Newbie help please!
Moderators: LilRay.Sun, Furai, Growler, zorruno, jif
-
- Tentative sideways sliding....
- Posts: 43
- Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:38 pm
Newbie help please!
Hi all,
Firstly I'd like to say hello to all my fellow MX5 owners! Recently bought my first MX(on tuesday!) Been an active member on Alfa Romeo forums the last 5 years but thought it was time to get into something that will put an even bigger smile on my face!
Stupidly on the way to work yesterday morning I missed the last turn off to stop at a gas station and by the time I got to work I knew I would need petrol ASAP when leaving town but to my miss0fortune tha damage may have been done already possibly running the motor too low on fuel(even with dodgy electrics my fuel warning lights never failed on my Alfa's so this is the first time this has happened to me!
When I started the car up I noticed it sounded a bit lumpy and once I started driving I noticed it was missfiring all through the rev range so after putting fuel in it I drove home slowly..
The car in question is a '91 1.6 running a "wasted spark plug set-up" as I was told it is very unlikely the plugs would fail with this set-up? Could it possibly be my fuel filter? If so are you able to clean these out and if not what would be my best option to start looking at?
Cheers
Liam
Firstly I'd like to say hello to all my fellow MX5 owners! Recently bought my first MX(on tuesday!) Been an active member on Alfa Romeo forums the last 5 years but thought it was time to get into something that will put an even bigger smile on my face!
Stupidly on the way to work yesterday morning I missed the last turn off to stop at a gas station and by the time I got to work I knew I would need petrol ASAP when leaving town but to my miss0fortune tha damage may have been done already possibly running the motor too low on fuel(even with dodgy electrics my fuel warning lights never failed on my Alfa's so this is the first time this has happened to me!
When I started the car up I noticed it sounded a bit lumpy and once I started driving I noticed it was missfiring all through the rev range so after putting fuel in it I drove home slowly..
The car in question is a '91 1.6 running a "wasted spark plug set-up" as I was told it is very unlikely the plugs would fail with this set-up? Could it possibly be my fuel filter? If so are you able to clean these out and if not what would be my best option to start looking at?
Cheers
Liam
-
- Tentative sideways sliding....
- Posts: 43
- Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:38 pm
Cheers for the reply mate.13r wrote:haha, oh yea, the early MX5s don't have fuel lights...
I learned that the hard way too.
Can't help too much with the missing though sorry.
Mine had the same problems when it was low/ran out of gas.
But once I filled her up she was fine.
Well I only put 20 dollars fuel in once I realised it was missfiring thinking I may need to drain the tank.. I guess filling her up may be worth a try?!
-
- Tentative sideways sliding....
- Posts: 43
- Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:38 pm
Sorry to hear that mate, you cant clean the fuel filter it will need to be replaced, it proberly needs doing anyway. They are very easy and very cheap to replace so just grab a new one. When you replace it let the tank run dry and it should get rid of any crap in there then fill the thing up.
warrior
-
- Yes. I might just know (Trusted Advisor)
- Posts: 433
- Joined: Sat May 06, 2006 8:25 pm
- Location: Auckland
Re: Newbie help please!
I'm not too sure what this statement means but it doesn't make sence.Liam_Irl_NA wrote:The car in question is a '91 1.6 running a "wasted spark plug set-up" as I was told it is very unlikely the plugs would fail with this set-up? Could it possibly be my fuel filter? If so are you able to clean these out and if not what would be my best option to start looking at?
The easiest thing to do is to change the fuel filter. If nothing else it is preventative maintenance. They are very easy to change and are located near the chassis rail close to the rear right wheel.
The filters are quite fine though and usually do a good job in collecting all of the crap from the tank. If that doesn’t work you could look at the injectors as being partially blocked – maybe.
This is assuming it is fuel. There could be a plug lead breaking down that has decided to play up at the same time you filled the tank! (Stranger things have happened!)
-
- I am quitting my job and going 5-ing
- Posts: 747
- Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:58 am
Re: Newbie help please!
I had something similar once... Filled my VR6 up with BP 98 one night instead of Mobil, it ran like shit. I swore that BP was absolute crap, problem didn't go away.. Replaced the #11 relay and hey it worked fine again..Growler wrote:There could be a plug lead breaking down that has decided to play up at the same time you filled the tank! (Stranger things have happened!)
Just one of those really strange coincidences, not always what you think.
-
- Tentative sideways sliding....
- Posts: 43
- Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:38 pm
Sorry for the late reply people..
Appreciate all the help, as it turned out cyclinder #3 had some water sitting in it and the plug had become eroded. My thoughts are that before I bought it someone didnt plug the plugs back into the cylinder correctly and it possibly had a steam clean causing the water and corrossion as I know the car sat undriven for a few weeks? Since i removed the plug and cleaned up it has been running smooth and no sign of any water in the cylinder and had a compression test just incase it was the head which it wasn't! As a result I have all new filters which I'll be fitting this weekend, preventative maintanence is better than no maintanence!
Thanks again
Liam
Appreciate all the help, as it turned out cyclinder #3 had some water sitting in it and the plug had become eroded. My thoughts are that before I bought it someone didnt plug the plugs back into the cylinder correctly and it possibly had a steam clean causing the water and corrossion as I know the car sat undriven for a few weeks? Since i removed the plug and cleaned up it has been running smooth and no sign of any water in the cylinder and had a compression test just incase it was the head which it wasn't! As a result I have all new filters which I'll be fitting this weekend, preventative maintanence is better than no maintanence!
Thanks again
Liam
-
- I have stars, you haven't. Deal with it
- Posts: 1397
- Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:59 am
- Location: Auckland
Plus they are small. Like toys.MrGrey wrote:Good to hear and enjoy driving your new toy! (I class MX5's as toys because they are too fun to be labeled mere transportation)
Plus because of MrGrey I now think of them like fucking jellybeans.
1 X Primera
2 X Silvia
1 X BMW E30
1 X Audi A6
3 X Mazda MX5 (1989, 1990, 1991)
2 X Silvia
1 X BMW E30
1 X Audi A6
3 X Mazda MX5 (1989, 1990, 1991)
-
- Tentative sideways sliding....
- Posts: 43
- Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:38 pm
-
- Tentative sideways sliding....
- Posts: 43
- Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:38 pm
-
- I have stars, you haven't. Deal with it
- Posts: 1397
- Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:59 am
- Location: Auckland
Ahh well welcome to the forumLiam_Irl_NA wrote:I'm living in Wellington at the moment, originally from Ireland though. Nice little collection of tail happy cars you have there mate!
Haha the primera was fwd and a piece of crap. I then got a rwd and fell in love
1 X Primera
2 X Silvia
1 X BMW E30
1 X Audi A6
3 X Mazda MX5 (1989, 1990, 1991)
2 X Silvia
1 X BMW E30
1 X Audi A6
3 X Mazda MX5 (1989, 1990, 1991)
-
- Tentative sideways sliding....
- Posts: 43
- Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:38 pm
-
- I have stars, you haven't. Deal with it
- Posts: 1397
- Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:59 am
- Location: Auckland
You are a cork!Kieran wrote:Whereabouts in Ireland are you from?Liam_Irl_NA wrote:I'm living in Wellington at the moment, originally from Ireland though. Nice little collection of tail happy cars you have there mate!
Im from Cork
1 X Primera
2 X Silvia
1 X BMW E30
1 X Audi A6
3 X Mazda MX5 (1989, 1990, 1991)
2 X Silvia
1 X BMW E30
1 X Audi A6
3 X Mazda MX5 (1989, 1990, 1991)
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests