MX-5 OC Forum

 Hi All!

Back to pose some more questions!

So, I posted not too long ago about having funny jolts and judders at about 3.5-4k revs on my 5 who is aptly named 'Flea'. Now flea has completely stopped moving...the engine starts, misfires tries to keep going but then simply gives up and cuts out, I've had spark plugs replaced, diagnostics done, leads replaced, coil pack replaced, fuel filter, compression tested and all sorts. I'll be honest, I'm coming to the end of the line with my little flea, she's been a cracking car but the only thing I can think of doing now is removing the fuel tank and clearing the entire fuel line...certainly no small job.

Does anyone have any possible answers? If you need any more details just give me a shout. Would love to have flea back to her best and not end up getting sold for parts :(

Cheers,

Neil

 Hi Neil, for what it costs I'd syphon the tank and see if there's water in there first.

Hi

Have you tryed the crank angle sensor

 Cheers guys, will see what I can do with the fuel...tempted to fill the tank and see if its a problem with fuel levels, shouldnt be but the car is currently sat on a slight slope.

Not sure what the crank angle sensor does or where it is if I'm totally honest, done a bit of research and it sounds like something that it could be but there just seems to be so many options...mostly expensive options as well. Any education, advice or opinions welcome.

When you say 'diagnostics done'...I take that to mean you read the fault codes and there were none?

If so, that narrows it down a lot. It could be the idle air valve not opening when cold as it should. Most other things (coil pack, CAS, temp senders, AFM, etc) would log a fault code.

NBramley:

 Cheers guys, will see what I can do with the fuel...tempted to fill the tank and see if its a problem with fuel levels, shouldnt be but the car is currently sat on a slight slope.

Neil, the fuel pick up is near the bottom of the tank and any water will also be at the bottom (heavier than petrol) so filling with petrol won't help if it's a water pick up problem. 3m of 10mm clear plastic tube for a couple of pounds from a garden centre (for fish ponds) will let you syphon it.

The diagnostics check was done a little while prior to this when there was minor issues, however this is a whole different issue.

Ive decided to go and have a diagnostics check done tomorrow morning, if this returns nothing then as you said victor this will narrow down the possibilities immensely...let's see what they come back with. Hopefully I can find a resolution before it costs me a small fortune.

Will keep you all updated

 Hi All,

I am pleased to say that Flea is back and better than ever! I've never had her driving this well!

The issue was down to how the previous owner had fitted a new cam-belt. When fitting this in the Mk2's there are wires coming from the crank/cam sensor that must be clipped into place first, clearly the previous owner didnt know this and decided to just cable tie them! This resulted in the wires rubbing ever so slightly on the fan belt...that over time caused it to wear down the wire casing then continued to fray the internal wire and slowly but surely cut through the entire wire. All is replaced now and she is driving spectacularly.

If ever you're stuck out in Essex I would highly recommend going to the guys at DK Auto Services, great pair of guys, very helpful and not too expensive. They're Ford and Mazda specialists and not only do they know their stuff they're quite passionate about it too which is nice to see!

http://www.dkautoservices.com/ - 01268 782286 - info@dkautoservices.com

 Congratulations on getting this sorted and hopefully we will eventually get a summer to fully enjoy our cars.

I know to my cost how frustrating these indeterminate problems can be but glad that you managed to find a competent garage to sort yours.

MK2.5 on cars are much easier to fault find because of the onboard diagnostics - it can be a struggle for those of us with the older MK2 and MK1 cars.