|
FOR OUR '99 OWNERS |
|
There is a situation involving the '99 Miata
that you should be aware of. It only affects a very few cars, but
not even Mazda knows which ones. They issued Technical Service Bulletin
002/99, which included a range of VIN numbers of possibly affected cars,
but problems have been discovered with cars outside this range, so the
TSB cannot be relied upon. The problem is in the engine and involves
the thrust bearing, which keeps the crankshaft in the proper lateral location.
The bearing begins to wear, allowing the crankshaft to move from front
to rear. Most cars with the problem have exhibited the symptoms
at around 4,000 miles. The symptoms seem to start with intermittent
rattles from the engine, which probably do not seem significant.
As the rattles get worse, the clutch begins to feel different. The
normal resistance in the pedal changes and the release point moves around.
You begin to miss shifts because you can't tell what the clutch is doing.
Next you begin to see the idle speed drop as you depress the clutch.
It returns to normal if you release the clutch. You begin to feel
a lack of power, and the car will actually stall when you depress the
clutch. Sometimes all of this is accompanied with various noises,
which seem to be related to the clutch. Overheating has occurred
in some cases. If your car begins to display these symptoms,
do the following: Have someone sit in the car and depress the clutch
while you watch the crankshaft pulley. If you see any change in
the lateral position of the pulley (front to rear movement) have Mazda
check your car. This problem has only surfaced in a small percentage of '99's, but it HAS happened to one club member. Mazda is being very cooperative in this matter, and as soon as they diagnose this problem they authorize replacement of the engine. There is a very small chance of this happening to your car, but I hope this helps in the slight chance that you begin so see these symptoms. |