MX5Ireland

My normally ultra reliable daily driver/bike hauler/mud slinger/gate closer/ditch traverser/toolbox has been a PITA over the last few weeks.
Its a Ssangyong Kyron, its just getting to "that" age where it needs some tlc. It needed new pads all round and disks on the rear, over Christmas one of the hardlines from an injector to the fuel rail developed a minuscule crack which sprayed diesel eeeverywhere and left us stranded on the side of the road near Charleville (loaded up with presents/baggage... ugh).
Found the part the next week and drove back down to the garage it was flatbed to in Croom. 2 mins (literally) of swinging a spanner and it was going again.
Driving off it was v.obvious diesel had got on the clutch, so... had the clutch and the flywheel changed last week (1K+ in early Jan... lovely).
I did another 500 miles or so over the next 2 days before the wiper linkage fell apart leaving me with only the drivers wiper (had to laugh at this stage), then 2 headlight bulbs a foglight and a sidelight blew in traffic last night and this morning it started making a racket ... power steering pump was complaining about the lack of fluid </vent>
I did look at lots of alternatives after the fuel pipe cracked but looking at my criteria (4x4 + low range, big interior, merc diesel engine, good on motorway, comfy, something I won't be precious about, etc) I realised I needed a Kyron...

Howya Steve, over a year ago Nissan gave me 6k for my 06 Navara as the were taking them back due to chassis rust. Picked up a 2008 Honda CRV with 110k miles and in great condition for 7k ( so cost me a grand). It has never given me a bit of trouble and is very comfy to drive, huge boot and spacious inside. Also is AWD - back wheels engage when you need it in snow, ice muck etc.. Worth a thought if your looking for something. Honda would be a fairly reliable yoke. The oul fella had honda accords for years and never had to do anything with them apart from normal servicing.

That's a very interesting series of events Steve....and frustrating I bet as I've been there in the past !! How's the vehicle structurally, solid, no major rust etc ? If so, I'd make a list of all the "evils" and tackle them and tick them off when time permits. Of course, that's if it's not going to eat into your MX-5 time !!!

I feel your pain Steve.
I've had a series of problems with my 2007 VW Touran 1.4TSI automatic over the past few months. Timing chain replaced for the second time in two years, a persistent misfire finally traced to hairline cracks in the white insulation of two of the spark plugs, "issues" with the electronic door locks cumulating in drained battery every morning...! Etc, etc.
My patience finally ran out and rather than throwing more money at it, I picked up a cheap Ford Mondeo 1.6 petrol manual last Tuesday. I will park the Touran for a while, am busy building a "downsizing" house then sell it on after repairs.
Two of my previous cars were Honda Accords, wish I had been able to keep the estate one, comfortable and ultra reliable, but heavy on the juice. The MX5 is in hibernation till May, roll on the "summer..?"
Sean

93 Mk1 wrote:How's the vehicle structurally, solid, no major rust etc ?

Structurally it's great, only surface rust in places underneath so no rust issues there. No oil leaks, almost everything works (couple of interior bulbs needed) so I'd be reluctant to scrap it.
I dug into the issues yesterday eve, new wiper linkage in (needed some parts swopped over from mine as it looks like it was from a different year/model), new bulbs, PS fluid and handbrake adjusted.

Johnny wrote:Howya Steve, over a year ago Nissan gave me 6k for my 06 Navara as the were taking them back due to chassis rust. Picked up a 2008 Honda CRV with 110k miles and in great condition for 7k ( so cost me a grand). It has never given me a bit of trouble and is very comfy to drive, huge boot and spacious inside. Also is AWD - back wheels engage when you need it in snow, ice muck etc.. Worth a thought if your looking for something. Honda would be a fairly reliable yoke. The oul fella had honda accords for years and never had to do anything with them apart from normal servicing.

Oh you were one of the Navara people? I believe they ran out of chassis's to swop in so were offering ££ instead. Some really scary photos about of the results of that rust issue.
Have been in a CRV (old and new model), nice bus.

MaXimu5 wrote:I feel your pain Steve.
I've had a series of problems with my 2007 VW Touran 1.4TSI automatic over the past few months. Timing chain replaced for the second time in two years, a persistent misfire finally traced to hairline cracks in the white insulation of two of the spark plugs, "issues" with the electronic door locks cumulating in drained battery every morning...! Etc, etc.
My patience finally ran out and rather than throwing more money at it, I picked up a cheap Ford Mondeo 1.6 petrol manual last Tuesday. I will park the Touran for a while, am busy building a "downsizing" house then sell it on after repairs.
Two of my previous cars were Honda Accords, wish I had been able to keep the estate one, comfortable and ultra reliable, but heavy on the juice. The MX5 is in hibernation till May, roll on the "summer..?"
Sean

Ugh, that would get you annoyed alright. Did you try bringing it to Jeramy in Auto Electrical Concepts? He's excellent, his place is in Ballybane almost straight across the road from McDonagh's hardware, let him know I sent you and that you have a '5
http://www.autoelectricalconcepts.com/

You might be interested in this Steve
https://www.donedeal.ie/view/17761963

A year on since fixing those issues... its only needed 2 bulbs, oil + filter and a bushing. The 2nd hand injector pipe I picked up last year also cracked around June-ish so ordered a new one from Korea and threw on another 2nd hand one to keep me going until it arrived (6 weeks later), but the 2nd hand one is still on the engine, will prob never give up now that I've the new one ready

Glad I didn't sell it now as I'd prob have changed back to one later in the year to help with the new "project"

Great to have a work horse handy, looks to be plenty of room for a double garage there

Off topic but that's a lovely looking house !

Pops wrote:Great to have a work horse handy, looks to be plenty of room for a double garage there

I'm aiming for a 4m x 8m ... will see.

93 Mk1 wrote:Off topic but that's a lovely looking house !

Thanks, yeah am delighted with it, we've been looking for something like this for about 8 years! Had deposits on a number of places but there was always something that caused us to withdraw, this one I was trying to buy it for over a year and it had everything wrong lol... bidding wars, several legal issues, problem neighbor, etc
All sorted now pheuuww.
It needs a fair bit of TLC/renovation but the bones are very good, no real rot or damp for example. We're planning to extend it a bit/rejig the interior very soon so I'm working on the basics at the moment, have sorted water/electricity/oil burner/oil lines/oil tank/leaking water feed/septic tank lines/septic tank clear out/chimney stuff + clean/cut hedges, strimmed everything, cut trees, PIR flood lights, alarm, cameras, cut back a quarter acre of briars (not fun), fixed the missing gutters + cleaned out the rest (I'd say they'd never been done) ... anyone know how to clean gravel that has 2 inches of mud and grass on it? Think I'll add that job to the list for when I rent a mini-digger.


How it looked in 2009 :



When we bought it :



Last week (sorry about the blur), I think the cladding might be next on the list but will wait for warmer weather to let it dry out a bit :

Fair play to you, looks like a lot of work there. Shame how it was allowed to get into such a state in only a few years.
Bet the mx5 will scare a few neighbors

Steve wrote:

Pops wrote:Great to have a work horse handy, looks to be plenty of room for a double garage there

I'm aiming for a 4m x 8m ... will see.

93 Mk1 wrote:Off topic but that's a lovely looking house !

Thanks, yeah am delighted with it, we've been looking for something like this for about 8 years! Had deposits on a number of places but there was always something that caused us to withdraw, this one I was trying to buy it for over a year and it had everything wrong lol... bidding wars, several legal issues, problem neighbor, etc
All sorted now pheuuww.
It needs a fair bit of TLC/renovation but the bones are very good, no real rot or damp for example. We're planning to extend it a bit/rejig the interior very soon so I'm working on the basics at the moment, have sorted water/electricity/oil burner/oil lines/oil tank/leaking water feed/septic tank lines/septic tank clear out/chimney stuff + clean/cut hedges, strimmed everything, cut trees, PIR flood lights, alarm, cameras, cut back a quarter acre of briars (not fun), fixed the missing gutters + cleaned out the rest (I'd say they'd never been done) ... anyone know how to clean gravel that has 2 inches of mud and grass on it? Think I'll add that job to the list for when I rent a mini-digger.


How it looked in 2009 :

IMG-20171117-WA0000.jpg

When we bought it :

IMG_20180705_205956.jpg

Last week (sorry about the blur), I think the cladding might be next on the list but will wait for warmer weather to let it dry out a bit :

IMG_20181231_155925.jpg

Brilliant Steve !! I love it....it looks fantastic. I'm sure all the hard work will be well worth it. How do you find the time to fettle the Mazda ?!?

Pops wrote:Fair play to you, looks like a lot of work there. Shame how it was allowed to get into such a state in only a few years.
Bet the mx5 will scare a few neighbors

Yeah, not much maintenance over the last 10 years I'd say, think it was rented + AirBnB'd for a while too.
You can see some of the kitchen area in this vid (you might spot me in the background when they are chatting outside)

Heh, yeah, it might, its a veery quiet area, that said... of the 5 closest houses, 3 seem to like their cars. I've spotted a new Mustang GT in one, a Jordan edition Honda Civic in another and a restored Capri + just-built rallycross looking car (stripped out and painted Micra with new rollcage) in the 3rd.

93 Mk1 wrote: Brilliant Steve !! I love it....it looks fantastic. I'm sure all the hard work will be well worth it. How do you find the time to fettle the Mazda ?!?

Well... with this and a new born I don't really... hence farming it out to a mechanic to do the recent work. I'll be lucky to get time to drive it beyond the shop for nappies for a while