HFS's Cars

[Boffin]

I'd got someone else to do it, personally. I'm usually not into people thinking they can do better than an accredited mechanic. Just me - but I always think there's a reason we have them.

On a side note - while it means you won't have a car for some of winter, its pretty lucky that it didn't halt your MX5 fun in the summer.

 

[CodeRedR51]

If it's one part on the Miata that is unreliable, it's those slave cylinders. They go out all the time, so this isn't anything new. Getting it replaced shouldn't put you down for any long period of time. Most mechanics should be able to replace it in an hour or less.

 

[nobuffalo]

If it's one part on the Miata that is unreliable, it's those slave cylinders. They go out all the time, so this isn't anything new. Getting it replaced shouldn't put you down for any long period of time. Most mechanics should be able to replace it in an hour or less.

And he, you, should be able to do it in the same amount of time. Appears to be one bolt (actually probably two) and the one fitting. With any basic tool set you should have no problems replacing it. Just be extra careful not to strip the fitting for that hydraulic line, they make special brake line wrenchs that minimize the chance of stripping it. Then just bleed the line and BAMMO!!!, saved like 70 bucks.

I'd got someone else to do it, personally. I'm usually not into people thinking they can do better than an accredited mechanic. Just me - but I always think there's a reason we have them.
On a side note - while it means you won't have a car for some of winter, its pretty lucky that it didn't halt your MX5 fun in the summer.

Because some people are lazy, not confident enough, physically unable, or would just rather have someone else do it. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with paying a mechanic to do it, I just personally have no reason to.

 

[CodeRedR51]

And he, you, should be able to do it in the same amount of time. Appears to be one bolt (actually probably two) and the one fitting. With any basic tool set you should have no problems replacing it. Just be extra careful not to strip the fitting for that hydraulic line...

I work for Flyin Miata, of course I could do it in less time.

There's two bolts that hold the slave to the transmission, and like you said the one line fitting. And yes, do be very careful, it will strip easily. I would recommend getting that line tool if you end up doing it yourself. Also, put a small dab of grease on the end of the new slave when you install it. (where it pushes on the release lever)

 

[Boffin]

Because some people are lazy, not confident enough, physically unable, or would just rather have someone else do it. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with paying a mechanic to do it, I just personally have no reason to.

Hmmm. See. This isn't a thread about your car though. Sure. I've done a TAFE course showing my how to repair cars and diagnose the problem, and given a month, a decent set of tools and replacement parts, I'd suspect I'd do an alright job. But for me, and, I suspect for the majority of people (maybe not HFS - we don't know), the chances of us FUBRing is higher than a mechanic. Plus it takes more time and causes more stress.

 

[Famine]

We don't have "accredited mechanics" in the UK. When you go to a garage, the people who work there are mechanics regardless of their qualifications. And you pay £50 an hour in labour costs. Slave cylinder - automatic 3 hour job.

Half the point of MX-5s, and more particularly the NA, is that you can do these things yourself. With a Haynes manual and a logical mind, you can do anything short of ECU diagnostics (and some of that you can do with a paperclip). I'd do the slave cylinder job myself without hesitation - in fact I'd replace the engine, gearbox and clutch myself without hesitation - and until three years ago I'd never wielded a spanner (wrench) in the direction of a car and have no professional qualifications in the field.


A sidebar to this is that all cars 3 years old or more in the UK have an annual roadworthiness test called "The MoT" (which, amusingly, stands for "Ministry of Transport" - a government division which no longer exists). Though the clutch isn't a testable item, it does mean that the car will be in the custody of a qualified MoT tester - who has to be a professional mechanic employed at a centre authorised to carry out the MoT - who will generally be able to notice if a hamfisted amateur has FUBARed his clutch and can advise.

 

[nobuffalo]

Hmmm. See. This isn't a thread about your car though.

And your point is? You expressed what you would do in his situation, so did I.

Sure. I've done a TAFE course showing my how to repair cars and diagnose the problem, and given a month, a decent set of tools and replacement parts, I'd suspect I'd do an alright job. But for me, and, I suspect for the majority of people (maybe not HFS - we don't know), the chances of us FUBRing is higher than a mechanic. Plus it takes more time and causes more stress.

Tell me what takes more time, a few hours working on your car, or earning around £150 to pay the mechanic to do it. And I can't speak for HFS, but a few hours working on my car causes far less stress than nearly a week at my job.

 

[homeforsummer]

Thanks for all the comments people. I can see both points of view, but essentially my thinking is this:

• Garages seem to want £54 for the part, even though I can get one tomorrow for £15, and another £60 for labour. With VAT at 17.5% again, I'm looking at about £133
• I can buy a trolley jack for £50, some axle stands rated at 2 tonnes each for another £25, and the cylinder for £15, all from the same place. I make that £90, so I'll have £43 spare to spend on other bits I may need, and I'll also have a trolley jack, some axle stands and other bits left over for doing other jobs in future.
• Granted, I've not attempted anything this mechanical before, but I'm not completely inept and I'm also a bit of a perfectionist, so even if it takes me a whole day (which I don't think it would), I'd make damn sure I got it right.

And as Famine says, it's a car that can be worked on. I'd like to be able to do these sorts of jobs myself and I have to start somewhere

Anyway, any more ideas for how to clean that area up a bit? After the car is mobile again I'm going to take it to be valeted and have the engine bay steam cleaned, which'll give me good basis for spotting any other leaks that may exist.

I appear to have bought a daily driver/ongoing project...

 

[Milliethemutt]

Gutted to hear about your clutch woes. Hope you get it sorted soon. Have you got a manual?

 

[Keef]

Have you got a manual?

Like Famine said the Haynes guys are pretty helpful. The only thing I ever use them for is the electrical diagrams, though. I've never had to do any detail work that I couldn't figure out myself or with the guidance of my technician friend.

 

[Milliethemutt]

I asked because I'm local to HFS and have an electronic version of the Mazda one. It's too massive to email or anything though. HFS I'm in work in Jesmond tomorrow morning so if you want I can meet up around midday and give you it on a memory card or something.

 

[nobuffalo]

Have you got a manual?

Uh he's replacing the slave cylinder, duh... I kid I kid.

 

[homeforsummer]

I asked because I'm local to HFS and have an electronic version of the Mazda one. It's too massive to email or anything though. HFS I'm in work in Jesmond tomorrow morning so if you want I can meet up around midday and give you it on a memory card or something.

Thanks for the offer, but I've got a pretty decent manual. It's not a Haynes one but it's equally as good. There's also a reasonable guide on the MX5OC website, and to be honest, having had a good look at the part itself, it looks like it won't be too difficult to change.

Someone on the MX5 site suggested me a great method of cleaning the manky stuff off too so that'll be my first task once I've acquired a jack and axle stands.

 

[Milliethemutt]

No probs. Good luck with it.

 

[nobuffalo]

Made any progress on the thing?

 

[homeforsummer]

Made any progress on the thing?

Yes, though not in the traditional sense of having done anything. Basically, all the bits have arrived. I now have some axle stands, a jack, some wheel chocks and the slave cylinder, as all arrived through the post this morning. I'm going out in a short while to get some gunk remover (actually known as GUNK, afaik) so I can clean up the area surrounding the old cylinder.

 

[homeforsummer]

My MX5 - 8 months and 25 days down the line​

Okay, so it's neither a 6-month update nor a year one, but it's the best I can manage given the constraints of the laws of space and time.

Anyway, since last time you could say that a fair bit has happened. Last time I posted the car had been sitting immobile for a while as the clutch slave cylinder had resigned and left behind it a pile of fluid on the floor.

I attempted several times to free the dead unit from it's final resting place but to no avail. The 19 year old bolts were beyond the means of mere hand tools and poor access, so I hooked up everything that had been disconnected, bled the system and limped the car to the same garage I had the tracking done at.

They charged me £45 for labour and that was all I had to pay, as I supplied all the parts for them. Still saved me a bunch of money in the long run so I'm still happy. Anyway, since then the car has been fine, for the most part. I'm still enjoying driving it, and because I don't drive it very frequently (my commute to work is on foot) the novelty hasn't worn off.

The only issues I've had recently have been electrical ones, and even then not serious ones. After leaving the car chez Famine the other weekend, Mrs Famine remarked that my stereo wasn't working. This was news to me as it had been a couple of days before, but she's right and for reasons unbeknownst to myself, it still refuses to work, and has in its posession my Stereophonics greatest hits album. In the meantime, I've taken the thing out of the car, so I'm now travelling a couple of kilos lighter, and with more wires scattered about the car.

Inexplicably, my permanently-raised aerial for the stereo has retreated back into it's home. I don't know whether it's related to the stereo not working, but since the two wouldn't talk before I can't see how one is affecting the other now...

Apart from that, I've little else to report. I had planned to put a little money aside to get myself a cheap and cheerful daily driver in about November so I can keep the Mazda warm and dry, but given how little I reckon I can get away with driving anyway, I might put any spare money aside into getting the whole underbody professionally coated instead, so that on the very few occasions I do have to drive it over winter, it's well protected.

Still, it's pretty much the summer now so I've got a good few months in which to enjoy a bit more top-down action. The novelty of that still hasn't worn off.

 

[Jondot]

The only issues I've had recently have been electrical ones, and even then not serious ones. After leaving the car chez Famine the other weekend, Mrs Famine remarked that my stereo wasn't working. This was news to me as it had been a couple of days before, but she's right and for reasons unbeknownst to myself, it still refuses to work, and has in its posession my Stereophonics greatest hits album. In the meantime, I've taken the thing out of the car, so I'm now travelling a couple of kilos lighter, and with more wires scattered about the car.

Inexplicably, my permanently-raised aerial for the stereo has retreated back into it's home. I don't know whether it's related to the stereo not working, but since the two wouldn't talk before I can't see how one is affecting the other now...

Ahh, well that's unfortunate. Maybe Tomorrow it'll sort its self out. And if it gets to the point where you think There's More Life in a Tramp's Vest, just pop down to Halfords and Pick a Part That's New (though make sure you tell them that you're Just Looking or they'll never leave you alone). As far as the aerial thing goes, I'm sure It Means Nothing - at the end of the day, I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio.

Have a Nice Day.

 

[homeforsummer]

Oh no you di'int!

 

[Boz Mon]

The novelty of that still hasn't worn off.

If it is novelty, which I dont think it is, I don't think it is going to wear off for a long time still.

 

[Roo]

Not sure where he's getting all those NB pictures from, but I found what must surely be homeforsummer's actual MX5 at Goodwood last month:

 

[homeforsummer]

HAH!

Awesome. I need a licence plate like that... Nice car too. The black windscreen surround is cool, very subtle.

On the subject of my actual car, I think it has too much grip. Or not enough power. Or both. Went out in the rain at the weekend and even with a bootful of throttle it didn't want to go sideways very easily. I think I'll definitely go to stock diameter and width wheels once my current set of tyres wears out. Probably going to keep the 15"s though as they'll come in handy if/when I decide to take the car up a hillclimb. They're very light and once I refurb them they'll look good too.

 

[Talon]

HAH!

Awesome. I need a licence plate like that... Nice car too. The black windscreen surround is cool, very subtle.

On the subject of my actual car, I think it has too much grip. Or not enough power. Or both. Went out in the rain at the weekend and even with a bootful of throttle it didn't want to go sideways very easily. I think I'll definitely go to stock diameter and width wheels once my current set of tyres wears out. Probably going to keep the 15"s though as they'll come in handy if/when I decide to take the car up a hillclimb. They're very light and once I refurb them they'll look good too.

This. Definitely this. Pump it up!

 

[niky]

Remind me... what tires do you have now?

Friend put Advan AD07s on his car... big mistake (all stock suspension)... takes away from some of the liveliness you get with the mobile rear end... and you really start to notice how soft and rolling that suspension is when you have enough grip to make it lean over...

Answer? Upgrade the suspension. Then you'll have too much grip and handling for your brakes... so upgrade the brakes.

Now it'll feel way too slow... goodbye stock exhaust... hello turbo...

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

..And that's how our friend ends up with a monster Miata which causes shivers of terror to any chav.

 

[Perfect Balance]

On the subject of my actual car, I think it has too much grip. Or not enough power. Or both.

You're not going fast enough. You can't rely on power on an underpowered car, although in the rain that shouldn't be a problem.

My buddy took 3rd in a drift competition in his stock engined Miata. With an open diff. With Kumho XS tires (at least until they wore out).


Before someone says something, this road leads to a picnic area and nothing else. It's also raining. Needless to say, there was nobody there.

 

[homeforsummer]

This. Definitely this. Pump it up!

Knew someone would say that!

Remind me... what tires do you have now?

Friend put Advan AD07s on his car... big mistake (all stock suspension)... takes away from some of the liveliness you get with the mobile rear end... and you really start to notice how soft and rolling that suspension is when you have enough grip to make it lean over...

Answer? Upgrade the suspension. Then you'll have too much grip and handling for your brakes... so upgrade the brakes.

Now it'll feel way too slow... goodbye stock exhaust... hello turbo...

Tyres are Toyo Proxes 4s. 195/50 R15. They do seem to have a hell of a lot of grip.

You're not going fast enough. You can't rely on power on an underpowered car, although in the rain that shouldn't be a problem.

My buddy took 3rd in a drift competition in his stock engined Miata. With an open diff. With Kumho XS tires (at least until they wore out).

Before someone says something, this road leads to a picnic area and nothing else. It's also raining. Needless to say, there was nobody there.

Nice vid 👍 Speed is probably part of it as I was on unfamiliar roads. And they were damp rather than wet.

That said, giving it a boot in second gear with half a turn of lock on should get the back end out easier than it does. Did so out of a smooth, off-camber roundabout that I once had the Fiesta tripoding in the wet All I got was a bit of a slide, nowt special.

Speed Junkie's Miata doesn't sound entirely stock in that vid though...

Tempted to go down the "more power" route anyway. Apart from anything I need to give it a service as it's probably not at it's healthiest anyway at the mo.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Sounds like he's got an exhaust along with maybe an intake but given how Miatas are... Perhaps not on that bit.

 

[niky]

Exhaust isn't going to matter much in terms of what you need to unstick the tires properly... which is torque. Though a good set of headers should give you several ft-lbs down low.

Maybe if you have a 1.8 or the new 2.0, you'll have enough torque to initiate a kick-drift easily on a dry road (the 2.0 does... I've done it, but have no evidence either for or against (legally) me ). The 1.6 is just pokey... not that hard to initiate, but you'll need a lot of speed or a lot of revs to hold the slide. And practice. If you're not a great drifter (I'm terrible) or an experienced one, you should give it several runs through a corner or roundabout to feel out your line and how quickly you can go safely through it before you attempt the drift.

 

[Perfect Balance]

That said, giving it a boot in second gear with half a turn of lock on should get the back end out easier than it does. Did so out of a smooth, off-camber roundabout that I once had the Fiesta tripoding in the wet All I got was a bit of a slide, nowt special.

Speed Junkie's Miata doesn't sound entirely stock in that vid though...

The car has an exhaust, header, cone filter and lightweight flywheel in that video, although it was just as capable before those parts were on it.

I think you're expecting the type of slide you would get with an lsd. You have to remember with an open diff, unless you do something drastic enough to disrupt both rear tires, applying power is only going to spun the inside wheel. You need to either do it very sharpy, weight transfer, brake, ect ect. Anything that would make the car slide, and then simply continue the slide with throttle. Which again, doesn't work very well with an open diff, but it's possible, especially in the rain.

EDIT: Next time, try it in an open space and give it full throttle and hit the clutch once, see what that does...