On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 22:17:17 -0500, "FrinkLemur"
> wrote:

>I'm a bad Miata owner.
>
>Froschen, the Wonder Miata (1992 black on tan, 248k+ miles) has been
>gathering dust in a shed. It's covered, and I've been good about going out
>and firing it up every few weeks ... though the battery is completely flat
>now, so I probably need to replace it.
>
>Last night, I got nostalgic and thought I'd take it out for a spin. I hooked
>up the cables to my new car, cranked it... and it fired up on the first try.
>A little smoke, but no coughing, no hesitation. Hell, it started more easily
>than my new car! (don't be too surprised, my new car is a diesel, and
>doesn't like cold mornings) I put the clutch in, put it in reverse, let the
>clutch out....and....
>
>nothing.
>
>The clutch felt a bit light... so I pumped it a few times. Still nothing.
>
>It was dark in the garage, but there was enough light for me to see that
>there was fluid in the clutch reservoir. Any ideas on where to even start
>looking? In the coming months, I'm going to work on giving this car the
>thorough going-over it's needed for some time. But it'll be a whole lot
>easier if I can move it under its own steam. It would be really depressing
>to have to get it towed to a shop from my house.....
>
>
>James
>
>
>Oh, and in case you're wondering - the replacement was an '01 VW Golf TDI. I
>commute about 100 miles a day, and filling up the Miata every 2 days was
>eating me alive.

Are you SURE it really was in reverse? How about 1st?

If the clutch wasn't releasing you couldn't get it in gear with the
motor running.