up slowly to reduce air locks, but I still expect to see the level in the rad to have dropped when I check again tomorrow.

What’s next?  I’m not really sure.  I had wanted to replace the brake pads but they look to have plenty of life left in them so I might save my money and treat myself to a torque wrench!

Odd Jobs

I’ve been eager to get cracking on some jobs on the Eunos so headed off to EuroCar parts for some anti-freeze, oil, oil filer and an air filter with great ideas about giving the car a bit of a service.

As mentioned in the first post, I’m a novice so thought the best starting place would be the air filter.  Luckily for Christmas I was bought Mazda MX-5 Miata 1.8: Enthusiast’s Workshop Manual (Enthusiast’s Workshop Manual Series) and it has a clear explanation of how get at the air filter and replace.  So armed with my new Halfords Professional socket set I removed the pipe at the front of the air box, the electrical connection and the bolts that hold it all together.  Dead easy,

Air filter box with front pipe and electrical connector removed

After lifting the air sensor off I was presented with what looked like a brand new aftermarket airfiler, so carefully I put everything back together. So I have a spare air filter in the garage.

All fairly unsuccessful so far. Next up coolant. When I received the car the coolant level was only just visible in side the radiator and after topping up the colour is a lovely rusty brown and looks of quite a thick consistency. So wanting to give the system a good clear out and replace with some new anti-freeze I jacked the car up for the first time and whilst on axle stands got a look at the radiator drain plug.

Disappointingly this is a plastic plug and is fairly shredded which I made worse. So I think I’ve got two options.

1. Heat up a flat head screwdriver and try to get some grip to screw it out
2. Attempt to drill it out.

Before tackling this, I’ll need to get a replacement plug. Not as easy as you might think as there looks to be two sizes. 1989 – 1992 and 1992 on-wards… Easy, unless the radiator has been replaced. How would you find that out?

1.6 Mazda Eunos engine bay

 

In the beginning

For the majority of my adult life, I’ve always wanted to have a hobby.  I already play sports, and I don’t have the creativity to paint, draw or make nice things but as a child, I really enjoyed making model planes so tried to give that another go.

The internet is a great place to find information and get advice from people with the same interests as you – Unfortunately it’s also a great place to see how much better other people are at things than you are.  So after a couple of planes and a truck the Airfix kit and paint went back in the cupboard, probably never to see the light of day again.

Whilst making the models I always really wanted to be working on the real thing, getting covered in oil, using a socket set to replace a part and spraying WD-40 around like it’s going out of fashion, but having zero knowledge of engines tends to create a barrier to entry.

I’ve always enjoyed tinkering with my cars.  When I say tinker, I actually mean changing a light bulb or wiper blade.  Luckily I came across an evening course at Wakefield College called “Basic Motor Vehicle Maintenance and Servicing” that piqued my interest and enrolled.  The course is great fun and I’ve made some genuinely nice people who I have a laugh with on a Tuesday evening whilst we learn the basics of car maintenance.

Armed with what knowledge ten weeks of college can give you I started to plot my project.  Firstly, the garage.  Last year I was lucky enough to move to a house with a garage.  Not a integrated double garage with central heating an proper lighting, it’s a concrete sectional garage with asbestos concrete roofing and the biggest spiders you’ll ever see, but it’s fairly big and will take a car with space around to walk and work.  So with the roof replaced and measurements taken it was time to find something to play with.

The car couldn’t  be too big,  too expensive and had to be fun.  Also, as mentioned, I have no knowledge of how a car works so whatever I picked had to have a good and most of all helpful online community.  Eventually it came down to three – MG Midget, Triumph Spitfire or a Mk1 Mazda MX5.  Obviously the MX5 won out, specifically the Eunos Roadster imported from Japan so my search began on Ebay.

Over some months I monitored all auctions with MX5’s being listed waiting for the perfect specimen to appear.  Some piqued my interest but were often too far away and I nearly faltered and bought a Miata but in early December a 1989 Eunos appeared in Sheffield with what seemed like little interest.  So without even seeing the car I bid, and won.  £550.96, a bargain I hoped!

So on the second of December I took a trip to Sheffield and picked up a lovely SU red roadster.  In good enough working order to drive around but enough little bits to help me learn.

Hopefully, I’ve found my hobby.  If this blog doesn’t ever get updated again I probably haven’t!