Miata Mailing List: September 1995, Message #96
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   From: russotto@pond.com
Subject: (none)
   Date: Sat, 2 Sep 1995 18:00:51 -0400

I promised the list a report on the installation of my Jackson
cold-air induction system, and here it is:

Tools needed:
10MM and 12 MM sockets and socket wrench with extension
10MM and 12 MM combination wrenches
5/16" socket (for one hose clamp)
Pliers
Phillips Screwdriver
Flat screwdriver
Socket driver

Optional tools:
Torque wrench (for thermostat bolts... but whoever put them on before
me obviously didn't use one...)
Tentactles -- as with most jobs, having at least 3 hands is helpful,
and they need to get into and around small spaces.  An intelligent
species of octopus would make a fine mechanic
Brain - I didn't use mine much, but I should have :-)
Hammer: Substitue for brain.
Miata shop manual -- comes in very handy when you say "Remove WHAT?"
Soldering iron, allen wrenches and multitester (see story)

You start the job by removing the thermostat and dumping coolant all
over the place (you didn't think it would go into the drain pan, did
you?)  What neither the shop manual nor the Jackson instructions told
me was that there's an extra bracket in there, apparently just
holding a wiring harness.  I tried to reinstall it-- big mistake.  I
only had one of Jackson's adhesive-backed gaskets, so I used an
ordinary thermostat gasket on top of the spacer.  This was not a
problem.  Another thing the manuals don't tell you is that the old
gasket will have disintegrated and you'll have to scrape it out of
there piece by piece.

I recommend re-installing the hoses and trying to fill the radiator
NOW-- if you find the leaks at the end, you've got a LOT of work to
do.

Next, you remove the old intake system-- easier said than done, but
not THAT hard.  You'll have to disconnect one end of the upper
radiator hose for this, and there's an extra bolt not mentioned in the
instructions holding the intake tube to the throttle body.  Also,
there's an extra bolt holding the intake snorkel to the engine
compartment.  And, it is easier to remove the intake snorkel
separately than to try to take out the air box and intake snorkel as
one piece.

Now you re-reroute the airbag sensor wires.  Not a problem.

Then you put the airbox in.  Anticipating them, I removed the two
bolts which would hold the "arms" of the airbox at this point.
Despite what it says in the directions, don't put the airbag sensor
bolt back in yet.

Now you put the air meter and new hardware in.  The worst part here is
the accursed airbox to air meter reinforcing bar.  Mine WOULD NOT FIT.
This is where the hammer comes in.  I eventually made it fit, though
not without doing it a good bit of damage, and not without losing the
bolt which holds it to the air meter.  I decided that wasn't a
problem, as there were a few stock bolts already removed which fit, so
I used one.

NOW put that airbag sensor bolt back in.  Trust me, if you did it
before you've removed it by now.  And put the other two cowling bolts
and the new washers in.  Oops, I only have one cowling bolt.  Right--
I used the other for the air meter.  Damn and blast-- oh well, I'll
leave one "arm" free until I can get another bolt.

Now you have to tighten the clamps on the collapsable accordian tube,
while simultaneously compressing the tube.  Here's the #1 place
tentacles come in handy.

Now you relocate the hood rod.  How do you hold the hood up while
doing this?  Another good place for tentacles. When it says "right
side" here, in the instructions, it means DRIVER'S
SIDE.  I thought it meant the other side, and attached the hood
bracket in the wrong place.  To make matters worse, I snapped the head
off that bolt (oops, guess it's a good thing they come in packages of
2!).

Now I'm done-- fill up the radiator, reconnect the battery, and drive
off.  This is about the 4 hour mark (on a 1.5 hour job if done by
someone who knows what he is doing).   Unfortunately, when I fill up
the radiator it leaks like a sieve out of the thermostat spacer.
Turns out to be that extra bracket interfering with the seal.  But now
the airbox is blocking access to one of the bolts.  Off comes the
airbox cover, including reinforcing brackets.  Off comes the air meter
from the airbox.  Off comes the thermostat spacer.  Out comes the
extra bracket.  On goes the spacer, with the extra bracket left
hanging.  On goes the air meter.  On goes the air filter and airbox
cover.  On go the other pieces of hardware removed.  In goes some
antifreeze and distilled water -- no leaks this time.  On goes the
radiator cap.  On goes the negative battery terminal.  Time to start
her up! 

VROOM.....CHECK ENGINE.  No surprise.  Plug in the jumper from ground
to TEN (not ground to B+, I did that before.  B+ seems to be BATTERY
plus.  Fortunately it was only a 22-gauge jumper, and the spark burnt
it right through without blowing up anything...)  Code is 08, air
meter shorted or open.  Check connectors-- hmm, they seem fine, but
reseat them anyway.  Clear codes with Miata Magazine BTN fuse method.
Try again.  CHECK ENGINE, code 08.  DAMN.  Try again, shop manual
yank-the-battery-and-stand-on-the-brake code clearing method.  CHECK
ENGINE, code 08.  Step on throttle-- sounds terrible, not surprising
considering it doesn't know how much air is coming in.

Here's where the ohmmeter comes in.  Check continuity of wiring
harness extension: pin 4 is not continuous.  Looks ok at the air
sensor end, but the other end needs a small allen wrench to open it--
so I do.  Yep, the #4 wire is broken.  Yank the BTN fuse, remove the
wire ties (handy trick:  shove a small screwdriver into the back end
and push-- pops the tie off without destroying it) and take cable
inside for repairs.  Repair cable, put it back together, put it back
on car.  Restore BTN fuse.  Start engine.... CHECK ENGINE (WHAT???)
Oh, it just went out!  I'm in business!  Reattach wire ties, adjust
idle (I don't know why, but somehow it dropped), adjust freeplay on
throttle (something I've been meaning to do for a while), and put away
tools.  That makes it to the 7-hour mark.  

DRIVE:  Feels a little stronger from idle, though that may have more
to do with removing the excess slack in the throttle cable.  Doesn't
feel nearly as anemic in the 2000-3500 range.  Feels great above
4000--- seems to be a good bit more power.  Up in that range, it
sounds like hell on wheels-- it roars loudly, and vibrates badly (not
suprising considering the airbox isn't quite secure...).  To the
fast-food joint, then to the hardware store.  When I attach the last
bolt, it doesn't roar as loudly, nor vibrate nearly as much.  There's
still some vibration, probably due to the hood rod being up against
the reinforcement bracket.  I'll get some foam tape later on and try
and eliminate that.  The one broken bolt is still broken, because I
don't have a drill to remove it.  It just holds the nose on, and
there's lots of other bolts for that, I figure...

An exhausting job, especially because of the two problems encounters.
But something even a rank amateur such as myself can do.