gm's unhealthy obsession with mx5s - squeezing in a few last drives before Exo goes into hibernation

[loserone]

He's a hero!

[gm]

he’ll need to be - this one appears to be humped  

[loserone]

'kinnel.  

Smart looking car that, I miss my V Special.  It also died a few days after purchase and A&K put a new* engine in it for me

[sdkrc]

What kind of humping has it had? 

Shit buzz man. Hope this hasn't dampened the spirits

[gm]

we got it running again and drove it to safety, it has been abandoned at a top secret location just round the corner from where the seller lives. 

many thanks to @Lacquer Peel for his generous use of his car paring space - i’ll see about getting it picked up and brought home asap, thankyou 

and mega thanks to @320touring for coming to my rescue  

 

[GMcD]

Oh no. What happened?  It looks great though, I love a tan interior. 

[gm]

gah ! back on the train again 

[gm]

time to change trains…again…

ah fuck it, time for a quick pint 

(edit) that was so good i’ll be having another one in newcastle at the next train change  

[garbaldy]

4 hours ago, gm said:

he’ll need to be - this one appears to be humped  

I'm halfway between car and your home  for next breakdown or you could just dump it here. 😉  I've never actually driven an mx5 yet.  

[gm]

right then, now i’ve got a bit of time to fill, i’ll catch up with the story so far.

the car i’ve (sort of) bought is a 1994 1.6 eunos roadster automatic (imported mx5)

the seller had told me that the afm was causing issues so i robbed the known good one off the Exo to bring with me.

i met the seller at falkirk station, had a look round the car and  saw it to be in decent condition. he went to start it up and it just turned over, not starting. 

fair enough, i had basic tools and an afm in my bag so we swapped them over and it started first time  

happy that it was sorted, i paid the man and we drove off. i noticed the steering was heavy so stopped to check the fluid level which was empty  

so a detour was made to europarts and a bottle of steering juice purchased. 

the previously empty and silent steering pump is now rattling its tits off but steering is lighter. 

then it stalled. and wouldn’t restart.

the fuel gauge was very low so back into europarts and a can of shame was purchased. 

after a long walk to the petrol station and back, it fired up within a few tries. ok, i’ll head to asdas for fuel, food and a piss. 

 about a mile down the road, on a particularly busy roundabout, it stalled. and wouldn’t start again. 

so i knocked it into neutral and shoved it round the roundabout and onto a quieter road. somehow i got it going again and drove down to the asda in grangemouth. 

behold my glorious pez pic !

guess what happened once i’d filled the tank ? yep, wouldn’t bloody start again.

i shoved it to a quiet corner away from the pumps and went for a sandwich and a piss.

when i finally got it going again, i adjusted the throttle cable bracket so it was permanently on part throttle - see if that will keep it from stalling ? 

which sort of worked. i managed to drive off the forecourt and onto the main road where the traffic lights immediately went red. and it stalled. 

fucksake.

at this point i posted my trouble in a group chat and @320touring offered to come to my rescue. while he was in transit, i messed around with various bits and got it running. i adjusted the throttle cable so it idles at around 3k and drove it back to the car park.

frightened to switch it off, i left it running for 20mins until 320T arrived and very sensibly dissuaded me from the 140 mile drive home through rush hour traffic !

very wise as the five miles i drove it to lacquerpeels place was bloody stressful. i made it in one piece without stalling and parked it up. i wonder what will happen if i switch it off now ? yep, wouldn’t bloody start again ! 

so i locked up, and we went for a chippy tea, 320T dropped me off at the station and i began my journey home by train  

once again, massive thanks to 320T and lacquerpeel for their help with this one. i’ll see about getting it recovered home tomorrow but, at least for now, car and owner are both safe. 

….to be continued….

[gm]

8 minutes ago, garbaldy said:

I'm halfway between car and your home  for next breakdown or you could just dump it here. 😉  I've never actually driven an mx5 yet.  

i was planning a route home via your direction but that could well have ended in tears   i’ll get this one trailered and fixed up then you can have a go  

[gm]

so theories : seems to be a fuelling issue - maybe a wonky injector or the fuel pressure regulator - it drove ok, definitely down on power, but wouldn’t restart when hot. 

i brought the original suspect afm home and will plug that into the Exo to see if it works, otherwise it’s a case of swapping bits over until i find the culprit. the Exo has the same engine but with a manuel gearbox, shouldn’t be too hard to sort out what is going on. i hope. 

 

[garbaldy]

11 minutes ago, gm said:

i was planning a route home via your direction but that could well have ended in tears   i’ll get this one trailered and fixed up then you can have a go  

I was up at Stirling dropping daughter 2 at uni so could have driven you home again if I'd known.  At least you got it sorted 👍 

[gm]

you must have passed right by me  not to worry, i’ll figure it out 

[garbaldy]

More than likely but I'm blind as a bat so wouldn't have been looking out for you anyway,  or I'd have been 20 miles down the road thinking I recognised that guy. 

[gm]

i forgot to mention that @sdkrc very generously offered me a loan car to get home - what a guy ! 

i managed to catch the last train but am very grateful for such a kind offer, thankyou, good sir  

[gm]

hmm, the last train out of newcastle might be interesting tonight - that’s the final whistle just gone and the toon got beat off dortmund.

[gm]

and home.

what a day, i’m bloody knackered. thanks again to all who helped out, it really is appreciated.

(last train from newcastle was so busy the police had to stop people getting on)

[Flat4]

Glad you're home safely! What a pisser. 

[gm]

i’ve stuck a job up on shiply, so far seeing quotes between £250 and £295

having never used shiply before, is there anything i should watch out for ? 

i also messaged retroshite to see if he might be interested?

[sdkrc]

I'd consider driving it to Newcastle in a one shotter. I'm supposed to be in Leeds with work in a fortnight and could combine it with that.

[gm]

Just now, sdkrc said:

I'd consider driving it to Newcastle in a one shotter. I'm supposed to be in Leeds with work in a fortnight and could combine it with that.

i did consider doing that but my breakdown cover is basic and i was driving on third party insurance - it just felt too risky. i’ll see what tomorrow brings.

thanks again for the offer of a loaner to get home  

[Flat4]

I used this chap to move my caravan.

https://www.shiply.com/transport-provider/aburdmk1

He's based in Falkirk. Not sure if he's still in business but I'd absolutely use him again. Doesn't mostly bike transport but is equipped for cars I believe. Might be worth inviting him to quote on your listing? I would say read their feedback and their terms and conditions very carefully.

[Ghosty]

Autos with stalling issues when in drive for me has always been a dizzy fault. 

MX5s don't have a dizzy per se but could it be worth replacing the cam sensor?

[Schaefft]

Forget about Shiply, you get the best quotes on Facebook in car transport groups specifically created for that. Shiply will always add their share of profit to the quoted price.

[Cheezey]

That’s a bummer. I recognised both the Asdas you’ve been to as they are very close by. I’m sitting ten minutes walk from the first one. 
Did you buy it from/has been owned by previously a bloke called (I think) Robin? Probably about 70 now. He lived in Camelon, and his wife had an NB. This was all many years ago. 

[gm]

i know Robin, if it was his car i’d bought i doubt there would be a hint of trouble - he really looks after his cars. he once drove topless (meaning roof down AND topless) in his mx5 from lands end to john o’ groats for charity - a really nice guy !

this one came from Carron, and is now parked abandoned just around the corner from the sellers place. i’m working on transport quotes, one things for sure it’s not going to be cheap  

 

[gm]

guess what ? i fitted the ‘broken’ AFM onto the Exo and it started up first time and ran perfectly ! 

 

[gm]

4 hours ago, Ghosty said:

Autos with stalling issues when in drive for me has always been a dizzy fault. 

MX5s don't have a dizzy per se but could it be worth replacing the cam sensor?

once it’s home i can swap over loads of parts as the Exo has the same engine - should be much easier to find the fault 

[Rust Collector]

2 minutes ago, gm said:

i’m working on transport quotes, one things for sure it’s not going to be cheap

Is there a handy 4x4 you could requisition, and rent a trailer/borrow an a frame? How many miles have you got to cover to get it back?

2 minutes ago, gm said:

guess what ? i fitted the ‘broken’ AFM onto the Exo and it started up first time and ran perfectly ! 

 

If there's one thing that I've learned when buying cars that have a running fault, it's that the fault is never what the seller thinks it is.

It looks a lovely car though, I love a mk1 MX5 and I think the V Spev is the prettiest of the lot. Should be a decent car once you get her home and sorted.