bought a 96 for my daughter ....
 

111k miles. Auto. Ac. Pretty decent shape other than a few cosmetics. Do these cars have any notorious issues? Looks like new valve cover gaskets. Im hoping there is a new timing belt under there. I am hearing a little rattle from suspension when on rough roads. Maybe worn bushings? What are some things I should look when I get it up on a rack? I have already changed fuel filter due to a "sometimes" miss @ idle. Seems to have helped some. Any opinions / adviceparent are welcome. I feel like a rockstar. Daughter loves it. Only problem is she can't keep my a$$ out of the driver seat. Reminds me of a Triumph Spitfire I had as a kid. Thanks in advance
Chris

Hey chris, first off welcome to MFz. Secondly the miata is one of the most reliable cars i have ever owned, note mine have all been 5 speeds so i cant comment on the Auto. you the miata engine is also a non interference engine so if it were to break in theory the valves will be fine. timing belt is a job you can do in your garage on a saturday, costs about 100 bucks to do the complete job (timing belt, water pump, VC gasket, belts) check the hoses while you have the system drained not a bad time to replace them. if the radiator tank(top part you see under the hood) is brown replace it, it will crack eventually and then you will have a problem. miatas dont take to well to being overheated (aluminum head). your rear end clunk is likely sway bar bushings, or links. The miatas rattle anyway, just the nature of the car.

things to look for, in front of the rear tires the lower rockers on First Gens rust out easily. Mostly norther states, Im assuming since you said its your daughter car your in a warmer state and you dont get much if any snow. that being said, top drains can also cause that area to rust, when your under the car near the back you will se 2 black hoses hanging down from that rocker area, a shop tech at mazda told me the use the air gun to blow them out. Word of caution it will make a large mess if they are clogged.

aside from that they are great reliable little cars, gas millage isnt great but its not bad 23-27mpg. enjoy the car.

1st off, thanx for the reply. I grew up around cars. Dad has owned a wholesale car lot every since I can remember. Started driving when I was 12. Totaled my first one @ age 13. Started dirt track racing at 23 years old. But I have never had the pleasure of owning a Miata. So far, I love it. Momma is worried because it is tooo small. Our daughters first car. Sweet ride huh?

Would post pics if I was as smart as my is.

Phone

best mod for the money, and saftey of driver, good point for the mrs. Roll bar, not a style bar. plus some of them just make the car look cool

Have already been considering that. Thought about trying to build one. I have a bit of experience with bars and cages. My only hesitation is fit and finish. If I do.. there will be pics.

You have a phone #? I have more questions for you

i prefer not to give my number out, use the private message if you would like.

Hey, no problem. Car still has occasional stumble @ idle speed. Changed fuel filter ran Seafoam through injectors, no codes when scanner was plugged in. Any thoughts? Idle is about 600 rpm

idle should be 850-900

How would you adjust idle speed? If it was a carb, no problem. Not much experience with injection.

the greatest resource for miata info. Miata
thats a simple one though theres a little black box that says diagnostic on it, let the car warm up completely, jump pins ten and gnd, theres a screw on the side of the throttle body slowly adjust it up too ~850. remove the jumper, rev and make sure it falls back to where you set it if not repeat.

Welcome to the forum! Sorry I'm late to the party.

While you are jumping pins TEN and GND, put a timing light on the crank and make sure the timing mark lines up with the timing notch on the timing cover (marked 0 and 10). When TEN and GND are jumpered it locks timing at 10 degrees and you can verify timing at that point. If it is a little off, you can loosen the cam angle sensor located on the rear of the exhaust cam and rotate it to adjust. Adding 5 degrees to the base timing won't hurt anything and will make the car a little peppier. Above 17 or 18 degrees you will get a little pre-ignition, so don't go too far.

As for rattles, check the upper shock mount bushings, and the sway bar bushings if you think it is suspension.

My car is a '96, too, so if you need any parts I might have something extra laying around. I arrived at the Miata by way of Austin Healey Sprites and a long gone Triumph GT6+ so I understand the affinity for lightweight cars. And to reiterate what RTM said above, these cars are extraordinarily reliable with only rudimentary maintenance.

Thanks for the info folks. I had already been thinking of advancing the cam about 5° or so. Probably gonna start on the body pretty soon. Did find loose shock mounts. Also went ahead and installed a Pioneer unit with bluetooth and ipod plug ins. Daughter is rocking with the hands free now!

i love having the bluetooth connection in the car, i wish my dd had it to be honest. but sound quality in the dd will always be better than the miata so i will take the trade off.

Advancing the cam is not something I suggested. Advancing the spark timing is a better idea. It was probably a typo on your part.