cold idle and mpg

hi,

i drove my wife's 95 with an eaton s/c to get gas today and it kept
stalling on me. i know i could just adj the normal idle but i wonder
if there is a cold idle or other winter adjustment?

aslo, the car with a recently rebuilt drive train seems to be gertting
~20 mpg...that seems a tad low, what do you guys get?

thanks,
peter

Don't know about the cold idle situation.

We are getting about 37 mpg in our year 2000 1.6 NB over here in the UK.
I guess our Imperial Gallons are a bit larger than US ones but that
seems about normal for ordinary road use.
( It does depend a lot on the roads though, I know I get a lot more MPG
in France where generally the hills are less steep and the bends are
less sharp, hence a lot less braking, gear changing and acceleration. )

Regards
Chris



The message
>
from peter > contains these words:

> hi,

> i drove my wife's 95 with an eaton s/c to get gas today and it kept
> stalling on me. i know i could just adj the normal idle but i wonder
> if there is a cold idle or other winter adjustment?

> aslo, the car with a recently rebuilt drive train seems to be gertting
> ~20 mpg...that seems a tad low, what do you guys get?

> thanks,
> peter

On Oct 24, 2:19*pm, peter > wrote:
> hi,
>
> i drove my wife's 95 with an eaton s/c to get gas today and it kept
> stalling on me. *i know i could just adj the normal idle but i wonder
> if there is a cold idle or other winter adjustment?
>
> aslo, the car with a recently rebuilt drive train seems to be gertting
> ~20 mpg...that seems a tad low, what do you guys get?


Peter, my 52k miles, '97 M Edition 1.8L with 5-speed is getting a
consistant 28mpg on the highway (70-80mph) and 26mpg in stop and go
city traffic, being driven pretty much foot to the floor. Car is dead
stock.

Tim

In article
>,
"Tim M." > wrote:

> > i drove my wife's 95 with an eaton s/c to get gas today and it kept
> > stalling on me. *i know i could just adj the normal idle but i wonder
> > if there is a cold idle or other winter adjustment?
> >
> > aslo, the car with a recently rebuilt drive train seems to be gertting
> > ~20 mpg...that seems a tad low, what do you guys get?
>
>
> Peter, my 52k miles, '97 M Edition 1.8L with 5-speed is getting a
> consistant 28mpg on the highway (70-80mph) and 26mpg in stop and go
> city traffic, being driven pretty much foot to the floor. Car is dead
> stock.

Mileage of any Mazda seems heavily dependent on how it's driven; kids
with Mazda3s often get only 20, while our 3 sees 30-31 in mixed use and
up to 35 on trips (if we can hold the speed down to 70).

20 isn't that surprising for a supercharged Miata, if the extra power is
used as a matter of habit, especially if the car hasn't been custom
tuned using an aftermarket timing control. Even if you keep your foot
out of it, the S/C will still cost 1 mpg or so just to spin the pulley.
Plus, if it keeps stalling it's obviously not running properly.

Spend some time in the Forced Induction forum at miata.net. Someone
there will have the solution for you.

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C

In a separate email directly to peter, I sent him a jpg image (pretty large
file size but easy to read) of page from Haynes repair manual regarding
miata Intake Air Temperature (IAT) sensor which is part of the mass air flow
sensor. These cars should get better mileage than 20mpg even when
supercharged. I get 28ish highway and city with an automatic transmission.
The IAT may be the problem but I would first clean the throttle body using
spray cleaner ($4) and consider replacing your ignition wires ($40). OEM
type ignition wires seem to last not more than 2 years on miatas before they
degrade badly. If you intending to keep the car, Nology wires are seriously
and noticably better but also cost $125-$175. I like mine that I bought
several years ago. Unfortunately there is only one idle adjuster. The cold
idle is computer controlled based on the IAT sensor. Regrettably, the mass
air flow sensor is pretty expensive ($222 to $895 at RockAuto.com), so let's
hope that is not the problem.

Brian


"peter" > wrote in message
...
hi,

i drove my wife's 95 with an eaton s/c to get gas today and it kept
stalling on me. i know i could just adj the normal idle but i wonder
if there is a cold idle or other winter adjustment?

aslo, the car with a recently rebuilt drive train seems to be gertting
~20 mpg...that seems a tad low, what do you guys get?

thanks,
peter

In article >,
"Brian Minto" > wrote:

> Regrettably, the mass
> air flow sensor is pretty expensive ($222 to $895 at RockAuto.com), so let's
> hope that is not the problem.

The MAS might benefit from cleaning, too. An over-oiled foam air filter
element (the Achilles heel of the Eaton system) can contaminate the hot
wire.

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C

Be sure to use a cleaner that specifies that it is compatible with sensors
(about $6), not carb or FI cleaner. I need to clean the MAS sensor wire in
my 2001 Toyota Corolla twice per year to avoid error messages. It also has a
K&N type filter that is cleaned and oiled (and maybe over-oiled).

Brian


"Lanny Chambers" > wrote in message
...
In article >,
"Brian Minto" > wrote:

> Regrettably, the mass
> air flow sensor is pretty expensive ($222 to $895 at RockAuto.com), so
> let's
> hope that is not the problem.

The MAS might benefit from cleaning, too. An over-oiled foam air filter
element (the Achilles heel of the Eaton system) can contaminate the hot
wire.

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C

Brian Minto wrote:
> Be sure to use a cleaner that specifies that it is compatible with sensors
> (about $6), not carb or FI cleaner. I need to clean the MAS sensor wire in
> my 2001 Toyota Corolla twice per year to avoid error messages. It also has a
> K&N type filter that is cleaned and oiled (and maybe over-oiled).
>
> Brian

I have never cleaned the MAS sensor wire on either the Miata that I
drive or the Camry that I also care for.
In fact, I have never cleaned it on any car.

There are lots of arguments as to the advantages and disadvantages of a
K&N style versus a paper filter.

If the K&N were clearly superior in filtration, yet was also the cause
of fouling the sensor wire, I would probably still go with the paper one
just to avoid getting in there twice a year for a MAS sensor wire clean-up.

As it is, there is a lot of evidence that the paper filter is better to
use, or at least as good, so there is no contest for me.

I did run the JR CAI with the oiled foam filter for about 2 years and
never had a problem with it, (the filter that is, the actual JR CAI unit
was a poorly-made nightmare).
Same with the oiled foam air filter unit I have on my turbo, neither
have ever passed enough oil through to become a problem.

Still, if my turbo would take a paper air filter I would use it and just
replace it very frequently.

XS11E, that makes a re-starting of the dreaded oil thread and the K&N
filter versus paper filter thread in the same month.
Should I go into hiding? ;-)

Pat

pws > wrote:

> XS11E, that makes a re-starting of the dreaded oil thread and the
> K&N filter versus paper filter thread in the same month.
> Should I go into hiding? ;-)

I've already taken out the contract, the guys will find you where ever
you go! <g>

I was surprised that the price, usually a hit is pretty expensive but
they said, "Oh, that guy, we'll do it for $10.00!" <snicker>


--
XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project:
http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/

In article >, pws >
wrote:

> I did run the JR CAI with the oiled foam filter for about 2 years and
> never had a problem with it

You mean, aside from the appalling amount of dirt it passed? The first
time I removed my JR filter element for cleaning, I found a disgusting
pile of crud in the bottom of the airbox. Then, when I cleaned it out, I
could see the cracks around the mounting surface for the aluminum MAS
adapter. Out came the JR, back went the OEM. All it really did was make
a silly "blub-blub" noise at idle, anyway.

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C