Hello everyone. I'm a happy owner of a 1999 Mazda Miata that has seen better days of late. Due to economic circumstances beyond my control (read: The Economy), I've had to drive around my poor beat-up Miata for a long time now. I rear-ended someone a few months back with the unfortunate issue of having only liability insurance.
Thanks to the airbags both deploying (why I didn't have the passenger side bag disabled, I don't know), I suffered some damage to the front end and of course, the windshield since the bags popped, smacking the rearview into the windshield and creating a lovely spiderweb.
Beyond that, I'm now suffering the ill effects of some mechanical problems. Forgetting the body work necessary for a moment, I'd like to focus on the under-the-hood problems I've been having.
Just recently, I noticed some peculiar issues when driving it. I would find that after parking it briefly, when I would try to drive it again, it would often backfire on me. Also, it was experiencing difficulty delivering full power to the vehicle as i'd shift in gear - I could hear it struggling to achieve speeds that normally weren't a problem. Eventually after a few minutes of driving it, it would "kick in" and start delivering full power again and operate normally.
During those times when it would have problems, it often died on me when idling. Now, I would have normally had this looked into much much sooner but I was not in an economic position to do so. And recently this weekend, it came to a head - my Miata died on me. Regardless of which gear i'd shift into, the car wouldn't move. I immediately thought I had a clutch problem (60K miles and never had replaced it yet).
Well, luckily for me I have just got a new job (and was meaning to start getting the car worked on next week). It's currently in the shop and indeed the mechanic says the clutch needs to be replaced. He hasn't looked at any other issues yet.
I'm present here on the list to basically become more informed about my car. despite my obvious negligence in taking care of the vehicle, I'm really not stupid. I swear :). I was just broke and only had the Miata as my primary means of transportation.
I don't want to sell the car. I want to get it fixed. I know there will be more issues in regards to getting it fixed (considering the engine problem I had that I described). What I'm hoping for here is some feedback from the Miata experts. What's the best way for me to learn more about my car so I don't sound like a complete neophyte when talking to the mechanic? Can I come here for advice on what needs to be fixed? Once the under-the-hood issues are fixed, i'd like to get the bodywork done and I would hope to not have to spend a fortune on it, so I'm hoping you folks here can steer me in the right direction.
Maybe if I'm lucky enough, I may learn enough to do some of the work myself.
What are the best sources for becoming less mechanically inept? :)
Even though i've been cruel to her with my lack of funds these past two years, I really love my 1999 Miata and I don't plan on selling it. She's only got 60K miles on her and I'd like to put thousands more.
Any help or comments or sugestions you have would be most appreciated.
Myron Mychal Owner of an ill 1999