MX5Ireland

Took the plunge and picked this up, 2 owners , last one owned it for 16 years but hasn’t made much use of it for the last few. Clean inside, non smoker, but mouldy as hell in all the joints and gaps outside.
Rust on rear arches and both wings, might be able to patch the wings but thankfully the rear arches aren’t rusted through, only surface blisters under the paint.
Plenty of time to get everything done as autoline won’t insure it until next year as it’s ‘only’ 19 now

Oh nice!! Love those! Which engine?

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2lt kompressor auto , 125000 mls

Truth be told, I'm a German car guy myself. The MX5 is an exception ! I have always liked those SLK's. They are prone to rust though, just like a lot of Merc's from that era. I will be interested to see your progress with it so keep us up to date ! That M62 supercharger should provide some nice tunes
How does it drive and how do these feel on the road ? I have never driven one myself. I'm guessing they feel more "plush" than our MX5's.

Very tasty - nice colour combo.

Enjoy.

Thanks guys, I’ve never liked mercs but as I never felt comfortable parking the Mazda anywhere I wanted a retractable hardtop and this was the only type of car in the age bracket around, such a pity that it took Mazda so long to get one.
As for how it drove back home ( including getting lost on a straight road) the car is in desperate need of a good service but there was a bit of wind noise at times but not a rattle or squeak out of it, “more plush” is one way of putting it, so much more relaxing but not as enjoyable as the 5, not too sure how far I’ll go with the bodywork, the hope is that I’ll repair just the rust spots and blend in the paint rather than doing a full respray

Cracking nice car. I keep looking at the blue one there on DD - god save us - in Kildare. Love that combination interior. I keep thinking the same thing. Thats what it came down to between the MK3 I got and an SLK. I use the MK3 and I am mad about it but the Merc is nice. Hardtop and they get good owners reviews. Best of luck with it. Interested to hear how you find it.

Unfortunately autoline won’t add it to my mx5 classic policy as it isn’t 20 years old until next year so I won’t get to drive it.
To get it home from Dublin my son swapped his insurance onto it, as I’m a named driver on his it meant I was covered, he’s on a weeks holiday next month so maybe swap it over again so I can drive it, it is currently taxed & nct’d, might be worth ringing around for cover when renewal in June.

Plugged in the diagnostic scanner, found four fault codes all to do with, misfire on cyl 1 and maf sensor

I had the same engine in the CLK. I've had it apart a few times, only for small issues tho.

For the MAF issue, this used to cause my supercharger not to work, the bypass valve would remain open, couple of things I did to fix.
1) cleaning the MAF with a spray of intake cleaner
2) reset the accelerator - key on, foot to the floor for 10 secs, keep foot down and turn off, let sit for 2 mins before restarting
3) if the supercharger isn't working, reset the bypass valve (disconnect big intake pipe at closest to front of car end, move valve with finger off 90degrees, turn key to 2nd position, let valve close and open, wait for a relay "click", turn off key, turn back on for 45 secs during which time the valve will close and open again, key off).
4) then did this : https://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/inde ... 208.33993/
*edit* found the photos I took when doing it : https://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/inde ... ost-896332

What are the codes you are getting?

Also, another quick check, pull off the cover on the front face of the camcover, there is a big round cam angle sensor there with a connector on it, take off the connector and check for oil in it. Merc have an inexpensive (36e-ish) plug n play replacement pigtail, I'll see if I can dig out the part number.

Thanks for all the info Steve, some nice information on the supercharger and resets, I don’t remember the codes but I did save them before clearing so they should be in the tool when I connect it again.
The mx5 is safely tucked up in the shed ( not coming out in this weather) so I’m not doing anything with the merc until the weather clears

Found the codes, even though they had been cleared one came back without driving the car.
P0101 maf , this is the one that returned by only having the engine running
P0102 maf
P0130 o2 sensor bank 1 sensor 1
P0340 cam sensor A circuit
P0170 fuel trim bank 1
P0304 misfire cyl 4

All these were cleared yesterday and the engine run for 20 mins or so, the one that returned when checked today hasn’t returned since being cleared again.
I’d say it needs a temp sensor as the scanner shows 100deg F (app 38 C) when the car was started from stone cold.
Just something to add to the service parts

Re the o2 sensor, check for an exhaust leak along the edge (furthest from the engine, it has a bead of weld on it that cracks) of the exhaust manifold. It's pretty common.
You'd prob have heard the "tick tick" from it by now anywho

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Thanks Steve, far too wet today to do anything other than look out the window at it. I’ve started a list of things to do, somehow I seem to think of something to add every hour or so , I’ll turn my back on it till later next week, hopefully the weather will be better then

Air flow meter has a good coating of oil on it, it’s probably a pound shop job as there’s no part number or makers name on it , tried googling the numbers but no results

Pics of both sides of the passenger wing, I thought this was worse than the driver side but it’s not too bad, might remove them to get at the inner panels


Until I get to use the grinder that is


Took the headlights out to get a look at the inside of the wings, was going to split them anyway to re seal the lenses as they were fully soaked inside and they have discolored pretty well,on the drive home the light off them was like candles.
The view from inside the lens, polishing kit already ordered

Sorry, it’s not a mx5 topic but I don’t know how to move it to “my other car is”