Just Bought a 92 lx with issues
 

Hey all, I'm new to the club. I just bought a 92 LX from a lady for $900 that has 110,000 miles on it. Anyway I have a few questions.

I've had 4 cylinder cars before but is it normal to be at 3000 rpms when going only 60mph? The gears seem really low. Is my clutch slipping or is that normal?

Also, my gas mileage seems kind of junk. I've been filling up at 24mpg. I read the mileage post, but a 1.8 liter manual MUST be able to get better mileage than this.
Here's what I've done so far.
1. Replaced the rear tire. It was whirring as if the wheel berings had been shot. The tire was knobby as heck as if for a 4x4 truck. That quietened the car down. 4 smooth yet odd matching tires.
2. Inflated my tires to 40psi all around. I figure this is a good compromise between the 35 recommended and 44 max
3. Put 4 quarts of the recommended 10w-30 Castrol Syntec blend in. It was overfull even though the owners manual said put 4.2 quarts in so I drained it just today so it's in the normal range on the dip stick. It was very full (this might be the cause of my poor gas mileage - I'll let you know since crank splashes in the oil) Also does anyone think using a lighter weight oil would be better? Like 5w-30, 5w-20 or even Mobil 1 0w-30 to get better gas mileage.
4. When I first had the car the cooling fan seemed to run a lot, I added a bottle of Chevron with Techron system cleaner and it seemed to improve things a little.
5. Replaced the air filter.
6. I'm trying to replace the fuel filter but can't. that's all

Also, I've noticed a couple problems and am hoping they aren't too serious. When I am taking a corner and accelerating I hear a popping cranking noise coming from the front end. Looking underneath the tranny does seem to be oozing a slight amount. Is the limited slip differential tanked or what? Should I just drive gentle all the time? What to do?

Finally, the stick shift wobbles really loosely. I have no problem shifting but is there an easy way to tighten it down? Has anyone put in short shifters in their car? Was it a hard job?

Oh yeah one more problem. I think my a/c compressor is leaking oil. It's either that or my head gasket is leaking. (I hope it's the gasket because that seems like a less difficult repair) Might be both. Any advice?

Re: Just Bought a 92 lx with issues
 

welcome to the board

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MarcProtege
[B]Anyway I have a few questions.

I've had 4 cylinder cars before but is it normal to be at 3000 rpms when going only 60mph?

-Yes-

Also, my gas mileage seems kind of junk. I've been filling up at 24mpg.

-I've gone as far as 450 miles on a fill-up with no ac-

Here's what I've done so far.

2. Inflated my tires to 40psi all around. I figure this is a good compromise between the 35 recommended and 44 max

-actually 32 is what is recommended, but the higher pressure may improve mileage...-

3. Put 4 quarts of the recommended 10w-30 Castrol Syntec blend in....

-10W30 is good unless you're in extreme cold. i always put 3.5qts in when i change the oil as that seems to make for a 'full' reading on the dipstick-

for the popping/cranking noise when cornering, check the cv boots on the side you hear it from to see if they are cracked. if so, they'll need replacing. and we don't have a limited slip ;)

the shifter wobble is probably a result of the shifter bushings being shot. www.corksport.com sells bronzeoil replacements...

the oil leak could be any number of things...may be just the valve cover gasket :)

Great answers Jason.

I would have answered him similarly. IMHO, I would replace the fuel filter since the mileage is so high.

As for engine oil, it is not economical to use Synthetic blend cuz it's an old car anyway. Using something affordable would be wise. At least there is oil in the engine. A semi-synthetic will do the job for such an old car. It's better to save the money and use something less expensive. In the long run, the money saved could be used for some other improvements.

Try not to overfill the engine oil cuz it could leak out from the valve cover especially with a worn valve cover gasket. The proper way to check the dipstick is to fill 3/4 of the bottle, screw back the oil cover, start the engine so the oil can fill-up the new oil filter for about a minute. Off the engine, check the dipstick and refill if necessary.

If the oil leak is indeed coming from the valve cover gasket, replace it since it's a high mileage car anyway.

Just my 2 cents about oil. I am using 20W 50 and change at 3000km cuz turbo engines need heavier weight oil and needs lesser km for an oil change due to the extreme heat the turbo generates. Plus the engine oil is also used to cool down the turbo whenever you off the engine. I'm using Valvoline 20W50 for Turbo engines which cost equiv. US$15.50/4Litre.

On popping noise
 

The CV boots looked fine and had no leaks. Just to clarify on the noise I hear. It only happens when the clutch is released and giving it gas ie accelerating. I've taken corners hard with no gas or the clutch in and there was no sound. There's always a sound when the steering wheel is turned and accelerating, so generally I either avoid accelerating upon turns (which is difficult from dead stop lefts) or be very gentle. We don't have a differential? I thought all cars did, the left front wheel being the main drive/load wheel with shared power transferred through the differential to the right wheel?

Also the head gasket, to change that is that as easy as just unbolting the silver bolts on the valve cover taking the old one gasket out and bolting back up? Or is there more I need to know? Hopefully because I purposely leaked some of the oil out there will be less oozing.

by the way I quite like the car and for $900 it was good catch. It's smooth, has a decent amount of go, and is totally loaded - sunroof, CD, power everything - the works. I had the AC fixed (just the pipe) and convered to the new system and now it's ice cold. I might hold off on purchasing a new car in a few months if this holds up. I also like the challenge of restoring something.

Great replies, everyone. I would like to add, on the CV issue that the boots don't have to be ripped open to have bad CVs. If you are mechanically inclined, replacing the CVs or the whole axle is not too terrible a job.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by MarcProtege
"Just to clarify on the noise I hear. It only happens when the clutch is released and giving it gas ie accelerating. There's always a sound when the steering wheel is turned and accelerating..."

not sure about that one...perhaps the axles were replaced/rebuilt by the previous owner, but were/are defective and thus the noise even though the boots aren't torn???? EDIT: just noticed Bill said basically the same thing above :)

"We don't have a differential?"

yes we do....its just not a LIMITED slip differential; its an OPEN differential ;)
maybe the differential is *bad*. i just have never heard of it happening on a 1st gen before (of course that doesn't mean that it never happens)

"Also the head gasket, to change that is that as easy as just unbolting the silver bolts on the valve cover taking the old one gasket out and bolting back up? Or is there more I need to know?"

follow the steps here:
http://miata.net/garage/valvecover/index.html
thanx to those instructions, i finally have successfully replaced the gasket with NO leaks so far.

You might want to check those CV axles... my way of describing it would be a "crunch-crunch" sound... you can replace them yourself, probably, from what I understand, but you need a damn lot of torque! :)

On mine though there was a pin to hold it in on the driver's side CV joint that was jammed inside. Even with those super jack hammer thingies the dealer couldn't get it out, they took out the transmission to get to it (a lot of labor $$$). But that was only because the last owner put the wrong size one in or something... :rolleyes: