Roadrunners SE

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 8:15 am

Nice one mate! :mrgreen:

A road trip down to Tassie is definitely on my to do list and you picked a good time of year to head down there.
Looking at the pics, is the Gold NB8a a local you met down there? Must have been nice to have some local knowledge of driving options.
Some nice shots there too but there's something missing from the last one......

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 3:37 pm

Goldie was a hire car!!

4 of us drove down and 2 more met us down there at Launceston. Apparently it use to have 18inch chrome mags and the loudest 3inch exhaust your've ever heard, but they removed them as a few people were not fans :lol:

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 4:48 pm

Roadrunner wrote:Goldie was a hire car!!
4 of us drove down and 2 more met us down there at Launceston. Apparently it use to have 18inch chrome mags and the loudest 3inch exhaust your've ever heard, but they removed them as a few people were not fans

After only driving an NA/NB around on 18" rims, many renters would wonder what all the fuss was about driving an MX5 - you'd feel EVERY bump in the road and be happy to get the hell out of it at the end of the day.

Maybe it was this car:

NZ would be another great/close MX5 driving destination too.

WASP · Postby **WASP** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 5:53 pm

Hi MAC valve, excuse my ignorance what does it do
Cheers
Steven

Roadrunner wrote:Having been asked recently about the bog solenoid I realised I didnt post up any photos of the new unit installed.

Outlet 1 goes to the manifold
Outlet 2 goes to the Boost sensor (or sensor boost)
Outlet 3 is vent to air filter

The wires from the new MAC valve are long enough to reach the loom plug. I just used crimped spades to connect.
The plastic barb on the Sensor Boost sensor felt weak so be careful connecting the hose to it. I connected the MAC valve first and then the sensor so I didn't accidentally pull it sideways and snap it off.

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 7:04 pm

WASP wrote:Hi MAC valve, excuse my ignorance what does it do
Cheers
Steven

The valve it replaces on the SE is known to fail or stick, which means that the ECU may be getting a reading from the map sensor, ambient pressure (barometric?) as opposed to engine pressure or vice versa as the valve isnt switching. The ECU gives the wrong amount of fuel or timing and the result feels like someone tied an anchor to the car. You see the boost gauge rise but no extra power. This is one of the known "Bogs" with the SE not to be confused with the hesitation bog high in the rpm range

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 8:11 pm

Lokiel wrote:After only driving an NA/NB around on 18" rims, many renters would wonder what all the fuss was about driving an MX5 - you'd feel EVERY bump in the road and be happy to get the hell out of it at the end of the day.

The two in the titanium grey NB hired it years ago before buying their MX5. The report was it was too low, way too harsh, too loud but still so much fun they bought their own (and did it properly :lol:

)
I then drove their NB and wanted one myself. Thats how this all started

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 6:56 pm

After two weeks of heaven driving around Tasmania, the boat ride back to the mainland was hell. Middle of Bass straight and a horrible storm overnight. We expected to go down to the cars in the morning and find them all piled up in a corner on top of each other.
Thankfully they were not and away we drove. Got a little down the road though and I noticed my speedo was reading zero!
A few moments later it was fine. This happened a few times on the way hole and eventually threw a code for speed sensor failure.

I did a bit of googling and found this is relatively common.
The solder on the sensor is lead free and when manufactured too little was used with not enough heat and is simple to fix, so not sure if the rough seas caused this or just coincidence.

First jack the car up as high as possible from the rear to prevent oil draining out the gearbox.
The sensor is above the catalytic convertor held in by one bolt.

All the tuts I read online show this is easy to get too.
Well as you can see, I could barely touch it with my finger tips let alone get a spanner in there.
If you have under car bracing, don't kid yourself, removing this bracing is a sinch and access is easy

One bolt and pull the sensor out and disconnect the plug
Here it is out of the car

Chip away the hard green stuff to expose the two cables. Here the wires are sitting on top of the poles. You can see how little solder is there

Re solder the wires to the poles,then fill and seal the terminals with RTV silicone

Reinstall the sensor and bracing. No gasket is needed as the sensor uses a rubber o-ring.
Speedo works a treat, been perfect for over two weeks now. Success

Postby **Okibi** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 11:52 am

Thanks for sharing, nice work boots. :mrgreen:

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 3:27 pm

Okibi wrote:Thanks for sharing, nice work boots.

Its just a workshop, what's the worst that can happen??

Hehe I washed the bracing off as it was caked in mud and crap and managed to fill my shoes with water :oops:

they were drying when I took that photo :lol:

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 10:29 pm

Hehe here's a photo from last year I forgot about. On the way home from a weekend at the blue mountains got a slow puncture.
Don't know what all the fuss about, 15inch rims look weird on an SE

Also learnt, the factory rims do not fit in the boot without completely removing all the carpet liner and shoehorning it in. (Including luggage

)
And, that the wife does not appreciate driving two hours home in the rain with the roof up in a tiny cabin with a large suitcase on her lap :lol:

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 7:12 am

Did you try packing some stuff up on the parcel shelf?

It's surprising how much you can fit up there when the roof is up..... Unless you happen to have parked a roll-bar back there! :mrgreen:

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 8:57 am

Yeah the suitcase was emptied onto the rear shelf and the rest crammed into the boot. The wife literally had her legs inside the suitcase with the top resting in her lap :lol:

I don't know why but she didn't see the funny side of it :lol:

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 9:15 am

Roadrunner wrote:Yeah the suitcase was emptied onto the rear shelf and the rest crammed into the boot. The wife literally had her legs inside the suitcase with the top resting in her lap
I don't know why but she didn't see the funny side of it

Women..... no sense of humor...... :roll:

I assume you didn't take a picture of it, if you did you probably wouldn't be alive now to tell us about now...... :mrgreen:

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 9:19 am

I figure it was a hard case clam shell type of suitcase?

Note to self, only use soft bags in mx5.

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 11:01 am

Yes definitely need to invest in a soft bag for travel in the MX5 :lol:

I'm also in the process of making a false floor too so I can remove the space saver completely and just run with the cans of goop and a compressor in case of a flat. Will make it reversible so if I go on a long trip somewhere I can put the spacesaver back in just in case im in the middle of nowhere. Around home I figured if I get a tyre blowout I can call family or a friend to bring a tyre to me or call NRMA