Miata Mailing List: September 1995, Message #712
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   From: Martin Lyngvig 
Subject: Re: Help! Lawnmower problem
   Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 04:10:11 -0400

At 10:20 PM 9/12/95 -0400, Brent Hupp wrote:
>Well, it finally happened. My 1993 Red A  had it's first, but hopefully
>minor, problem.
>
>On my way home from work, I got into my Miata and started it up. Something
>sounded a little off kind of like it was misfiring. This quickly resolved
>before I even made my way out of the parking lot.
>
>Twenty miles later, I pull into a gas station and filled her up. Then, when
>I started the car again, I get this terrible feeling reminiscent of
>misfiring. Luckily, my home is only a mile away so I drove home. I had no
>power and my Miata sounded like some old LawnBoy. If I eased the
>accelerator very slowly, at times she would return with some smooth
>acceleration (sans LawnBoy) but for most of the ride, it was terrible.
>
>My miata has 44K+ miles (with a majority on the freeway). I am going to
>pull the plugs and check the wires tonight. But from there, I am not sure.
>I can't make it to the dealer until Friday so any suggestions would be
>**most** appreciated.
>
>Thanks all :(
>Brent
>

Make sure to check the battery. I recently had something similar with my
'91, after it had been shipped and therefore not started for around a week.
I had never had a problem, but when it arrived it had to be jump started and
ran like someone filled something nasty in the gas tank (and the shipping
company had warned they emptied the tank before shipping - however they
claimed they didn't). After some messing around, I discovered the battery
simple couldn't charge and a check-up on it confirmed it had expired. Your
is a '93 so it's kind of early for the battery to die, I was told they
usually last 3-5 years - but it is an option.

Had to pay $159 + tax for a new Mazda battery, no third parties to get hands
on in my hurry.

-Martin

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Martin Lyngvig, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA      email: martini@acm.org
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