Oil Change

Oil changed at 54,500 miles, only just over 2000 miles covered this year. Mobil 1 w5-30 with genuine oil filter was used as in the last change a year ago.

Fuel Filter (3)

After changing the fuel filter and after the 200 mile trip to pick up the hardtop, I noticed that, when hot, the idle speed rose to 1200rpm falling to 850rpm after a few seconds when slowing down to stop. Not good. After taking advice from the forum, have now sprayed a tin of carb cleaner into the air intake (cleans Idle Control Valve?) and reset the 'base idle'. Result - perfect! Now, was it the change of fuel filter or the long run that caused the problem? Having been on a previous run up to York, I have to probably say it was the change in filter but the reasoning is a mystery - any comments from the experts out on the 'net?

Don't let the sun (or rain) in!

It had to happen.....I saw a Hardtop in Mica 18J racing green on Ebay and 3 days later and a round journey of 200 miles it was mine! It now hangs in the garage ready for the winter. Only trouble is it takes me (and the other half) to take it off and install so when it goes on, thats it for a while. Have to say though that the top makes AGH! really 'solid' looking.

MX5 Owners Club comes to the rescue.

Have had two excellent replies from www.mx5oc.co.uk with regard to the call for help. Turns out that there is an article on the forum dealing with this issue - I checked the codes and all was OK. Thanks to all that assisted.

Can anyone help? Diagnostic Socket

AGH! has a diagnostic socket in the engine bay. The problem is that it has a slightly different pin layout to the other MX5 cars i have seen on the net. Can anyone tell me where the GND pin is located - (the standard layout has 4 pins on the bottom row - mine has 6!

Don't drop screwdrivers into the engine bay!

It had to happen. I dropped a screwdriver into the path of the moving fan belt the other day with the result that a worrying noise was heard from the front of the engine. To cut the story short, the screwdriver had shifted the air con belt by one grove resulting in the belt hanging off the pully buy one notch - took two days to discover! A new belt solved the problem - moral is 'do not play in the engine bay if it is not broken!' (screwdriver found later on the garage floor)

Fuel Filter (2)

Clips arrived from MX5parts today and the filter was changed in 20 minutes. It is definitely worth purchasing the clips before attempting the job as it effectively means that you can unplug the old and simply plug in the new without petrol leaking everywhere (remember - hard plastic pipes so no clamping!) Was it worth the effort? All I can comment on is that the old filter produced some disgusting black petrol when emptied, so I have to say 'yes'. I will know if it improves performance in the coming weeks. And yes..........it did not leak when fired up for the first time! Clever those little clips.

Fuel Filter

AGH! has now done 54,400 miles and I have decided to change the fuel filter as per the recommendations in the service manual. After doing some searches, I chose to use the instructions by the TechGuys of Canada. They provide an excellent article but I have made a number of observations which differ with the Mk2 model:

1. The fuel cut off relay is not all yellow - the plug is white and the yellow is slightly green!

2. The pipes which attach to the filter are solid plastic, so do not attempt to use clamps - wrap in a cloth and work quickly!

3. Don't start the job before first ordering the little clips as seen below - I did and had to put the whole thing back together again until they arrive from MX5 parts. The clips are part of the quick release for the pipe connectors and are very brittle - I have ordered 4 to be on the safe side (£1.24p each). No one tells you you need these when replacing the filter and do not come as standard with the (overpriced? £31.00) genuine filter from Mazda.

As a result, I am still waiting for the clips to arrive before I can complete the job!