Hunting Down The Miata's Biggest Gremlin. [Suggestions Welcome]

[admin]

So you guys, if this was your car, and you were in my spot, what would your next step be? MUSIC: Joakim Karud – Keep On Going …

[Federico Hanzlick]

2.100 pound tin can 😂
I'm still laughing mate you are the best

[varnishvarnish]

Sounds like K miata are using their customers to do their research and development for them.
That sounds totally unacceptable to me.

[Bart ten Hoeve]

Have you checked the flatness of the trans to engine adapter plate? If there is a misalignment from engine to trans it could cause an internal issue in the gearbox? Just thinking of another possible explanation. Good luck Greg!

[David Ntervisai]

Why do not you just remove everything and put them again

[Jacob Griffin]

You could of put in a straight cut gear set for your mx5 at this point. Better yet, it would be cool to design your own gear set via solid works and then brand it, sell it for the fraction on the market

[zopo_855olive]

The struggle is real..
Greg, what engine/ tranny mounts you rock? If you have solid or upgraded poly ones, you will never get rid of vibrations with one piece driveshaft. Maybe with your new idea, two piece one, BUT this is getting too complicated. Maybe some softer poly compound would help, BUT before that I would suggest you ask those guys, who supposedly do not have problems with Kmiata setup, what mounts are they using..

Best of luck

[The Lizard 666]

Good luck Greg hope it works out. I think I would have burned the car by now. Nice technical fault finding

[Daniel O]

Hang in there man, you got dis! This sucks big-time but you're a hero for seeing it through.

As always, thanks for showing us the full picture and being so transparent. It's why you're the king.

[garabede1]

Greg, serious question. Tabasco, tapitio , or Frank’s red hot?

[Brandon Stone]

would the shortness of the miata driveshaft length exacerbate the CSB to diff pinion angles?

[DOR CurrField]

I don't have any suggestions but I wish you good luck fixing the problem, your new suggestions seem logical and if there is one guy that deserves to drive his Miata on track it's you!!

[atticus10197]

Thank you for this video. Can't wait to hook mine up.

[Mark Mx5]

Damn, where you get your degree in science? Your a mx5 scientist 👨‍🔬

[Dylan Lewis]

Absolutely beautiful video. We all appreciate the thorough documentation of your troubleshooting process. Whatever solution you arrive at will undoubtedly save people a lot of hassle and money. It blows my mind that this is a one-man operation. I hope I will grow the same level of determination and persistence you have. You really need it to make an awesome car in your driveway.

[Robert Villafan]

first off, you're working so hard on this so i hope you find the solution soon. My suggestions are try changing out the diff ratios to something less aggressive and it also sounds like you may need a torque arm brace. That video you showed about the driveshaft shaking in the dyno looked the drive shaft isn't the problem. the problem is the interaction between your diff and the power coming out the trans. the Driveshaft is just getting messed up and absorbing the load. i say a torque arm brace or beefing up the differential mounts in whatever way. also for the hell of it try changing your transmission mounts to something different

[a7i20ci7y]

Thanks for keeping it real for us. I see a lot of Youtubers who make it look as easy as Auto Mechanic Simulator and when I try to work on my own stuff I feel like a no thumb having chump.

[Igor Barbaros]

Haha, you're not gonna introduce yourself as Miata dad as soon as you encounter a problem you guibo?
On a serious note though, can you take out the driveshaft, and put in gear and start it and run it with a camera under the car. You might be able to see if there's some run-out on the tranny output shaft/flange.

[poorchansporsche]

Greg, @7:37 the adaptor has a tonne of runout. Smells like output shaft bearing(s).

[Petros Zouroudis]

It might be expensive for a customer to do, but maybe it should be wise for Kmiata to do as part of their R&D. Find a beater E46 with the same transmission, try to replace the OEM parts with custom ones like the ones they make for Miatas, see if that makes it unhappy and starts vibrating. Maybe it’s the lack of some OEM parts that make the actual transmission itself produce these vibrations.

(Sorry if you mention something similar here, hadn’t had the time to today’s video, will come back to watch it later)

[fkdhjfghdsjkghjkfhgkfjd]

I bet your rear end isnt centered.

[rodan9]

Hey Greg it's your friendly neighborhood Tapatio supplier here, let me know if you need some more motivation sauce.
I appreciate you posting the video, it's true that a lot of YouTubers don't post the troubles they went through.
+Respect

[LocoRocoNL]

Insane amount of research, you deserve a working car! 🙂

[Wayne Rankin]

Greg, I've had a similar problem in multiple vehicles in the past. But one problem you've had before may have become the actual catalyst for your current problems. If I remember correctly you had a warped rear subframe at one point. I cannot remember whether the subframe was in your car when it warped or not. However, should that have been the case, it could have affected the frame rails.

One the other hand, if there were problems with bent or worn rear control arms, bushings, etc. Or it could be the rear coilovers. Have you tried testing them? Also rear alignment. When you changed the rear subframe, which I remember.. vaquely – Forgive me I have had a few drinks tonight – the rear alignment could've been effected.

[Nils Hummelink]

Keep it up man, good luck!

[bold_strategy99]

TheCarPassionChannel Don't bet on a 2 piece driveshaft fixing the problem if it comes to that. It would only mask the real issue. If you still have bad harmonics, and you get a 2 piece, you might not feel those vibrations, but the center support bearing will. Next thing you know, you might break a center support bearing 190 miles from home, with no AC, in August, at 1, only for AAA to tell you a tow will be there in 4 hours, and you only have 100 miles of towing. All because a transmission mount wore out, and the center support bearing absorbed the extra vibration. Ask me how I know…

[cheeki breeki]

LS swap would fix it

[oliolioli2010]

Check your balancer

[VZR]

Have you considered maybe the output shift off the trans might be Internally bent causing that vibration

[Castaway__]

got to give you props for still going at this for the longest time now, after so much frustration and time consuming research your still going hard. Miata dad is at war with this vibration right now. Hats off to you

[Jérome Gagnon]

I hope you will fix that problem by swapping this transmission and doing this driveshaft pattern. I'm a mechanic At international truck and theses drivetrain vibrations are the worst to diagnose… good luck

[Bryce Ramdeo]

I think you got it. You had to be on the bmw side to understand. My first one needed a whole driveshaft and diff. Id go to the junkyard and get a e36 coupe or e30 coupe driveshaft and take it to the shop to make a exact copy that is miata like.

[Ian Masterson]

As a BMW e30 owner with many friends that also own e30’s, I would stay away from CA Tuned and their rebuild blue transmissions. There are many other shops in California that rebuild for the spec e30 series. The Getrag 260 is also famous for a “Getrag Rattle” which is caused by the internal lay shaft bearing which should be replaced with a rebuild.

If you end up going ZF, I would make sure to replace the detent pins. There are many stories of people money shifting while using the ZF320. The ZF is a sturdy transmission though and a solid choice.

Good luck and keep going. I see a light at the end of the tunnel for you. Such informational videos for others.

[Jake Westwood]

Have you attempted to put it on on jack stands or a lift and bring the car up to the speed and get under the car and see if anything appears to be vibrating?

[kZam]

Great video, keen to see you get this thang terrorizing the streets

[Tyler Karon]

Since you said you were going to be very active in the comments.. Chocolate Rain. You’re welcome 🙃 lmao

[Nicholas Wild]

1 of said peoples cars hes been in with the problem.
80k ZF6
400+ whp BP4W-ZF6-Miata diff
It's pretty annoying having all the power and you can barely use it because it feels like you're a passenger on the challenger space shuttle.

[Energetic TV]

Take drive shaft off.. spin it in gear . If vibration exsist still. Could be engine transmission centering issue… sounds weird but it can be a real thing. Centering a trans and engine can be a very hard thing..

[Chris P.]

Bro… It sounds like you need to get your flywheel balanced…

[Craig B.]

I’ve hit so many hard to figure out barriers and walls with my main project car lately. And then on top of all that, my radiator blew up in my miata (which also has an unknown vibration). Thank you for motivating me to not throw the whole car away.

[Author]

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