Miata Mailing List: September 1998, Message #41

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Werner Cassel wrote:

> On 31 Aug 98, at 21:38, Skip Cannon wrote:
>
> > >  At we neared the
> > >>highest parts ( roughtly 10,000 - 11,500 ft.) a very strong gas (we
> > >
> > >>
> > >>The only unusual behavior was that my son was driving and he insists on
> > >>lugging the car, keeping revs aroung 2K . . . uphill.
> >
> > First thing you should do is ban that kid from ever driving the Miata
> > again.  That is probably the worst possible thing you could do to your
> > engine (other than run it without its vital fluids), especially if it is
> > not yet broken in.
> >
> > Second thing you should do is consider beating the kid severly about the
> > head and shoulders for being such a dummy.  I think his behavior falls
> > under the definition of cruel and unusual abuse of a fine piece of
> > machinery.
> >
> > Skip Cannon
> .....
> Fully agreed.
>
> Maybe the smell was unburnt fuel? I think the combination of WOT, 2k RPM,
> and high altitude might make it impossible for the engine to really burn the fuel
> offered.
>
> Just a wild guess ....
>
> Werner

Thanks for the help on this.  A couple of more comments:  The car was not laboring in
any way, but motoring along fine.   There was no lurching or distressed noises coming
from under the hood.  The rpms were varied too, not continuous.  I just kept looking
over to see where we were at, and it often settled down in the 2500 range.

I like the unburned fuel theory.  That's what the smell seemed most like.

I know that 'lugging" is bad, but I had no idea how bad.  The car has about 10 K on
it, so should be fully broken in.   I hope this chalks up as one brief
not-to-be-repeated episode without serious damage to the car . . . or the kid for
that matter.  I'll try to be dumb in other ways from now on.  Thanks again.

John Pederson
Fort Collins