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Who are you, Good Sir Knight, to be so learn-ed in the ways of science????

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

I iz your worst nightmare, a slide rule toting singing cowboy from the dark side of the moon.

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Nightmare? Shoot, you sound like my kinda people! Come on in!

JD

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

I'm originally from Florida too, so we could be cuzzins!

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

My '93 Miata 1.6L is running pretty well overall, however there's a little "hesitation" or "stutter" between 3000-4000 RPM. It happenss often enough to irritate me, especially when coming out of a corner! I've registered to run a "Driver's Education" with the Porsche Club in a couple weeks at Roebling Road in Savannah and would love to have the motor running perfectly!So if scoured the Miata forums and developed a list of possibilities. Here's what I've done or checked so far: new plugs, new plug wires, clean injectors (with gas treatment), new coolant temp sensor, check for vacuum leaks, ground the igniter, disconnect the TPS (no change) and I just ordered a new O2 sensor (fingers crossed!) I have access to a friend's car that I can use to swap parts (rather than buy things unnecessarily!) Other items on my list include: make sure timing is set to 12-14 BTDC, swap the coil pack, swap the igniter, swap the mass airflow sensor, swap the fuel pressure regulator, check the compression, and swap the ECU. Apparently I cut so much of the wiring harness out, my diagnostic port doesn't seem to give me any informative reading of error codes.

While challenging, I find this work tedious, time consuming and frustrating (especially when you can't find the solution!!) Sure, you can make a good case for electronic fuel injection, but I sure miss the simplicity of a carburetor, a distributor with points & condenser, adjusting valves, etc.

At least with electronics you have a chance of getting rid of the stumble. With carbs & points you'd just have to live with it.

But seriously have you pulled codes? I find that almost any issue I've ever had I could pull the codes and go straight to the problem.

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

I haven't had any luck pulling codes - one of the important pins has been pushed down into the Diagnostics Port. I will try again later this week.

Our neighbor, Beth Anne, asked for a ride in Kate. I'm afraid I scared her a bit going around a few corners at higher than normal speeds. When done, she said she felt like she just got off a roller coaster ride! Beth asked for a couple pictures, and they turned out to be a couple of the best ones of the car yet!

During the first couple weeks after passing the DMV inspection, I was shocked how much crap flew off the tires while driving Kate without front fenders...even on what looked to be like nice, clean roads! After the fenders were installed, it was MUCH better, but driving on damp roads left my rear fenders covered with...that's right...crap! I had even left the front fenders uncut and turned them so they were 4" from the ground in the back.

So I went onto eBay and bought a 1/4" x 12" x 12" piece of neoprene rubber: I cut two pieces of the neoprene 4" x 8" and two 1/8" x 1" x 7" backing plates..drilled and attached them to the bottom of the fenders, and bada bing:Now I have an additional 3 1/2" of "mud flap" coverage on the bottom!Now let's see how much crap gets past that!!

I've been persistently trying to track down the reason for my motor having a minor (but irritating) hesitation or stutter (usually in the range of 2500-4000 rpm). It's also running very rich and the gas mileage is terrible...in the mid to upper teens! I spent 5 hours today with Esteban at Redline Autosports, and so far, I've checked, replaced or swapped these usual suspects:

• New NGK Blue plug wires

• New plugs (NGK Iridium)

• Install new 02 sensor (no change)

• Install new water thermosensor (coolant temp sensor)

• Adjust Cam Sensor

• Clean injectors (Gas treatment)

• Check for vacuum leaks

• Run ground to Igniter (not necessary, but...)

• Throttle Position Sensor (Ran disconnected - no change)

• Scan diagnostic port...not reading, still checking

• Adjust timing to 12 degrees BTDC (was WAY advanced!)

• Pulled valve & timing belt covers to check timing markings - right on

• Swap Ignition coil pack - no change

• Swap Igniter (no change)

• Swap Mass Airflow meter (no change)

• Swap fuel pressure regulator (not sure...seems a little better)

I'm going to pull out my ECU out so it's accessible and see if it's sending/receiving signals properly. If I keep pulling my hair out, I'm going to be bald! Plus I'm running out of ideas : - (

BTW - Does anyone know where Tesla gets their electric motors, lithium batteries and controllers? Just a thought...

OBDII? I'd start there. If you have no communication at all, and know it is the ECU and not your reader, then all internal stuf is in question. Once you have communication, you can generally see if the sensors are wired correctly by scanning the PID info.

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

Dennis at Don's AutoTech checked my MAF, CAS and O2 sensor wiring and concluded that the ECU wasn't performing properly. So I ran down to see Esteban at Redline Autosports and he lent me a Mazda ECU out of his race car. After a quick swap and a few miles around town, I found the hesitation / stutter is gone!!Dang...I feel like I've been chasing my tail for a week. If anyone else runs into a similar problem down the road, here's an updated list of what I did trying to solve this problem:

• New NGK Blue plug wires
• New plugs (NGK Iridium)
• Install new 02 sensor (no change)
• Install new water thermosensor (coolant temp sensor)
• Adjust Cam Sensor
• Clean injectors (Gas treatment)
• Check for vacuum leaks
• Run ground to Igniter (not necessary, but...)
• Throttle Position Sensor (Ran disconnected - no change)
• Scan diagnostic port...no readings for some reason
• Adjust timing to 12 degrees BTDC (was WAY advanced!)
• Pulled valve & timing belt covers to check timing markings - right on
• Swap Ignition coil pack - no change
• Swap Igniter (no change)
• Swap Mass Airflow meter (no change)
• Swap fuel pressure regulator (no change)
• Pull apart MAF and checked inside (looks and works fine)
• Turned MAF 180 degrees (plug facing down to lean per 5XRacing.com)
• Change out batteries (trying everything!)
• With meter, checked MAF, TPS, & CAS…everything pointed to the ECU!

It was the ECU!! Well, I'm off to Roebling Road tomorrow and am happy that the motor is purring properly! I'll finally get my first impression of how the car handles and performs on a track!

Glad to hear you got that figured out!

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

I spent two days at the Porsche Club's DE at Roebling Road last weekend and had a blast! I built "Kate" primarily to drive around town, but was curious how she would handle and perform on the track. Well, I was more than happy and impressed with every aspect. Sure...I could have used a bit more motor down the straightaway, as I was getting dusted by the turbo Porsches, 'Vettes and Vipers. But she really held her own on the back 9 corners! I felt no twitching, leaning or sliding at all. (Transplanting a Miata 1.8 with an additional 30+ horses may be something to consider down the road.)
My nephew Ronnie was kind enough to haul my car along with his Spec Miata up to Savannah in his 30' enclosed trailer. (Unfortunately, his friend Chuck "balled up" his Miata over the weekend.)
Jim Clark's famous #82 Ford-powered Lotus won the 1965 Indy 500 and forever changed racing at Indy. So I used his numbers in tribute:
For a Floridian, it was pretty damn cold (in the 50s), so I had to bundle up in layers!
Next up...Autocrossing in April!

Awesome! You've got me looking forward to my first track day in the Locost.

Man, that looks like good times! I did a few PCA track days back in the mid 90s with my mom, in her 944, was several barrels of fun.

I wonder if they'd accept the B3

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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.