Racing Ready

To the relief of some (“It’s time to take it to a shop..”) & the consternation of others (“I would like to see you dig in and learn.”), I had Karlino (my 1999 Mazda Miata) towed late this afternoon to a nearby Mazda dealer (North Park Mazda) for professional service.

After 2 weeks of trying my “best”, I really know that I don’t have the gift, or more accurately, the patience to be a troubleshooting car mechanic.  I did get my hands dirty & learned a lot of what goes on underhood of a NB Miata, but my zenith culminates at the level of basic driveway mechanic.  Even with the well-regarded official shop manual, I was still out of focus – so many directions to go.

I really appreciate all the good advice & guidance I received online , especially some effective phone consultation, guiding me to verify the proper timing belt/gear teeth coordination (you know who you are!).

So, yes, I’m placing myself at the mercy of a car dealer shop.  I had some other private shop options, but there were many unknowns & the logistics of the tow from my house to those other locations was less convenient.  Besides, this is the dealership where my car had been serviced for many years prior by the previous owner.  I plan to sleep soundly & see what Sergio, the dealer service advisor tells me tomorrow, after their diagnostics.

I must say I had a very understanding & concerned tow truck driver.  What with the angle of Karlino lifted up by the rear, there was concern for “scrappage” of the front spoiler.  We decided that he follow me (I drove my wife’s car) to the dealer on the city streets, instead of the highway access roads.  We averaged 20 to 25 MPH with emergency flashers blinking  all the way.

I feel kind of strange with Karlino not being here, but I trust things will go well!

Racing Ready regrets not being able to learn enough to do it all, but it’s time to move on, & eventually “pay the piper!”

Dan

So in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve not blogged here for almost 2 weeks.  I’ve been very preoccupied about trying to get Karlino repaired, to be able to start up again.  I’ll have to admit it’s made me a little depressed.  And carpooling with my wife daily has added to the stress.  I feel like I’m in a mechanic’s wormhole hell…

Anyway, I’ve been trying to diagnose/fix my car’s non-starting problem since Monday afternoon, the 22nd of February.  Thus far, this is what I’ve done:

• checked CEL codes…got 2
• P0402 EGR Flow Excessive & P1345 Manufacturer Control Ignition System or Misfire
• took apart & cleaned out the intake manifold, specifically that little hole that tends to get clogged up
• replaced the plugs & wires with new NGK parts (verified I got spark, on all cylinders)
• after trying to unsuccessfully start it (again), I was told that the raw gas (which I did smell from the exhaust pipe) could foul the new plugs
• therefore, I dutifully cleaned & dried the plugs with carb cleaner & canned air
• replaced the camshaft position sensor (made sure I disconnected the negative battery cable first)
• verified that the timing belt has not broken or slipped any teeth

Putting all back together, with anti-seize compound & properly torqued, the motor does turn over, but does not catch fire.  I have verified that I can hear the faint whirr of the fuel pump. I have tested all the fuses with my multimeter.  So with gas & spark seemingly available, is it mechanical or more electrical (& I cleared the CEL codes & none have reappeared recently)?

I’m only down to a few things that I (& various driveway mechanic friends of mine) can think of:

• possible a faulty coil pack(s) – but I do get spark
• faulty and/or not synched crank position sensor
• some other sensor?
• faulty firing of injectors

So, there you have it.  Racing Ready is now tempted to take it to the dealer, or a shop, but there’s got to be a simple solution.  Others will say, “Enough already!”  But the budget says otherwise…hmmm…

Dan

P.S. – I don’t understand, I must not be feeding the right supplements to Karlino.  Today makes two 12mm 3/8″ sockets that he’s ingested into the black hole of his front bumper cavity.  I will need to do some magnetic dentistry & work on his diet.  Maybe it’s that he’s anxious to get all properly lubricated with his pending AMSOIL fluids (for engine, tranny & rear diff).  Those will come only after we get Karlino running again!

My lack of recent posting has been due to chasing down a P0402 engine error code in my 1999 Mazda Miata (I’ve named Karlino).  After I drove home this past Monday night, it would not start.  The motor turned over fine, but it was like there was no gas or spark arriving.

Thus far I’ve made use of an OBD-II scanner to reveal the possible issues.  What was revealed were these 2 codes:

• P0402 – EGR Flow Excessive
• P1345 – Manufacturer Control Ignition System or Misfire

Doing research on Miata.net, I decided to start with the intake manifold clean out procedure.  I removed the top of the intake manifold to clean out the gunk from a critical passageway.

Apparently that is something that one ought to do every 50 – 60K miles on Miatas.  I also learned that working on a car at or below 40 degrees makes for difficult removal of hoses & wires.  I used 1/2 a can of throttle body cleaner & about 15 Q-tips.  It got more open & cleaner, but I still could not see into the hole – there’s a bend in there somewhere.  I should have bought some pipe cleaners, oh well…

Once I got it buttoned back up, did it start up?  Hell, no!  I’ve since ordered NGK blue spark plug wires & NGK spark plugs – I’ll get those tomorrow.

I’ll see if that helps.  Then, to test the fuses with a multimeter.  I just picked this up from Harbor Freight Tools (my favorite “toy” store) for less than $3.00.

Let’s see if I make headway.  What with all the cranking on the battery, I doubt it’s going to hold a charge for much longer.  Can’t afford a new battery, yet…jeesh!

Well, like a friend (a Most Interesting Man) recently told me, I’m saving money & appreciating the journey of working on Karlino.  But my wife finds cooperative car pooling a pain… Racing Ready just wants some relief, so we can continue blogging…

Dan

Tomorrow (Saturday, 20/FEB/2010) will be the beginning session for the Chrono-X Time Trial Series at Harris Hill Road.  I had planned to set up an AMSOIL vendor booth at the event, but that opportunity fell through – there will be NO vendors at all!  Damn…  Therefore, I’ll be there in blogger mode…

Sunday (21/FEB/2010) will be the SASCA 2010 Autocross #2, at the Blossom Athletic Center (just north of the San Antonio Airport).

This should be a fun & interesting event for a number of reasons:

• The weather will be at least 25 degrees warmer than our last autocross event – FrozenCross
• There is a chance for some thunderstorms the evening prior to the event – should make for some interesting runs in the morning session, as the lot dries off…
• I’ll be Eventmaster of this autocross.  This entails my designing the course (with excellent help & feedback from Ricky [SASCA President] & Jay [SASCA Co-Veep]) & being responsible for getting it set up, in a timely fashion.  I’ll give no hints as to the course layout, except to say it will run clockwise (mostly…)
• As of this writing, there are currently 142 entries!  Holy smokes – that’s a LOT of entries.  This’ll make for busy day!

We’ll see what all happens when I get settled down into next week.
Till then, here’s Racing Ready saying, “See you out there!”

Dan

The Harris Hill Road Gymkhana event this past weekend was fun, but it wasn’t in the true tradition of a tight, small, precision gymkhana course like this vintage Mini Cooper video.

I had hoped for lower/slower speeds & a much tighter course.   I guess it’s true what they say…everything’s bigger in Texas!  One of the participants stated, accurately, that it might be best to call this an H2Rkhana, for their unique combination of maneuverability with speed & fun!

My Miata buddy Craig, the 2009 Most Interesting Man of SASCA, lent his own special flavor of panache.  I was able to do a ride-along with him on his first run.  I hadn’t laughed like that is a while -- it was good fun!  Here is one of his later runs from this event.

Also, as icing on the cake, Craig was encouraged to do one of his trademark burnouts (having a Line Lock on your car helps)!  And wouldn’t you know it, Bo Rivers (H2R Owner) welcomed this type of behavior. It was an event to see what additional challenges your car could experience beyond those of autocrossing, like e-brake turns, full on the rev-limiter IN REVERSE, purposefully hitting a cone, using cross track water drainage to your advantage (or peril) & so on…

Here’s the leader board, Top Gear style, after the event…  Of the 18 entries, you’ll see that 1/2 were Mazda Miatas, 1990 to 2009.

Racing Ready is looking forward to see how the versatile crew at Harris Hill Road will push the gymkhana envelope next time. Dan

Here’s a contrast – see how our amateur SCCA racing buddies in New York State play…

This is an officially sponsored event being put on by the Finger Lakes Region SCCA.  It’s a RoadRally & here’s their introductory explanation of what this type of event is all about:

SCCA RoadRally & RallyCross

The Rally program runs year round and encompasses both Time-Speed-Distance events (RoadRally) and course-type rally events (RallyCross). Our TSD rallies include local events and series, Divisional events as well as National events. RallyCross combines the competition of SCCA Solo with the thrill and skill of competing off road.

RallyCross courses often include dirt, gravel and pavement and are prescribed by cones, like autocross. One car navigates the course at a time, with the lowest elapsed time from the start of the course to the finish winning.

[More...]

Here’s the description of their upcoming RoadRally to explain it all:

A rally of approximately 180 “interesting” miles using paved and unpaved roads in the New York Southern Tier. In keeping with the winter rally series format, this is an evening TSD rally run at speeds within the local speed limits.

Snow tires are recommended (all season tires may limit your speed group eligibility), tow rope/strap, and 90 minutes of flares or one DOT triangle are required to compete.

The Rally starts at Charlie Riedel’s Restaurant in Canandaigua, NY
on Routes 5 & 20 (Eastern Blvd). Finish location still TBD.

$35/car for SCCA members, $45/car for guests Equipped, Limited, Stock, and Novice classes.

Schedule: Registration 3:00 to 4:00 PM
Novice school 3:30 PM
Driver’s Meeting 4:10 PM
First car starts 4:31 PM

Flyer available:
http://www.flr-scca.com/rally/2010/WinterSeries4_RouteOfAllEvo.pdf

Ten days ago I was just about 70 miles east of the region where this RoadRally is planned to take place.  At the time, the roads were fully plowed (for those of you not “snow-experienced”, that means relatively dry & free snow/ice, with a variety of slush along the sides).  But Mother Nature is fickle & additional snow could come their way to make the trek that much more interesting.  Also of note, some of the roads are unpaved…

One other thing I’m curious about; why are they starting out SO late?  They’re only going to have about 1+ hour of light before the sun goes down.  Makes you want to consider mounting rally lights on a roof rack!

Racing Ready hopes to find  some posted feedback on this event to see how it all went.

Dan

These color photos are courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/people/rutch/ – Nice work!

The antithesis to driving/racing -- technology is cool, but no one’s there behind the wheel & pedals.  There’s no personal challenge!  But for full disclosure, here’s what Stanford University is challenging themselves to do -- driverless!

Stanford’s Robotic Audi
To Brave Pikes Peak Without A Driver

The Center for Automotive Research at Stanford has developed a new contender for the Pikes Peak course: A robotic car that drives itself.
(By Christine Blackman, a science-writing intern at the Stanford News Service)

We’ll have to wait till September 2010 to see how this all works out…

Racing Ready is both skeptical & curious -- what do YOU think!

Dan