Just curious if anyone else has experienced this. Driving onto the highway I hit about 8k RPMs and the car started to "buck" and it felt like it had lost power. I shifted into 3rd and the problem went away though the engine light blinked several times. At the next chance I dropped to 2nd gear and hit 8g again, and once again the same thing, cept this time the engine light blinked and then stayed on.

I immediately called the dealership and brought it in. When the mechanics were done they said the compter said the engine had mis fired twice so they reset the computer. I asked what caused the problem and they didnt have a clue, they said " well dont hit 8,00 RPMs then". I wasnt happy with the answer or that my new car was having engine problems but I left it at that.

Now again today in 3rd i got the car up to 8k and once again I noticed the powerloss and the engine light flashing. After shifting and waiting a few mintes and gunned it again. This time nothing and the car ran fine all the way to 9500. In between these 2 instances I have hammered on the car many times and it hasnt happened. Im more curious if anyone else has had this happen or if anyone might have a clue whats causing it. Personally I feel like going to the dealership and raising hell, as after buying a brand new car and having a problem the mechanics there are happy to just reset the comp. and read to me what the computer says and not actually put any effort into finding out why it happened.

You might need new sparkplugs

I'm not sure whether this will make you feel better or not, but i also got a "random misfire" under semi-hard acceleration which caused the CEL to come on. Dealer didn't do anything except clear the error, which I wasn't happy about. I believe others have also experienced this.

I don't have a lot of confidence in my current dealer. I don't drive my RX-8 in the winter very much but when I start driving it again, I'm going to pursue it further with Mazda directly. The previous suggestion about new spark plugs (that are hotter) sounds like a reasonable solution but I'm not sure if my dealer will do it.

I have an automatic and have experienced some bucking and loss of power......it only seemed to happen when the car was not fully warmed up....never experienced it when fully warm. Dealer checked it out and said engine was fine....could be moisture and/or just cold engine.

How many miles are on your car? If it is under a thousand miles, then it could be that the engine is not broken in, and it would be best if you broke the car in before revving it up.

What kind of gas are you using? Non-premium gas can cause misfiring.

How warm was the engine when you did this? Mine likes to have hit mid temp mark plus 5 mins before it is really comfortable.

The exact same thing happened to my car for the first time today. I was in a fully warmed car with 93 octane gasoline and I felt a surge and power loss at about 8000 RPMs. My check engine light was blinking for several seconds before returning to its customary on positiion (my dealer and Mazda have yet figure out how to fix my CEL which has been on for 4 months and counting). Until now I have had no problems with the car except the aforementioned light. I have driven it above 8000RPMs after the incident without problems.

Hrm- I had something like this happen last week, and thought maybe I did something. Maybe it wasn't me. As I pulled out of work, I threw it in 2nd gear and hit the gas. I normally shift to 3rd then when I hear the buzzer, but all of a sudden the car just kinda stopped accelerating, (I'd guess it was around 6-7k rpms- because I was only going about 45 by then, and I wasn't looking at the tach) like it had lost power. I thought maybe I had bounced it off the rev limiter before I looked at my speed and upshifted to 3rd. Car was fine after that. No lights or anything came on, and I haven't had it happen since then.

Weird.

It does sound like it has something to do with the rev limiter or the knock sensor to me. Both will cut back on fuel giving you the weak feeling in the power.

My demo did the same thing a couple of weeks before it started running really bad. Wouldn't rev past 4500 RPM. Turned out the O2 sensor was bad causing it to run very lean. New O2 sensor and haven't had any problems since in about 3000 miles.

Originally posted by Haze
What kind of gas are you using? Non-premium gas can cause misfiring.

No, non-premium gas does not cause misfiring. Stop spewing that trash. Dirty fuel of any grade might cause it, but it's not a function of octane level.

My UK hi power car has done this several times (and with the dealer in the car), it is going into the dealers tomorrow morning for a check and I believe new spark plugs.

It is very intermittent though! I have filled with Shell Optimax (98 RON UK) and it still does it now and again! Car only has 700 miles on the clock though, so it may need loosening up, but over on UK RX8 owners club forum there has been a lot of discussion about this and one guy's car has started doing this after 2000+ miles for the 1st time!

Wierd eh!:eek:

I'll post how I get on............

http://rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum/

Originally posted by Dark Image 13
I asked what caused the problem and they didnt have a clue, they said " well dont hit 8,00 RPMs then".

Holey crap, what kind of answer is that!?!

Originally posted by 93rdcurrent
It does sound like it has something to do with the rev limiter or the knock sensor to me. Both will cut back on fuel giving you the weak feeling in the power.

It's a different feeling from the rev limiter. when you hit that, the car just stops accelerating. This feels like the car has all of a sudden lost power and just up and quit.

Budaman2...did computer diagnostics point to bad O2 sensor?...or was it trial and error that found it?

I live in NH and with the weather cold, Ive always let my cars heat up before moving them at all. Even warm I let the engine warm up and oil thin before taking off, more so if i plan on being a lil foot heavy. My car was fully warmed up both times and probably 3-5 minutes into driving when it happened.

I "believe" this time i went with 89 octane gas ... Have tried 87 89 and 92 ? i think to see if I noticed any difference in performance or MPG (I havent yet).

Ive had alot of problems with the dealership before and actually complained to mazda about them when I had my miata. Getting a response of "dont go up to 8k RPMS" on a sports car is one of the most retarded responses Ive ever heard a mechanic spout out. Im planning on calling the other local mazda dealership who have been great with fixing problems ... Funny thing is when I get problems like this I dont hold it against the car or mazda for the most part ..... cars are mechanical and things will break, I can accept that. The part that pisses me off is poor service from the place I just spent 30 grand on a car at.

As for the problem .... on mine it was definately a noticeable misfire. almost like it was missing 1/2 the time. The car was tryin to go faster but was sputtering. The 1st time it does it the CEL will blink a few times and go off. If you do it again w.o turning the car off it will blink and then stay on.

Would this problem be magnified by running too rich or lean or both? Thinking about that post mentioning why Mazda richened the mixture to prolong cat life...

just found this thread and I have had a cel ever since the new m flash. My car is detonating like crazy. Also my car has a hard time starting. This will be the 3rd attemp to fix it at the dealer. They have done new plugs, new wires, and now I have no idea what they are going to do. I give them credit at the dealer they are trying to fix it. In the end I hope to get a motor. I also have alot of smoke from the tailpipes sometime aswell.

I asked what caused the problem and they didnt have a clue, they said " well dont hit 8,00 RPMs then".

When a mechanic states something like that it's time to find a new one. I almost wish, like Bugs Bunny cartoons...you could pull out a glove, stick a brick in it and say...

'You sir, have insulted me......" SMACK!!!!!!

You should have called Mazda and tell them that a mechanic at "BLANK Mazda dealership" said I could not or should not rev the RX8 to 8,000RPM. I'd bet they GET ALL OVER that dealership. Just think if someone at MT or R&T heard a response like that...Mazda would get another BIG BLACK EYE!

Crap.. add me to the list. Yesterday I was traveling about about 60-70 in third.. hit 8000 was just about to shift and BAM.. blinky blinky CEL, car is sort of stuttering.. so I quickly upshift and the CEL goes away. Spooked, I take the next gear to 8g and same thing.. stuttering surge and blinky blinky CEL...

Oh no.. what is it??????

I got an appt to the dealer next week. I hope to God they dont tell me something stupid like that. Or heaven forbid they tell me something is mortally wrong with the engine.

What do you think engine gurus??

i think you had a misfire. maybe need new plugs? or at least the curent ones cleaned.

hmm. several things could be going on there. if you are using 87 octane it could be that the plugs are fowled. the best way to check that is with a plug socket. if the plug is brown and nasty looking. replace them and put a fuel booster/injector cleaner in the tank. if you have to use the lower grade fuel, try to buy it from a busy station. they move more product there for always have a fresh tank. the problem with the dealer is they don't have a clue how to work on or trouble shoot the wankle. try and find a specialty shop and get their opinion.

Nope, always use 92. I hope zoom is right and it's that simple. If so, that would mean no major damage eh?

On the other hand, if it's not that simple, what else could I be looking at?

PS. It's not flashing now (as in, all the time), but I bet if I performed the same manuever, I can make it flash again.

do you have the stability control? that, i think, retards the ignition if it is activated

Yes, GT model with TC/DSC... hmm it was raining while it did this.. hmmm.. but would the DSC blip CELs like that.. would seem odd.

you wouldn't think so but with they way everything is integrated and combined on this car....

True.. well, I guess I better drive like a grandma until I make it to the dealer. I will post codes if I get some. Maybe Snapon can shed some info then.

You guys one thing to keep in mind is this:
On track days I have had issues with the fuel getting to the motor, this is due to the way the fuel tank in the 8 is designed. It has a cut out section where the drive shaft goes through, this leads to a couple of problems. When driving hard and accellerating especially on straights the equalising pump ca not keep up, hence you get fuel starvation, and the car surges (basically it feels like you have hit a rev limiter, this only happens when you have less than half a tank of fuel. I have had it happen from 6000rpm on wards but once as low as 5000. I have reported it to mazda her in Aust and they commented that it was the first time they have had that reported. My car is not the ony one, at subsequent track days 4 other people I have driven with have had exactly the same issues.

Therefore, before looking for something more simister ensure yu have a full tank of gas and then try exactly the same thing again, it could be the equalisation problem within the fuel tank, if it is the same problem then report it to your dealer because I personally would love a fix for this issue.

Regards,

Gibbo.

Just curious if anyone else has experienced this. Driving onto the highway I hit about 8k RPMs and the car started to "buck" and it felt like it had lost power. I shifted into 3rd and the problem went away though the engine light blinked several times. At the next chance I dropped to 2nd gear and hit 8g again, and once again the same thing, cept this time the engine light blinked and then stayed on.

I immediately called the dealership and brought it in. When the mechanics were done they said the compter said the engine had mis fired twice so they reset the computer. I asked what caused the problem and they didnt have a clue, they said " well dont hit 8,00 RPMs then". I wasnt happy with the answer or that my new car was having engine problems but I left it at that.

Now again today in 3rd i got the car up to 8k and once again I noticed the powerloss and the engine light flashing. After shifting and waiting a few mintes and gunned it again. This time nothing and the car ran fine all the way to 9500. In between these 2 instances I have hammered on the car many times and it hasnt happened. Im more curious if anyone else has had this happen or if anyone might have a clue whats causing it. Personally I feel like going to the dealership and raising hell, as after buying a brand new car and having a problem the mechanics there are happy to just reset the comp. and read to me what the computer says and not actually put any effort into finding out why it happened.

Ignition coil faulty, maybe sparkplugs. A blocked cat will also cause this.

The symptoms are also in line with a faulty APV valve, although you don't usually get a MIL with that.

The dealer needs to do some diagnostics....

Had a pretty full tank.. less than a 1/4 down from full.

On my way home from work, I drove it hard to try to get the same CEL but it didnt happen. Hmm. Should I not push the car until I get to the dealer? Maybe I'm messing things up more.. :(

It's hard sticking to the Granny method in this car, you all should know that.. :)

Same thing happened to me 3 times now (2x with me driving, 1x when my wife was driving). I thought it was a problem with my CZ Stage 1. I even emailed Maurice about it and he had no clue. I took it to the Mazda dealership after the 1st 2x's and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. They just reflashed my ECU. It happened again a few weeks later. I called Mazda and made an appointment but then it went away. No problems since.

This is what happened:

I drove away from my house, it started sputtering...I was probably only going 25-30mph. The CEL came on. I went back home. Turned off the car and started it again. Still CEL light on. Came back later in the day and CEL light did not turn on and car ran fine. The next day my wife said it did it to her. When I checked the CEL light, it was not on. That's when I took it to the dealership.

The 3rd time, same thing happened. I turned off the car and when I came back it started fine.

I really hope we get an answer to this problem so I can enlighten the Mazda techs down here what to look for.

Well, my car is in the shop. I told the tech to drive it home for the weeekend to see if he can get the light to come on. Last time he had it (5 days) no light but after I get it back the light came on 10 minutes after leaving the dealership. I really hope this gets fixed a misfire is something pretty serious IMO. It is not good for the motor and we are like lab rats for mazda testing all these different flash programs. I for one am not taking no for an answer this time. I want a valid fix for my misfire & smoking out of the exhaust.

I had that problem after the M flash. Took it in last week and the dealer reflashed it. Runs great now. Makes smooth srtrong power in upper rpms again like it used to. I also made a future appoitment for an oil pan replacement and new plugs , all covered under warranty.

i never got the M flash, when i called to make the appointment they told me it didn't fix the problem. i never had a problem so i guess it didn't affect me anyway.

I thought I was losing my mind. Right after I had the SR intake installed, I noticed what I thought was misfiring above 4k RPM. This continued for a while and I had the SR exhaust installed. It may have been a coincidence but not long after as soon as I hit about 3500 RPM the car would start misfiring like crazy to the point the power almost stopped until I shifted to another gear but kept it below 4k RPM. I brought it to my Mazda dealer and they could not find what was causing problem. When they called the Mazda tech line the tech did not want to get involved because of mly aftermarket bolt ons. This lasted for about 2 weeks. I finally brought the car in again this week with the same problem. I was not enjoying driving the car at all. After 3 days, the mazda tech found that all 4 resistor packs had been burnt. He showed me the packs and you can see the burn marks. They were cool and changer all four as a warranty fix. It is like having a new car again. The only problem was when this was going on and I was not sure what was causing the problem and had the dealer remove my SR intake and replace with stock intake. I can really appreciate the car now especially with the SR exhaust which sounds great.

Ok.. Brought her into the dealer and they find a P0302.
I ask them, what is that.. they say. Oh it just means you need a reflash.

Isnt that a misfire?!?!

They dont believe me.. throw some BS.. and say the reflash should fix it.

Can any gurus out there confirm that this is the correct fix for this code? Snapon? Maniac? Isn't a misfire some serious sh1t?? Why are they treating it like its nothing? Or am I worried for nothing?

Man I hate dealing with dealership service centers. :mad:

P0302...rear rotor misfire. While the engine is running, the PCM counts the number of misfires at 200revs of the E shaft, and at 1000 revs. If the ratio exceedes a set figure, the PCM determines that a misfire that could damage the cat has occurred.

P0300 Random misfire detected Flash/ON 1 or 2 Misfire ´ (See DTC
P0300 )
P0301 Front rotor misfire detected Flash/ON 1 or 2 Misfire ´
(See DTC P0301, P0302 )
P0302 Rear rotor misfire detected Flash/ON 1 or 2 Misfire

you're already on the most current flash so what will they do beyond that? have them inspect the plugs and clean or replace.

edit: damn gomez is quick
edit 2: and tell them to check your cat. as per gomez above:)

edit: damn gomez is quick


Unfortunately (for her), my wife says the same thing..... ;)

The fact that so many of you guys in the States have these issues and no-one else seems to, leads me to believe that this may all stem back to your "K" and "L" flash issues (fouled plugs)....

Hmmm.. is a misfire a serious issue? Could I be looking at long term damage?

I'm going to drive the hell outta it, this week and see if it comes up again. They claim it was ok as they tested over 8K RPM. Didnt really like the idea of them pounding my car, but that's the only way it would pop up.

If I have to go back because it comes up again, I will definitely tell them what to look for.

That was my issue. I used to smell fumes from the car and it would buck just as you stated. When mazda looked at the codes from my car it had the P0300 like everyone is stating. They replaced the wires and now everything is fine.

Can ayone make any sense of this... it was on my work order..

Reflashed PCM to 34.8 Patch 2 & Reset the E-shaft plate.

Can that fix a misfire code? hahaha.. sorry, still paranoid.

so they did a flash of your pcm that just brings you current and has nothing in it for misfires that you didnt already have. then they did the 20 stomp on your brake pedal to clear/reset the eshaft profile. flashing can clear the code but it wont fix the issue imho. you were already on M so the flash didnt change anything. btw how you doing? havent talked to you in a long time. how are the islands this time of year?

ARRGH.. I was successful in duplicating the misfire this morning on my way to work. It seems my dealer didnt fix the problem and just did a reflash hoping it would cure it. Obviously there's something more going on. The work order did say they check the coils, so I do feel a tad better.. NOT.

Am I wrong to think misfires are SERIOUS? Just the word sounds bad. I'm not a engine guru or anything but is this common? I mean I could live with the CEL light blinking, big deal, but man it just spooks me when I turn up the juice on the engine and she starts bogging like she's outta gas or something.

ARRRRGH.. What a waste of time. Now I need to schedule in another day for them to work on it. DAMN.

Did I say I hate dealing with dealership service centers?? :mad:


zoom.. I'm doing good.. was perfect until this problem happened. haha. The islands are beautiful this time of year. Hasn't been as wet as it normally is. Its pretty cold though, if you consider 60s, low 70s cold.. heehee.

hey nut pm me your email addy. i got something for you

same thing started to happen to me AFTER THEY FIXED MY CAT.. i will drive my car hard and the CEL will start to blink...i will let off and it stops...i dotn know why its doing it either? anyone out there know whats up w/ it?

you need the code it stored when it blinked. but it could be something as simple as an eshaft sensor problem. or it might not be a misfire at all. neeed the code first.

Hmm.. does the car seems to hesitate as if it's outta gas? Kinda like stuttering?

New info.. pushed the car to 8K once more. Just had to be sure :D .. I know I should stop it.. Of course the CEL blinked.. seemed to blink longer this time... and get this.. are you ready... it remained lit. CEL is still on as I type.

Uh oh. :eek:

Looks like it's gonna stay under 3500rpm for me until my baby sees the doctor... doh! Now this is gonna be the longest week ever! :(

Its a good thing RB has a back order on exhaust. If I got it in when this happened, I'm sure the dealer would start blaming the exhaust.

New info.. pushed the car to 8K once more. Just had to be sure :D .. I know I should stop it.. Of course the CEL blinked.. seemed to blink longer this time... and get this.. are you ready... it remained lit. CEL is still on as I type.

Uh oh. :eek:

Looks like it's gonna stay under 3500rpm for me until my baby sees the doctor... doh! Now this is gonna be the longest week ever! :(

Its a good thing RB has a back order on exhaust. If I got it in when this happened, I'm sure the dealer would start blaming the exhaust.

Well, I got my car back. The dealer reflashed the new updated flash. They said it was the cause of all the misfires (p0300). 5 miles away from the dealer it started to flash. So I called the tech on his cell and he said "I think your gonna need a motor". This is really gay. I spend so much time going back and forth to dealer I am sick of it. The tech is super nice and the service guys are awesome but mazda is just throwing bullshit reasons not to replace my motor. I have been saying since day one from the first misfire it going to need a motor.


Anyhow just wanna keep you guys abreast of my current situation.

New info.. pushed the car to 8K once more. Just had to be sure :D .. I know I should stop it.. Of course the CEL blinked.. seemed to blink longer this time... and get this.. are you ready... it remained lit. CEL is still on as I type.



Yeah, it will pull up the same code again, the CEL can either flash or stay lit. Coils, plug leads, or plugs IMO......

I have been saying since day one from the first misfire it going to need a motor.



Aw man, new motor.. that's major. I wonder what brought them to that conclusion. Did they say, or are they giving up and just want to replace it. I hope it doesnt come to that for me. :(

Aw man, new motor.. that's major. I wonder what brought them to that conclusion. Did they say, or are they giving up and just want to replace it. I hope it doesnt come to that for me. :(


I think there is an issue with the side seals. once in a while it will pour smoke out the tailpipes(blue/gray) colored. So I think they are sticking under extreme heat. IMO of course. Also it has been 1 quart of oil every 600-800 miles.

probably didnt go thru all of the steps to determine the cause of the misfire. nut you should send him what i sent you.

If you want Broke, PM me and I can send you zoom's goodies.

Man I've been reading threads on engine replacements... its getting me all worried. Ack. I need to stop reading the forum. Haha.

If you want Broke, PM me and I can send you zoom's goodies.

Man I've been reading threads on engine replacements... its getting me all worried. Ack. I need to stop reading the forum. Haha.


for sure. I will take what you got. thanx guys.

Well I thought that my car was fixed but apparently it's not. I took my car to the track today and it was fine for the first session. The next session started and just after a lap I got a CEL and I could start to smell the fuel smell again. The CEL was blinking for the next 5 laps so I started to take it easy. Needless to say, my day was done because I didnt want to push it after that. Sucks.... I'll have to take my car back in to see what the problem is...

Dang.. this is a start of an epidemic.

The plot thickens... my dealer is holding the car overnight because they can't fix it and need to call some Mazda National Repair line or something.. aw jeez.

Am I screwed yet?

Yeah well I also took my car into a new dealer hoping that they would find the problem and I got slapped with a 150 dollar estimate. I never got an estimate until the end of the process at my old dealer.. These guys also want to run an oil consumption test and charged me 40 dollars for that. What the heck is that? They are going to check the oil twice and call it an oil consumption test. Or is there more to it??? I doubt it.. but dont know.

Wow, you're being charged?? Isnt this warranty work?

I thought so.. They told me that if Mazda covers it I would not be charged.. As far as the oil consumption test, I need to ask them what is involved with the test. I hope to goodness they dont tell me, check the level with the dipstick... haha.. we'll see.

Ok here we go.. I havent picked her up yet, but this is their latest prognosis.

Apparently my spark plugs were bad so they replaced them. Something about copper fouling on the plugs. They say it could be caused by my driving habits and how I might have driven too much at high rpms, and that I should possibly shift sooner at high rpms.

Man I swear I'm getting the crap end here. But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

One, I rarely drive my car hard, but when I do, I dont hold the car at 8K during a shift for longer than even a second.. And even if I did, what's the problem here??? Are they saying I shouldnt be driving the car up to 8K?

Somebody save me from cracking some skulls.

AHH F-IT. GO CRACK SOME SKULLS!!!! fouling BECAUSE you reved it? wtf is that. lots of low rpms travel and rich a/f cause carbon build up which causes fouling of the plugs. one way to "clean" it out is to do some good hot hi rpm runs to burn it out. i have never heard of "copper" fouling. ima google it.

google found nothing under "copper fouling" but problems with rifles. 2 articles i just read on spark plugs that included info on maintainence etc only talked about carbon fouling from too rich a/f conditions and not heating the engine up by driving alot of short trips. there was no mention of any kind of fouling from running it up into hi rpms.

here are some links

http://www.centuryperformance.com/spark2.asp

http://www.advanceautoparts.com/english/youcan/html/ccr/ccr20030701sp.html

http://www.autosite.com/garage/encyclop/ency04e.asp

You foul plugs by flooding them with unburned fuel when they are cold such as trying to start a cold engine or a flooded engine repeatedly or running very rich at low rpm's and loads for a long time. You don't foul them when under power. High rpm's clean the engine out.

thats what i have always been taught but it doesnt hurt to have the confirmation. there's always more to learn:)

Get this guys, the dealer tried to tell me that a P0100 was a good trouble code..

GET THAT.. A GOOD TROUBLE CODE...

This guy is getting me pissed off.

Hmm. Never flooded the car before, so I dunno how it would be fouled that way. Maybe all these different flashes caused the fuel mixture to be different left and right causing it to be lean, rich, lean, rich, who knows...

Anyhow, I saw the plugs they pulled and it looked like carbon fouled plugs, but instead of the blackish fouling, it was orangish rusty color.. So I guess thats why they said it was copper.. copper in color. Odd fouling if you ask me.

The good news is that the car seems to be OK now. Punched it through to 8k on the way home on two different occasions and the car didnt CEL or stutter as before. I really hope that was the problem.

The work order says they checked the coils (OK), then the plug wires (OK), then compression (rotor1: 1 - 6.9 2-6.9 3-6.8 / rotor2: 1-6.8 2-7.2 3-6.9 : OK) {are those values good??}, then found the rusty looking fouled plugs and replaced them.

The advisor then told me what the optimum shift range for the car is, as if I didnt know (4K-6K). Made me feel as if they thought I shift every gear at 8K all the time.. jeez... how rude.

Anyhow, I guess I need to try a couple more runs up to 8-9K so I can be assured its OK. Wish me luck that its OK, otherwise I'm going to post more b1tching and will definitely crack some skulls.

Well.. I got my car back and the dealer said that because I used an aftermarket CANScan tool I am getting U error codes on the WDS tool. They also didnt find any of the P0100 or P0003 codes that are listed from my CANScan tool.. HUH? Anyone know what a U error code is?

i have know idea sorry dave. the car wouldnt know what device is querying it for codes. then again anything is posible with this pcm but i havent heard anyone else havign trouble. as far as not finding the codes. many codes will go away if the reason for them doesnt occur after so many drive cycles etc. so the codes could be gone now.

OK guys.. here is my situation. Please help me out here as far as what I should do. I got my car back yesterday and they basically didnt care that I had a P0100 that I obtained from the CANScan tool and said that because their WDS didnt show any codes at the time they scanned it, it must be something wrong with my tool. So basically, I am screwed and dont bother them with things you may have messed up.. Wonderful huh?

OK.. So if I know that I am getting some codes and I have modified my car, is there anything that Mazda should do to help me or am I on my own for this one since I have done updates to my car. Some of the updates I have done are pulleys, high flow cat, exhaust, flywheel and clutch.

Do you guys feel that Mazda should work with me in order to find out what the problem is or do you think that Mazda is in the right here since they dont know what I have done to my car and they are not liable here. I have no idea what to do anymore. It seems that nobody wants to fix it. I tried taking apart my air box and cleaned out the intake and the MAF unit, but I still get my CEL at high RPM's.

This all started after I got my 30k mile service at the Mazda dealership and now basically I feel like I need to figure this out on my own. What do you feel I should do? I thought about causing the CEL and then when I know the codes are active to take it into Mazda at that time. I dont know.. I kind of feel like even if I did that they would still tell me it may be because of some of my mods.. which is bull crap because I have had these mods on my car for over a year and the smell of gas/trouble codes only started happening after I got my 30k service.. Rrrrrrrrrrrrr Should I call Mazda NA and ask them? What should I do?

Do you actually have a CEL?

The WDS will not even show a P0100 since it doesn't have it on the list of possibilities..

I'd love to tell you otherwise but calling Mz to complain about a code they don't have will be a tough sell..

Yeah.. I have a CEL. It comes on when I push the car hard in usually 3rd gear into 4th. I can make it happen all the time. I know when the CEL is about to happen because the smell of fuel gets worse. How can I get a P0100 from the CANScan tool if it isnt a Mazda code?

The CANScan is just an interface to the PCM that relays data. It doenst modify the data that it receives from the PCM.. just puts it into a pretty interface. P0100 has to be coming from the PCM no?

In the first issue..does the car run poorly at that point?

Second..there are thousands of codes listed in the generic OBDII table..

Can you remove the CANscan and see if the code goes away? this is the first I've heard of this code..but I'm new at this.. ;)

Nah.. I really cant notice any difference in performace other than the smell of fuel getting to me causing me to shift slower.. haha :)

jk..

anyway.. the CANScan tool doesnt have to even be plugged in for me to get the code. I can cause the code to come on at any time. When I see that the CEL comes on, what I usually do is drive home and plug in my CANScan tool at that time to see what code it returns. I know something is wrong but I have no idea what.

Maybe i'll take it elsewhere to a local shop and see if they can find something. I have no idea. I love just spending money.. can you tell.. this is fun.. Rrrrrrr

I am also getting my CZ unit soon, so I can modify the fuel mixture to see if that helps. Maybe after all these mods I am running pig rich and it's causing issues.. I have no idea anymore. I did run some logs with my CANScan tool and I know my AFR is around 11...

Second..there are thousands of codes listed in the generic OBDII table..



Are you saying that the PCM doesnt put out the codes? I thought that Mazda programs all the the codes to appear when certain conditions happen.. is this not true?

The PCM will only read the dedicated code in the file list.

There are several (hundreds.) in a generic code list I keep in my tool box for when I work on other makes.

Rich fuel leads me to a dirty MAF? remove it and spray some good carb cleaner on the main wire. See if it clears this up..

Or you could stop by....You are about 2000 miles from me (damn it)

haha. alright.. I'll drop by tonight :)

Thankx for your help.. Sooner or later this will clear up.. Maybe by then i'll get a new car.. haha.. hopefully it will be cleared up sooner than that.

Well, I've had her back for over 2 weeks now and it seems the plug replacement did the trick. No stuttering or CELs at 8K. Odd, but I'll take it. I only had about 12,000mi on the odo at the time too!

They blamed my driving habits and that I should change.. BS.

If I experience the same problems anytime soon, I'm gonna have em check the plugs first off. How can plugs go bad in less than 12K miles. I just hope nothing is damaged due to the misfiring. If in the future something pops up due to that.. whooa boy, watch out.

Yeah.. I thought my misfire was gone but I think it's still there. It only happens when I drive the car hard shifting from 3rd to 4th gear. If I take it easy I never get the CEL. I also hear loud pops out of my exhaust so I know I am running really rich. After I get my piggy back this week and do some tuning, I am hoping some of these problems go away. I can only be so lucky.

They also replaced the plugs/wires on my car. I thought the problem was gone too until I drove it hard the other night. We'll see what happens. I hope yours is gone.. wouldnt that be nice.. :)

Happened to me again yesterday and today.

Can this have anything to do with flooding? The only thing that I can attribute to all the times it has happened to me is possibly driving the car almost immediately after starting. It happened twice to me after I was late for work and didn't let the car warm up very long and it happened to my wife and I am sure she probably didn't wait long for warm up since she is always running late.

I can't think of any other factors that are consistent in all the times it has happened. Weather was different each time
My CZ Stage 1 was on a few times, off the other time
Three times at high speeds on highway and other times in the 25-35 mph range

I can't explain it.

I too am experiencing the CEL bug. Must be the season for this. Oddly though, mine pulled a P0420 (inefficient cat flow). But changing the plugs looks promising as a 0420 after a fresh car wash happens with crappy plugs. I have no distinguishable misfires, no power loss, no jerks or anything.

We shall see though. Maybe an upgrade in the plug department beyond factory is just what the Doc ordered :)

Hmm.. Tonight I was on a ride and I got a different code this time. It was a P0200. The first ever in the forum I think. I tried searching for this code but no threads came up... I tried looking up this code on google and it says "P0200 Injector Circuit Malfunction". I just had my 30k service and they did clean the injectors as part of the service. Plus, I still smell gas. Anyone have any clues?

I cant repeat my CEL as easily though ever since I installed my CZ unit.

Ok dave, my turn. I just got my car back from the body shop [ diff thread] and I got a huge misfire. I went into the dealership toms river mazda nj and they determined a misfire code all they did is replace plugs and call the mazda tech service, He said all you should do right now is check clear the code Change the plugs and if it ever happens the'll the run a full car diognostics check which they said would take at least a full day. They were friendly and didnt acuse me of shit which is much better service then what you guys seem to get. I'll go driving today and see if i get any new codes but i doubt it since i drove my car hard yesterday. By the way 2500 miles on my baby regular trips to 8500 and 93 octane constantly. Heres what happened I was running from 2-3 and at 8500 shift BAM!!! a huge back fire almost like a blowout. And a second time when i was about to redline in 4th.

Hey... I was only up for one day.. no fair :)

Still no probs 3 days after. Maybe it was a fluke.

Apparently there are a lot of people having my same problem although I believe several different problems have been discuss in this thread.

My issue arose only when it got pretty cold in the morning here in Austin, TX. Today it was -1C (I think that is <32F) and I did not have time to fully warm the car. I tend to go up high in the RPM and the engine cut out twice above 6000 RPM. I did not notice the engine light come on, and my tank was full with 93OCT gas. After the car has warmed up the problem does not seem to reoccur... it just seems to be something related to the low temperature. I also believe I have the latest PCM flash because I took "her" in more or less a month ago.

The golden rule is "warm her up before you ride her" ;-)

Well.. I am finally to the point where they are going to replace my PCM. They tried replacing my coils (at my expense) but that did not fix the problem. Mazda technical finally said to replace the PCM so they are just waiting on the part to come in. I hope this fixes it. If it does.. well regardless, I am going to try and get my money back for the coils.. that was 300 dollars and it didnt even fix the issue.. I dont pay for them to guess at what the problem is...

...They tried replacing my coils (at my expense) but that did not fix the problem. .......

Why did you have to pay?

It says later in my post :)

300.... parts, labor and tax.

It says later in my post :)

300.... parts, labor and tax.

I asked why you had to pay, not how much?

oh how dumb...

They found out that I had installed an external device because the stock ECU was relaying this information back to the technician. All of the diagnosis work they had to do over the past few days I did not have to pay for, but since they found this they wanted me to pay for the coils.

I still have a warranty though and they are going to pay for the new PCM.

Well.. I got my car back and guess what.. CEL again.. I knew it wasnt the PCM... This all started after I got my 30k service. Maybe now they will listen to me and focus in on that area.. dorks...

I am totally going to get my money back for the coils now. They are just guessing at what the problem is.. They will probably tell me tomorrow they are going to replace the engine...

This is starting to get frustrating... I hate not having a car.

Well. their plan of attack is now to replace almost every part in the car back to stock and see if that fixes the problem. They are first going to start with my hi-flow cat and the cat-back system I have installed. How this relates to a misfire/injector malfunction I have no idea... They seem to have no clue where to begin so they are going to put my car back to stock.. uhhhhhhhhhh The saga continues....

I am having fun with this thread all by myself.. haha.. I guess everyone elses problems have been resolved. My cars tales have not been as fortuante. Tomorrow I am finally going to pick up my car again. They decided to scrap the replacement of the exhaust system and go another direction. Install a 1 1/2 year old TSB for the oil pan in hopes of that fixing my problems...

I have zero faith that this is going to fix the problem, but we'll see....

Well, I have been going thru same shit(4 months). After new plugs, plugs wire, ignition coils and a motor the problem turned out to be a TSB for clearing the E-Shaft Mem. I would tell them to try that if you want my 2 cents.

Damn.. it would have been cheaper for them to just give you a new car.. How much did all of that cost them? Maybe 16,000 in parts/labor?? crazy...

I'll definitely bring that up if it happens again....

Also, which dealership did this? If they want to contact them it might be a good idea if I knew which one it was.

Hey.. I have done that procedure before and just did it again. So far no CEL and I have tried to make the light come on. It usually comes on in 4th around 6,000 rpm.. it hasnt happened yet :) we'll see.

No CEL my *(@.... Came on again tonight. Whats it going to take for it to go out?? That procedure your talking about is just depressing the brake pedal 20 times and I have done that.. I have no idea what the problem could be now... Taking it in tomorrow morning...

Srry im still good. Sux to hear they havnt dropped in a new engine for u.

I think their next step is to invite the engineer onsite to look at my car...

I am about to pick it up so I can at least have it for the weekend. They are trying to work out the specifics...

Hey guys.. Get this. Mazda technical has given up and said that they are not sure where to go next so have the customer contact customer service and work it out. Can you believe that?? They also told me that my car has high mileage.. whatever that means.

I got off the phone with customer service and told them that technical has given up and that was just not acceptable to me obviously. They have since gotten the district manager involved for the irvine so cali area that will work with technical, my dealership and me to resolve the isssue...

That has got to be the worst.. how can technical give up??? crazy....

Well.. just a little update for those who dont have any issues and are lucky :)

I finally got to the point where customer service had to get involved and issued a request for the southern california district representative to evaluate my case. He/she will decide where to go from here based upon my cars history, mazda na technical's input as well as mine... We'll see how it goes from here...

Well.. just a little update for those who dont have any issues and are lucky :)

I finally got to the point where customer service had to get involved and issued a request for the southern california district representative to evaluate my case. He/she will decide where to go from here based upon my cars history, mazda na technical's input as well as mine... We'll see how it goes from here...
Hi Dave,

From where I'm sitting, it'd probably be a good time to tell the district representative that you should be provided a new car, even if it's a leftover (but new) '04 model sitting on a dealer's lot somewhere. The number of problems you've had and the hassle you've been through is just plain silly, and Mazda oughta step up to the plate and make it right.

Just my $0.02,
Bill

Don't forget the lemon law... same issue 3 times with no way to repair it for good should get you a new car... I am no expert on the law but that was what I was told on it... check!

Yeah.. I will check into it after this go around.

Just got off the phone with my service manager. He asked me to bring in the car on Monday because an engineer from Irvine was going to pick it up. Something interesting that he also said was that he was from Japan. Hmmmmmmmm haha. Very interesting..... I wonder who it is.....

They didnt give me any more details....

Do you still have your Mid Pipe and cat back installed?

If yes, and they are going to look at it great!

Yeah.. my SR Motorsports hi-flow cat and Borla cat-back systems are installed on my car. Mazda technical was going to replace them with OEM parts but decided not to because they thought it wasnt the issue.

I dont think they will have a problem with it.

My car is down at my local dealership right now awaiting to be taken back to Irvine R&D.

If anyone can find out the issue it's those guys....

I read a few post back you had a P0200?

You have a vehicle with a language all it's own?

I hope this all works out for you Dave.

Yeah a P0200 and a P0300.. A P0200 was an injector circuit malfunction... Those are the codes that my CANScan is reporting. I had to look up on the ODBII site to find out what the P0200 meant..

It's strange though because when I take my car to Mazda, the only code they can see is a P0302... I am not sure why I can see pending codes that Mazda can not...

i've gotten the P0302 code twice in the last 2 months as well. i don't have a CANscan tool (wanna get the AutoEnginuity tool though) so i have to go on what the dealer tells me.

both times it happened under acceleration - not WOT though. no bucking/shaking. don't know about loss of power though cuz both times i drove uber slow and pulled over immediately and shut it down.

the first time they replaced the spark plugs - but i wasn't able to get much from the guy - he seemed to have that "holier than thou'" attitude and i wasn't in the mood to argue with him. so don't know if they are the hotter plugs or what.

the 2nd time was today - they said they reflashed the PCM, but again, there's no way for me to verify it.

are misfires detrimental to the engine?

I really dont think they are.....

Mazda hasnt given me an update yet. I called today but I think the service advisor that I have been working with is out on Thursday's. They will probably update me tomorrow with either no status update or some information. I dont know as of yet because it's really out of the dealerships hands at this point so it's hard for them to get a status update.

I'll post what I find out tomorrow. I know it will be something though...

redline in 4th gear? your nuts magixpuma lol

put me down for another misfire yesterday. same old routine - CEL goes on for 20 seconds and then goes off and the car drives fine afterwards.

that's 3 in 2 months! :mad:

Hmmm???? I just got a response from Mazda and they are going to give me back my car tomorrow. Mazda Irvine said that the CEL coming on in 4th gear at or around 80 mph is a characteristic of the car and there is nothing they can do about it...

Anyone know if this is true? They design the CEL to come on?? WTF?

Dave-Sounds like BS - Why has no one else get a CEL when going 80 ?

That's because Dave is the only one who goes 80.

No seriously, I didn't read in the above post that you replaced the plugs.

Also, with some dealerships having a corrupted M flash, why don't you go to the N flash?

Ok these guys will fix it for you, but you must join the RX8 club.

Go to Browning Mazda in Cerritos (I think it closer to you than Irvine) and tell them that you get a cell light and misfire after the M flash. (Under these conditions the will reflash for free)

Ask them to install the new N flash. Make sure your plugs are NOT fouled and pray that it works.

Is it not possible that the two dealers in your area has the corrupted M flash?
And that Irvine Mazda did not check you PCM? And if they did check it, maybe you still have the corrupted M version.

Ok here's another thought, One guy in this thread reported a burned resistor pack.
I think I have seen this in other threads too. Check to see if this is it.

Oh one last thought. Mazda made the car rich due to EPA and Catalytic longevity.
When a engine runs rich it will miss fire and back fire. They tuned it to work with the current CAT which has a certain back pressure.

Now, by replacing with the high flow Mid pipe with CAT you have created a new situation.

It flows faster and better, so when you back off the throttle it will misfire or back fire.

Did you not say that when you installed the CZ unit that them symptoms improved?

That's due to the CZ A/F map being leaner, which gives more power.

Since it's in your ball park and you have seen an improvement, make sure you don't have any burn't resistors and the plugs are good.

Then re tune it to make it leaner. I recomend calling CZ and telling them your problem.
You installed the CZ unit and it made the car better, but it still happens. Then ask them on how to go about leaning your mixture with the appropiate timing. Of course if you know how, you won't have to call them.

By the way, I never would have brought the car in with the piggyback CZ installed.
I think you were just asking for trouble and that's why the factory tech from Japan looked at your car and said what's this? Then they handed it back to you saying it's normal.

That's just my funny feeling from my previous experience in life.

If the expert says it's normal then maybe he's right. It's normal on the MAZDA PCM map.
Re tune the map. The factory will not retune the map and violate EPA.

Good Luck

Oh there's one guy up North that has a Mide pipe and one guy on the East coast too that have back fire issues too.

A guy in our Rx8 Club just installed a B&B mid pipe. He shoots flame 3 feet from his back fires. He thinks its cool.

Man you can tell Mazda makes our cars run rich. No wonder why they foul plugs.
You stand 4 " behind his exhaust and the fumes will rise up your leg and burn your eyes!!!!!!!!!

On second thought I think your back fire is normal.

The motor is screamming for a tune up. (help me CZ, help me)

Well.. what I am going to try and do next is to get the CEL light to come on at 50 mph. I have done it before so I know that it will happen again. If I get the CEL light to come on at 50 mph and it's freezed into the memory of the ECU, there is no way they can say it's a characteristic of the car for it to come on at that speed and will be forced to either fix the problem or give me a new car. Thats what I am going to try for next....

They told me this morning that it's a characteristic of the car because of my modifications, yet it never did this before the 30k service. Plus the fact that Mazda technical already has said that my pulley and exhaust wasnt causing the issue so what now? How can mazda technical say that my mods are not causing the issue yet Mazda NA says my mods may have resulted in the CEL?

So either it's over at this point or it's just begining..

I have my car back now...

they're probably hoping that you forget about the problem.

just like "rock in heat shield" or "unable to duplicate customer complaint" on the work order when you bring your car in ...

Yeah well it's working to a certain degree.. :) We'll see how it goes from here... The good thing is that I dont notice any performance difference when it's on....

Well it came on again on my way to work this morning. The good news is that I have a contact now withing Mazda USA who is an engineer. One of my co-workers knows a person who works at Eibach who knows him. I sent an email this morning asking for his opinion. We'll see what he says.

If this doesnt work out, i'll probably take it to Cerritos Mazda as Razz suggested...

Well it came on again on my way to work this morning. The good news is that I have a contact now withing Mazda USA who is an engineer. One of my co-workers knows a person who works at Eibach who knows him. I sent an email this morning asking for his opinion. We'll see what he says.

If this doesnt work out, i'll probably take it to Cerritos Mazda as Razz suggested...

Hey Dave, sounds like you are around and kicking.......how's your 8 running with or without the CEL these days??? Mine has been running very well, no new mods since we touched base awhile ago. Seems once she has settled down with all my mods, she now runs with very little to no problems. Since, you live in So Cal like me, hopefully you survied all the nasty rains. I was very proud of the way the 8 handled itself during the bad rains, surprised a few smart ass 4wd pick up's & SUV's. :D

Mike Z :cool:

They told me this morning that it's a characteristic of the car because of my modifications, yet it never did this before the 30k service. Plus the fact that Mazda technical already has said that my pulley and exhaust wasnt causing the issue so what now? How can mazda technical say that my mods are not causing the issue yet Mazda NA says my mods may have resulted in the CEL?

So either it's over at this point or it's just begining..

I have my car back now...


Dave,

I'm sorry to be the devils advocate here but have you tried de-modding the car?

Did I read a few pages back you have aftermarket pulleys installed?

Yeah.... thats actually what I am going to do next.

I'll wait and see if I hear anything from the Mazda Engineer. If I do or dont, depending on what the outcome of that is, I'll take my car to the dealership and tell them to replace the parts back to stock. If this doesnt work in the end though, and the CEL light still comes on, I want them to fix the CEL and refund me for the labor charges since it's now clear that my mods are not the problem.

I really hope that I can continue to work with Mazda and not battle them to fix my car. If they found that one of my mods is causing the problem, then by all means I'll pay for everything and be a happy man.

This is what I hope to do next.

Hey guys.. well instead of fixing my car they voided my warranty.. Branded - No warr is what it says on my information. The reason is because of aftermarket equipment on my car and going over the speed limit. Thats their reasons for voiding it..

I am going to post this in another section as well to get some more feedback...

holy crap. is that legal?

More info here...

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=56546

Trying to acquire a stock cat. converter to see if this resolves my CEL. If anyone has one please PM me...

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=57564

Does anyone know if there are any identifying marks on that cat converter that associate it to a particular car? Or are they all pretty much the same without these markings..??

Just bought a cat. converter from Mazmart (400.00)....

Going to have it installed and go from there..

My next steps are the following:

Get cat. converter installed
Test the car to see if CEL comes on
Take car to Rotary Racing if CEL and noise persists
Call SEMA for further assistance
Obtain a written statement as to why my warranty was voided
Take further action if necessary

Shoot myself :)

I seemed to have taken over this thread.. I wonder if anyone is reading this anymore...???

Guess it's my own personal blog now.. haha :)

To continue my blog. My problems are finally over. Sorry that I have to end this book so shortly, I promise that there will be more to this story, and there is.. believe me...

The problem turned out to be my cat. converter. I purchased a new one from Mazmart (I sold mine) and my annoying noise is gone as well as my CEL.

My next step is to now call back SEMA and let them know where I stand and try and get back at least a partial warranty. We'll see... :)

That's great your car is working now!!!!!!!!!

well now at least you are fixed. more info please :D

More info huh :) Well I crashed my car.. haha.. After all of this I managed to get into a solo accident.

I was coming around a corner and lost control. My left rear slammed into the curb and I suffered front bumper, rear suspenstion (knuckle, stableizer, upper/lower control arm) damange as well as the side bumper and door damage. It's getting fixed right now and should be done in the next 3 weeks...

My car was only in perfect working order for maybe 3 days before this happened. The reason why I spun out I think is because it was just starting to rain, I had gotten my car washed the day before and that tire dressing is slick, plus there were these plastic bumps in the road to keep you in your lane. I think the combination of all these factors let to it....

Happy days :) It's ok though.. thats my first accident.. No other cars were involved.

Back on topic though.. It was definitely my cat. converter. All of my problems were now mysteriously gone. I didnt have the rattle and I could take my car up to any speed/rpm and my CEL would not come on. Out of all of the mods on my car, this particular one wreaked the most havoc... I may end up putting back on my pulleys after this.. we'll see..

I am not sure if I want to put anymore money into this car though... That Shelby GT500 is looking pretty sweet.. :)

Dave,
Why didn't you call me for the parts to repair your wreck damage? :confused:
I'm sure I could have saved you a bundle of cash.
Paul.

I did... Check your PM history. You told me to go ahead and work with your co-worker that usually handles other cars...

That was on the converter. Your crash related damage is fresh news to me. I would have loved to have eased the financial pain in this instance as well. I'm here for you dude! :)
Paul.