Its a long story but i'll try to cut it short. My 8 was in the body shop ( shop was Nassau Conover Collision in Princeton) about 8 days ago for 10 days having work done to it. I was notify the day before pick up that the engine light was on. I thought this was weird because they was only replacing the rear door on the left side and painting. there was no other damage so there should not have been an issue with and electronics because there isn't and power going to the rear door ( no power locks, windows, or lighting.)

The body shop told me that they we going to take the car to flemington to Mazda were I get my service done to have to code looked into. However i was told that the morning they drove the car there the engine light went off so there was no code but Mazda looked into the problem but found no problem and did a reset.


The car only had 10,400 miles on it at the time of the repair now its clocked 11,000 with the engine light on with PO420 code.

I call Alucard and told him about the problem and he came by yesterday to see what the code was PO420. Thanks Mike You really calmed me down. I'll cal you today.


The car is running rough at 6000 to 7000 sounds like a miss or sputter at full load and goes away if tried again it runs fine. Smells like its running rich ( have seen posts on this problem after searching) but, the car is smoking from under the hood it doesn't smell like coolant or oil it almost smells electric which is scary. And there is a ticking under the hood at idle speed that sounds loud at one moment and softer the next minute.. ( engine missing Im thinking- fouled plug) which caused the cat to go bad.


After finding the code PO420 this what I'm thinking : the body shop flooded the engine while they were doing the work on it for 10 days.. It was cold that week or so Jan 5th through 15th. I told the manage how the operate the motor before, during, and shutdown before letting them take it. I even printed out the procedure and taped it to the dash so everybody would know and this wouldn't happen.


I'm now thinking they flooded the engine, got the check engine light cleared it. Flood cause a fouled plug which caused the po420 cat system failure, (engine light I got on Saturday) But the burning smell and smoke from under the hood and the loud ticking ??? coil packs?????????? I don't know. I'm taking the car to Mazda this morning to see wtf is going on.. WILL THIS BE A WARRANTY ISSUE? I'm not paying for this shit. I never had a engine light in the first 10,000 miles I drive 500 after someone else has it for 10 days and now I got engine lights, smells, burning and a car running like shit.


Only mod to car is Racing beat Intake with duct.


GUYS YOUR THOUGHTS, ADVICE, AND OPINION WOULD HELP IN THIS MATTER.

Sounds like your car will be fixed under warranty. I wouldn't worry. Just make sure you go to a dealer that has a good reputation.

BTW, your suspicions are probably correct. They probably flooded it.

At the dealer now they brought me into the shop and showed me a plastic bag melted to my cat wtf? That caused the o2 to fail . Wil the fact that bag caused it mean the warrenty won't cover this fix?

hmm, I don't see how a melted bag can cause a cat to fail... Did they explain how it is possible? I would ask them how it's possible, if they can't, and they're not sure what's really wrong with your car, go to another dealership.

I was told thft the bag may have cought fire making the sensor on the cat to fair. That caused the car to run like crap well zer what happens now cause I'm still her rsiting and not leaving til its right . If they say everything iscool I know dam well that I will try to get this thingto sputter as soon as I pull out of here.

ummm... ask them how the plastic bag would catch fire before it melted.

Be very nice and polite.

Try diplomaticaly to get them to replace it under warrenty.

Ok just left the dealer the plastic was removed from the cat and the ecu reset.That is all no CEL codes yet seems to be running normal but time will tell. I was told by the tech that the cat was almost gone. After 11000 miles no way...... This tells me that this thing was flooded in the past. I'm just going to run it hard to see if there any gunk in there that i can burn out. Have a feeling this isn't over yet. Anybody think that there are any Mazda dealerships that would gone about this problem differently in New jersey?

I have these three print outs from the dealer... Like i said the tech told me that the cat was almost done, Are here any other RED FRAGS that are showing you on these print outs.? Are all the ratios up to par? Any info would be great. Info could be used to throw in the dealers face. I had to practically beg for them. i expected them to give these to me for just a reset and not a PO420 total fix.

Does anybody have info in regards to the computer printouts that I've posted. I don't have a CEl light yet but the car still smells richer then normal.

Well its been about a week now and the car was still running like shit after the first dealership reset the ecu. I called the new Open road Mazda in Morristown NJ and they gladly took me in and said the the cat was bad and they would replace it under warranty. Cat was order yesterday afternoon and will be in tomorrow. I'm hoping by the end of the week this problem will be resolved.


Since I got a bad cat is there any reason for why I should replace the Plugs? There is only 11,700 miles on the car. I just don't know if the car was flooded by the body shop back Jan. or if I got have a faulty cat.. Suggestions would be great.. Thanks in advance.

The bad cat could have caused the plugs to carbon up. The only way to know is to pull them out to inspect them. Bad cats have been known to cause oil to get into the intake (too much back pressure on the exhaust).
I have had 3 bad cats replaced on my car and it has never flooded.

this is a relativity a new problem (about a month). The intake and O2 sensors have been looked at and look fine. I guess I'll have the dealer pull the plugs and have a look see... Better safe then sorry.

^why don't you take a look for yourself? there is a reason why we sometimes refer to the dealership as the "STEALERship".

Your car doesn't have 12000 miles on it yet, so they would probably be covered under warrenty. Plugs are considered to be maintainable parts, so eventually you will have to pay for new ones some day. They are pricey compared to normal spark plugs ($20 each), but not too bad.

^why don't you take a look for yourself? there is a reason why we sometimes refer to the dealership as the "STEALERship".The car is still at the dealership waiting for the new cat. While it is on the lift, it won't take them too very long at all to take a look.
Chances are that if this is the dealer that you bought the car from, they will be much more willing to do the little things.

^why don't you take a look for yourself? there is a reason why we sometimes refer to the dealership as the "STEALERship".

wish it was that easy for me. being paralyzed in a wheelchair makes some tasks harder to get done. getting under the car isn't really an option glad i got good friends with 8s in my area.

Oh! I guess i missed it where he said it was still at the dealership. I only mentioned that he checked it because he had suspicions that the dealership flooded his car. I really hope everything turns out ok. I had the same code a while back and realized it was a pinched o2 sensor and a damaged cat.

Car has been fixed.... New cat installed and the car is running like new. If your in the central jersey area stop in at the new Open Road Mazda in Morristown, NJ. They did a great job, fast and professional.