General
1991 Miata US w/ 226K miles
Overall the job was straight forward and took me a couple of hours with breaks.
Only needed to remove the ignition coil which turns out to have been the hardest part. Specifically the lower bolt [12mm]. Removing two heater hoses would have made it easier. I did not.
Special thanks to Rocky's Miatomotive for advice on access
Specific
Tools
- ratchet/12 mm socket
- regular pair of pliers
- small flashlight
- flat head screw driver
Parts
- FEA7-13-104 (cap, ceiling)
- Clamp (worm style)
Overview
- While I could reach in with my left hand from the passenger side and touch the plug, I needed visibility and additional access in order to remove and replace the clamp. Removing the ignition coil served two purposes
1) allowed me to shine a flashlight down onto the plug so I could see to grip the clamp
2) provided access to allow me to tighten the new clamp (used worm gear)
Specifics
Step 1 - remove ignition coil. top 2 12mm bolts are easy. bottom 12mm bolt was a challenge due to limited room. I was able to get a ratchet on the bolt and it was slow going. Range of motion was limited by the heater hoses so only turning the bolt about a 16th turn each time.
Step 2 - remove clamp/cap. with a flashlight shining down from the space opened up after removing the coil, with my left hand I was able to get a pair of pliers on the clamp and the light allowed me to see what I was doing. Clamp/cap came of easily with no residue on the pipe.
Step 3 - replace cap/clamp. using my left hand I was able to reach in a and push on the cap. used saliva as lubricant. then used my left hand to slip on the clamp and hold it in place. Then looking down from on top [ignition coil gap] , with my right hand was able to use a screw driver to tighten the worm clamp.
Step 4 - replace ignition coil. Tight fit but was able to get the bolt started then, as above, took a while to tighten due to limited range of motion on the ratchet.
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