A woodruff key is the bane of my life at the moment – that’s what it is. An insignificant oblong piece of metal, the Achilles heel of Mazda MX5′s built between 1990 and 1994. For such a tiny thing, it can have a big impact on the health of your engine. It’s the Metal Micky [...]

As I go I’m going to share the best places, stores and resources I’ve found and give them a nice big fat plug – ‘cos I’m like that and I think that if someone gives you good service or advice you should let everyone know. I don’t like the UK way of whinging when it’s [...]

Damn good question and glad you asked. I’d never heard of one until a helpful chap I know suggested it was worth looking at Maurice’s. He said, that it sounds like timing from what I described and that there are only two or three things that will stuff up the timing. The crank angle sensor [...]

There is a little black box – one of many – in my car that is apparently called a throttle position sensor or TPS unit for short. A friendly mechanic who came for a look said he could narrow Maurice’s problem down to either the AFM or the TPS – as I’d already changed the [...]

My little blue Mazda – Maurice – was hauled away yesterday (finally) by my mechanic. Dragged away by a Ford Escort van just to add insult to injury. For some reason, I’m very attached to my car and having been carless for the last week I’m beginning to understand why. A car to me represents [...]