Thanks to the folks at Valenti, Saturday I went and picked up my car. SY with Touring, LSS, and Hardtop. Due to the weather up here in CT, I had it trucked home. Today it was nice out, so I decided to take the first drive around my block. SY looks amazing in the sun!!! As I backed up my somewhat long uphill driveway and got to the top, the car stalled. It took a second or so to get it restarted, and ran fine for the next few minutes. The the Engine Malfunction Indicator light came on. 13 miles on the car and the engine light came on. UGH!!!! It is now parked neatly in the garage awaiting Spring. I won't drive it the 25 miles to Valenti now that the roads are covered with salt and sand. So... It will have to wait. I am a little irritated, but I knew it wasn't going to be a perfect car, so I will just deal with it. I've checked the gas cap, it is tight. I guess that's all I can do for now.
Got it FINALLY!!!..... But then.....
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No I don't. I plan to pull it out on the driveway every week or so and let it run for a bit. Not sure yet if I will put it on jack stands or not. That would mean I take it off from time to time to run it outside. Who knows, I haven't decided yet. Still too new. What are your thoughts?
There's a lot of debate in Miata circles about storage. Some say to run it every day/week/month, some say to put it on a trickle charger, some suggest putting the battery in the basement or some other warm place.zvezdah1 said:
My storage method was to make sure that nothing is eating the car. I did a thorough wash and wax before she got put up. Special attention to the undercarriage.
I also made sure that I ran the fuel almost empty but then filled it to the brim right before I stored the car. This means fresh fuel throughout for the winter and less void space for water to condense. For three months you don't need stabilizer.
I also did an oil change right before I stored the car.
That's it. I parked it and left the battery in and hooked up. Make sure to park it in gear with the parking brake off. I parked it on four little carpet squares and put a cover on it.
Oh. I also stuffed a rag in the intake and exhaust (and left myself a big note warning that they need removed in the spring).
In the spring I pulled the cover off, yanked the rags, started her up and drove her off. It didn't miss a beat. After a few hundred miles I did another oil change (probably unecessary).
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You could jack up the rear end and put it in gear, it worked on Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
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nmr,
the battery will discharge if left hooked up. Also, take a look at the manual, it's a bit of a hassle getting into the car if battery dies, as I recall if the doors were closed with the remote, you can't reopen the doors with a dead battery until you hook up a charged battery. Having used battery tender for years on motorcycles, it's really the way to go, it keeps the battery at a full state. I had the original battery on my Duc 996 after 4 years, ask just about any duc owner, that's pretty good.
Chris
the battery will discharge if left hooked up. Also, take a look at the manual, it's a bit of a hassle getting into the car if battery dies, as I recall if the doors were closed with the remote, you can't reopen the doors with a dead battery until you hook up a charged battery. Having used battery tender for years on motorcycles, it's really the way to go, it keeps the battery at a full state. I had the original battery on my Duc 996 after 4 years, ask just about any duc owner, that's pretty good.
Chris
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SCott, battery tender won't hurt your car if hooked up to the battery, you can get them at any decent motorcycle shop,
FYI, you can also get a cigarette lighter type adapter, which looks like it'd work inthe accessory port, which is hot all the time, easier to hook up, failing that you can hook up the pigtail that comes with the tender so you only have to reach for the plug each time.
Chris
FYI, you can also get a cigarette lighter type adapter, which looks like it'd work inthe accessory port, which is hot all the time, easier to hook up, failing that you can hook up the pigtail that comes with the tender so you only have to reach for the plug each time.
Chris
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Ohh, that's an excellent idea! I hadn't thought about that, since none of my other cars have "always on" accessory ports.zvezdah1 said:
The Battery Tender Jr. should be more than enough for keeping the battery live. Works great on motorcycles too.
In my own (limited) experience, any time I've killed a car battery completely, it's never been the same and needed replacement shortly after. I keep them all topped off now and never had a problem.
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