Just bought a MX5!!!

[JBT]

Maybe if Johnny_OGBravo showed his location, someone could go have a look and give some advice.

[taminga16]

You could try putting 80lbs in front tyers that should lighten things up a little

Yet another full of value contribution from Lizard , the bloke is only looking for advice.
Greg.

[speed]

Get tapatalk on your phone, take a pic of the engine bay and post it up. ;)

I also think non power steer MX5's are easy to steer.

Also where are you located?

[beavis]

Non power steer MX5's are easy to steer when moving, a little stiff when dry steering though.

[Johnny_OGBravo]

Don't get me wrong I love this car! It's my second one but my first stick. It's older then my last one, honda civic 2000. Nevertheless here are some pics. By the way I live in orange county CA.

17" on a NA Lokiel will love you

Another issue could be the unsprung weight making it hard to turn.

I think the short answer here is that you've got an older car that doesn't have power steering. The solution to this problem is in your heart and at the gym. Learn to love it. Learn to turn it.

People on this forum are all about 15" wheels and think that 17" wheels are the work of the devil. They are probably right that 15" wheels give a better ride. I moved from 17" to 15" on the advice of this forum. It's a good change, but it's a 5% or 10% improvement. Changing wheels wont suddenly make your car feel like it has power steering.

If the car has aircon that doesn't blow cold it probably just needs a re-gas.

Gidday Jonny,

Welcome to the obsession.

Sounds like you have an NA6 Business as usual. Most likely not fitted with power steering. You could send a pic of the engine bay and you would probably have it confirmed one way or another. Even if it has PS fitted. The pump may not be working.

But there are a lot of things to consider.

I have pretty much the same NA6. My steering is seriously stiff. So I'd imagine yours is just normal.

But lots of things affect the stiffness of your steering. Especially if the suspension has been modified.
Lots of little things will start making substantial differences in your steering. Positive or negative.
The standard NA6 came with 14" wheels & 185 tires i think. offset of 45mm. Normal steering was already thought to be hard in its day but power steering wasn't really a standard item on an 1989 NA6. My my first MX5, a 1990 blue marine didn't have PS either. Power steering must have come standard towards the end of its life. Probably not long before the NA8 came around. Thats not saying PS hasn't been fitted & It may be that its not working.

Id agree. Most likely you 17's are quite heavy. Same with the tires. Although aggressive offset with 17's is probably unlikely, its certainly possible. Also check if spacers have been fitted to make your wheels stick out a little further.

If your alignment is wearing your tires evenly, perhaps consider changing your wheels front to rear & vice versa. Tires will most likely have worn differently at the rear. This will temporarily ease the steering while going slow. Or if you get a new alignment this will take care of itself until tires wear a little.

Offset adds a little to the weight. Not a huge deal but it does in my experience. Same with type of tires. Whenever I get new tyres My steering is always lighter for a few weeks at least. Then steering becomes progressively heavier as the tyres wear, especially if they are Street type semi slicks. As in soft compound but not quite considered full semi slicks.

But I'd be looking at the unstrung weight first before you commit to big $$$ tell us what they weigh. I cant recall the weight of the original set up. But for its day. It was sensationally light. Now-days would perhaps be considered average.
also tell us if the shocks & springs have also been modded, the height of the car.

Lots of little things compound.

Does it have power steering and air conitioning fitted?

The NA, even without power steering, is not heavy. Even my wife didn't find it heavy, only a bit at parking speeds.

17's on there would certainly not be helping. What width are they and what size tyres? The extra width over stock (that I'm sure the'd be) won't be helping. Type and quality of tyre will also make a difference to the weight of the steering, as will tread wear.

For an NA, I wouldn't go bigger than a 15" personally.

Edit ... what size steering wheel is fitted?

Fnd every time I jump back in the NA after time driving a hire car that the steering is heavy, but soon get used to it. Inflating tyres to 32PSI cold all round should help, if not already inflated to that pressure.

From your post, you haven't played with cars for long, and don't know too much about them, no problem we all started somewhere.

I would say it doesn't have power steering.

Easiest way to check, open the bonnet and count the belts on the front of the engine and have a look at what they go around.

Off the top of my head, and it has been a while since I have lifted the bonnet on mine, there should be one belt for the fan/water pump and alternator. The alternator will be hanging off the side of the motor and about midway with a long adjusting bracket on the left hand side as you look at the motor from in front of the car. A second belt for the A/C, if fitted and that will go from the crank pulley, to the a/C compressor hanging off the side of the motor towards the top, and is fairly large and on the right hand side as you look at the motor from in front of the car. There should also be an idler pulley for the A/C belt.

If you have power steering, there will be a third belt on the front of the motor, that runs to a small pump with a reservoir on the top with a cap on it to fill with Power steering fluid as necessary. There will be two steel lines that run from this down to the steering rack, which you will see under the motor when looking in the engine bay.

If you don't have power steering, and this is your first car, and you have previously dríven modern cars with power steering, then the steering will feel heavy, for an old fart like me, MX-5's without power steering are still feel light.

If you do have power steering, and the steering is heavy, then one of two things, the previous owner may have disconnected the power steering and left the bits in, unusual, or the power steering isn't working. If the power steering isn't working then it's either do the modification to de-power the rack or get it fixed if you really need the lighter steering.

Same for the a/c, if there isn't a second "radiator" behind the main one, and the big compressor hanging off the motor you haven't got a/c, if you have these, then the a/c isn't working. This could be as easy as a regas, or even pushing the button on the dash to get it working, or a full rebuild.

Maybe if Johnny_OGBravo showed his location, someone could go have a look and give some advice.

Non power steer MX5's are easy to steer when moving, a little stiff when dry steering though.

Get tapatalk on your phone, take a pic of the engine bay and post it up. ;)

I also think non power steer MX5's are easy to steer.

Also where are you located?

You could try putting 80lbs in front tyers that should lighten things up a little

Yet another full of value contribution from Lizard , the bloke is only looking for advice.
Greg.

[Johnny_OGBravo]

Which reminds me, if anyone has spare parts, I could really use a few. The car wont pass smog because it has an uncertified exhaust manifold. Also, I need to constantly keep the roof down because its impossible to see throw the old piece of plastic, plus its been perforated.

Any help given, will be accepted.

[JBT]

Yep, no power steering and I don't think it has air conditioning either. We can offer limited help as this is an Australian based forum. You'd be better served subscribing to this US based foum: http://forum.miata.net/vb/

[StanTheMan]

Someting really odd is screaming at me here.
Why is the brake reservoir on the wrong side@


Omg . You live in the U.S.

[davekmoore]

No doubt we'll all be really nice to you now to balance the fact that we don't always get the same when we consult certain forums (fora?) in the USA.

For future ref, there's no need to show every prior post in your replies.

Both air conditioning and power steering can be retro fitted to your car but you might be better having some fun in your existing one for a while then trading up to one with those already fitted.

[Ross]

It looks like there is an accessory drive pulley on the front of the crank, is it possible it had PS and a PO has removed the pump but left the PS rack?
Also - Dipstick??

[Johnny_OGBravo]

Yep, no power steering and I don't think it has air conditioning either. We can offer limited help as this is an Australian based forum. You'd be better served subscribing to this US based foum: http://forum.miata.net/vb/

I appreciate all the help, but will do.

[Johnny_OGBravo]

Someting really odd is screaming at me here.
Why is the brake reservoir on the wrong side@


Omg . You live in the U.S.

Do you mind pointing it out to me, please.

[Johnny_OGBravo]

No doubt we'll all be really nice to you now to balance the fact that we don't always get the same when we consult certain forums (fora?) in the USA.

For future ref, there's no need to show every prior post in your replies.

Both air conditioning and power steering can be retro fitted to your car but you might be better having some fun in your existing one for a while then trading up to one with those already fitted.

Yeah I think I'll keep it it with no power steering, but given that I like in CA I must have an ac. But that it can be fitted yes?

[Johnny_OGBravo]

It looks like there is an accessory drive pulley on the front of the crank, is it possible it had PS and a PO has removed the pump but left the PS rack?
Also - Dipstick??

Yeah the dipstick is broken and stuck inside. PO?

[StanTheMan]

Someting really odd is screaming at me here.
Why is the brake reservoir on the wrong side@


Omg . You live in the U.S.

Do you mind pointing it out to me, please.

when I opened the page all I saw was the pic. I didn't realize at he time, you are residing in he US. So the brake cylider & resevoir are on the opposite side to where you find them here as you drive on the right hand side of the road. We in the land of Oz drive on the left. That's all. It has absolutely nothing to do with your steering. Instead of reading everything first.....i just thought WTF? perhaps I should have deleted the post instead.


but your wheels look real heavy. perhaps on the big forum http://www.miata.net you can confirm the weight of the originals. Then compare them to what you have.
A Mx5 fitted with the originals , even without PS wasn't too bad when parking. as the unsprung weight of wheels & tyres are a lot less than your current set up. without a doubt it would be much lighter than your current set up.

You may not like the original Daisy wheels. If you do change wheels make sure they are super light.

Just try to swap the rears to the front & vise versa. It will give you temporary relief at least.



But it sure looks like no PS has been fitted from this angle