3rd time lucky! Bought yet ANOTHER cheap, 3-cyl Mirage eco-appliance!

[RedDevil]

Do disks really beat the drums?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

Do disks really beat the drums?

Their major advantage is a quicker heat rejection, yet if I lived in a farm maybe I would prefer a vehicle with drum brakes all-around. On a sidenote, a guy in my country poured WD-40 to the disc brakes of a Fiesta (which AFAIK had discs all-around), after being told it would put an end to the superficial rust which was bothering him

[MetroMPG]

Had to boost Mirage #3 to get it out of storage.

Annnnnd this is what it showed like after a few additional hours on the charger...



I knew it was weak when I bought the car, but that is dead and not coming back.

And unfortunately none of my extra batteries (big old boat batteries) will fit.

I'll get it sorted out in the next couple of weeks before I park the MPGiata for another winter.

[MetroMPG]

Looks like the gearbox may have had the wrong weight oil in it! I just "fixed" it by replacing the oil with a lighter weight mixture.


Back story:


I knew when I got the car that shifting gears was a little problematic -- 2nd gear was occasionally reluctant and/or crunchy. I figured that was the price for buying a car that the previous owner admitted was her first stickshift.


But with fall temperatures getting closer to freezing, resistance shifting into 2nd gear (and sometimes 1st and 3rd) became a real problem. Double & triple-clutching didn't solve it, either.


Molasses:

When I opened the drain plug, almost no oil came out. (Ambient temp around 5C / 40 F.) For a moment I thought it might actually be empty! I had to remove the fill plug to get it to drain properly.


Comparison to factory spec oil weight:

The car calls for 75w-80, but the lightest my local parts store had was Redline synthetic 75w-85. I took a chance and bought some.

Then just for fun I compared the viscosity of the new & old oils by timing how long it took to drain half a litre of each through a container with a smal hole poked in the bottom.

I also tested some 5w20 synthetic motor oil for reference.

Time to drain 0.5L @ 5 C ... Oil type



2 min 25 sec ... old gear oil

1 min 22 sec ... Redline MT-85 synthetic gear oil 75w-85

1 min 13 sec ... 5w20 synthetic motor oil


Shifting problems fixed!

I mixed together the synth 75w-85 with some lighter Royal Purple "Synchromax" MT oil and re-filled it.

What a difference! The car is a pleasure to shift now. (Well, as much as a Mirage can be.)

It looks like someone may have put the wrong oil in it. It was manageable in the summer, but would have been almost undriveable in winter temps. Makes me wonder if the shifting problems contributed to the previous owner getting rid of it. She said it was only ever serviced at her local Mitsu dealership, too.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I wouldn't be so surprised if the shifting problems were the main reason for its previous owner to sell it.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

I wouldn't be so surprised if the shifting problems were the main reason for its previous owner to sell it.

I wondered the same thing. If the dealership did a gear oil change in the summer and accidentally put the wrong oil in, it wouldn't have become a problem for the owner until the next winter.

At which point they might have mis-diagnosed worn synchros and given her a ~$4000 estimate to replace the transaxle!

[MetroMPG]

I spent entirely too much time with a dremel tool recently.

The MPGiata's wheels have the right bolt pattern to fit the Mirage, but the center bore was too small by a couple of mm.

Fixed!





I'm putting some RE92's on them. This will allow me to do a LRR coastdown comparison (when the warm weather returns) with the Bridgestone Enasaves that Mitsubishi fitted on the Mirage.

[freebeard]

Do they center on the bolt circle or the hub??

[MetroMPG]

When on the Miata, these will now be lug centric. On the Mirage, hub centric.



Now I need to cover them up with some coro wheel discs.

The Mirage almost didn't start today - coldest day of the winter so far @ -25C / -13 F. Partly because I haven't driven it in about a week, so the battery wasn't at full charge.

Twinsies!

[freebeard]

Seven is an auspicious number.