What did you do to your Mirage today?

[george]

I am surprised to hear you would need winter tires in Skopje (and generally in North Macedonia). I know there are mountains, but I thought this area is south enough to get away without having need for winter tires.

Naah, we get good winters. It's a mountainous region after all, the only flat part is in the south-east, near Gevgelija which also receives snow during the winter. The bad thing is that road services do not clean the roads properly, so driving without summer tires is suicide.

Also they're mandatory by law (along with winter chains or other winter equipment), from 15 November to 15 March.

[skyblue]

Book says sparks at 90k km, they were pretty embedded in the head and made some odd noises/feeling on the way out, new ones went in easy and nipped to 25nm.

Thought the air intake would cause a lot of trouble but after removing the three bolts and the pcv breather and some other vent hose off I just temporarily moved it out the way without having to mess with any hose clamps or rubber hoses which was nice.

[PityOnU]

I was recently able to pick up a set of the LED DRL's for my 2018 Mirage for ~$330 shipped. They come in a really neat little kit with the new bumper parts, LED controller boxes (for some reason?), a handful of wiring harnesses, all the mounting hardware you'll need, and a detailed set of instructions. I will scan and upload a copy of the latter sometime so people can see what's involved.

I installed the lights themselves over the weekend, which involved dropping the entire front bumper off the car, which was a first for me. Ended up having the car fully up on jackstands, which took buying some ramps down at AutoZone, in addition to the floor jack and jack stands I already had on hand. The reason for this is that the crossmember on the Mirage is so far back it's almost in the middle of the car, making it so that you have to do a 2 stage jacking process, which I usually refer to as "an ordinary Saturday night."

Lights are in mostly trouble free, but I still need to get around to doing the internal wiring. If you own a NAFTA spec Mirage, you already have all of the external wiring for the DRL's, which should save you a ton of effort. No having to pull things through firewalls - you will only need to run and mount a single cable on the bottom of the bumper. I noticed the wiring for the external temperature sensor in place while I was down there (although I need to confirm the wiring colors), as well as a mystery 2 pin connector on the side of the windshield washer fluid reservoir.

I also took the opportunity to rotate my tires, dust out the wheel wells, and drop off the tow hitch. For the latter, I had seen postings online about how it can trap moisture and cause rust. There was no rust on mine yet, but there was some dirt, which means there was at least the opportunity for it to happen. I got some Flex Seal (TM) sheet and cut it to size and stuck it to the tow hitch where it mounts to the car. My hope is that this will create a better seal between the tow hitch and the body of the vehicle, hopefully keeping water out. When I have a minute, I will coat the underside of the car and the bar itself with some Fluid Film (TM) and then reinstall everything. My hope is that this is the last time I will ever need to mess with the hitch, and that doing this preventative maintenance will stop any rust before it starts.

P.S. - Now I've dropped and then reattached the bumper, I am hyper aware of the panel gap between it and the hood. Double checked to make certain I reinstalled everything correctly with stuff clipping into place, so I'm guessing it's the same as it was before, but now I've just noticed it because I messed with it and am looking for it. If any kind members with a 2nd gen Mirage hatch could measure and post the size of their panel gap, it would allow me to compare it to mine, realize it's normal, and then be able to sleep at night again.

[klroger]

I got some Flex Seal (TM) sheet and cut it to size and stuck it to the tow hitch where it mounts to the car. My hope is that this will create a better seal between the tow hitch and the body of the vehicle, hopefully keeping water out.

If you put stuff between the hitch mounts & the car, Make sure you go back several times to re-torque the bolts that hold your hitch to the car...I don't know what "flex seal" is, but if it is some kind of a gasket / rubber stuff, as it shifts, it may push the flex seal out thus making the bolts loose... Just my thoughts...

[Mark]

If you put stuff between the hitch mounts & the car, Make sure you go back several times to re-torque the bolts that hold your hitch to the car...I don't know what "flex seal" is, but if it is some kind of a gasket / rubber stuff, as it shifts, it may push the flex seal out thus making the bolts loose... Just my thoughts...

I would have the same thought. Flex seal is something that I would use to patch a hole in something. I wouldn't add a rubber buffer between a trailer hitch and car frame. It needs to be rock solid, and a layer of rubber (soft material) may prevent that.

[Dirk Diggler]

Naah, we get good winters. It's a mountainous region after all, the only flat part is in the south-east, near Gevgelija which also receives snow during the winter. The bad thing is that road services do not clean the roads properly, so driving without summer tires is suicide.

Also they're mandatory by law (along with winter chains or other winter equipment), from 15 November to 15 March.

Are you Macedonian/Greek? The greatest Macedonian of all time was Alexander the Great IMO. I think he would of approved of the long range of the Mirage, as he went longer with his horses than anyone!

[george]

Are you Macedonian/Greek? The greatest Macedonian of all time was Alexander the Great IMO. I think he would of approved of the long range of the Mirage, as he went longer with his horses than anyone!

I also think that he would've approved that. My ethnicity is Macedonian (not Greek), and I live in the now-called North Macedonia, but I would like to steer away from geo-politics, nationalities, the Balkans - as anything connected with these topics can get quite out of hand and off-topic.

[Dirk Diggler]

I also think that he would've approved that. My ethnicity is Macedonian (not Greek), and I live in the now-called North Macedonia, but I would like to steer away from geo-politics, nationalities, the Balkans - as anything connected with these topics can get quite out of hand and off-topic.

You misunderstand, I only speak of ancient history not current politics. I thought at that time Alexander and his father before him King Phillip, was ruler of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. I assumed that Greeks and Macedonians were cousins even to this day. My apologies. Is there a great statue of Alexander in Macedonia or is he largely forgotten?

[george]

You misunderstand, I only speak of ancient history not current politics. I thought at that time Alexander and his father before him King Phillip, was ruler of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. I assumed that Greeks and Macedonians were cousins even to this day. My apologies. Is there a great statue of Alexander in Macedonia or is he largely forgotten?

It's a very large topic and I wouldn't like to get into it and go off-topic.

[inuvik]

Thank you george.